The Election of Sultan Muhamat Dawot Shah in the year 1296 H (1879 AD) is the event recorded on the central circle of the ninefold seal (chab sikureu’eng) of the Achehnese pretender-sultan Tuanku Muhamat Dawot — properly Sultan Alaedin Muhamad Daud Shah Juhan. As C. Snouck Hurgronje explains in The Achehnese, the date was inscribed on the great seal in token of the year in which the young prince was raised to the throne of Acheh under the shadow of the Dutch invasion.
The Seal and Its Inscription
The ninefold seal consists of one large central circle surrounded by eight smaller ones. The central circle contains the inscription: “May Allah give good guidance unto His Majesty Sultan ‘Alau’ddīn (pronounced in Achehnese Alaedin) Muhamad Daud Shah Juhan (pronounced in Achehnese Muhamat Dawot Shah Juhan) the Blessed, the shadow of Allah in the world 1296” — that is, 1879 AD, the year of his election as Sultan.
The eight smaller circles surrounding this central one record the names of eight earlier sultans regarded as the predecessors and patrons of the reigning house: Sidi Meukamay (1530–1552 or later), Meukuta Alam (1607–1636), Tajul-alam (the first sultana, 1641–1675), Ahmat Shah (1723 or 1726–1735), Juhan Shah (1735–1760), Mahmut Shah (1781–1795), Jauhar Alam Shah (1802–1824), and Mansur Shah (1838–1870). The first four recur on most ninefold seals of the sultans of Acheh; the rest vary according to the taste of each sultan.
The Pretender’s Claim
Tuanku Muhamat Dawot, son of the late Sultan Alaedin Manso Shah Juhan, is described by Snouck Hurgronje as a “young ne’er-do-well” who was for some time regarded by a portion of his subjects as kramat — miraculously revealed as the chosen friend of God. In the left-hand top corner of his letters-patent is written al-mustahiqq (“the rightful possessor”), by which expression Tuanku Muhamat Dawot made known his claims to the throne of Acheh. His “court” was maintained, after the fall of the Dalam, at Keumala, where uleebalangs who had tendered their submission to the Dutch Government continued to make pilgrimages in search of sealed letters-patent confirming them in their offices.
Later Fate
The pretender was compelled, some years before Snouck Hurgronje wrote, to break up his court at Keumala and to lead a wandering life, seeking safety by constantly shifting his abode. He finally submitted to the Dutch Government in January 1903, an event treated in the same introduction as the closing episode of the Achehnese sultanate. His election of 1879 thus stands at once as the formal opening of his reign and as a date in the long-drawn agony of the Achehnese monarchy.
See Also
- Sarakata with chab sikureu’eng
- Letters patent with the ninefold seal to Panglima Meuseugit Raya
- Tuanku Muhamat Dawot
- Keumala
- Acheh War
- Coronation of the Sultan
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.