The Murder of Mas Soemo Widikdjo in late December 1873 at Longbatta in Atjeh was the murder of the native envoy dispatched by Lieutenant-general Van Swieten to deliver two letters to the sultan offering peace on the model of the Siak-tractaat and proposing to wage war “in the manner of civilised nations.” Mas Soemo Widikdjo, the son of a British-Indian officer, had repeatedly rendered services as a guide or interpreter on previous occasions, hoping for his children to recover the place in society which he had lost for himself by the early death of his father. His murder hardened the Dutch resolution to take the Kraton by force.
Background
After the second Aceh expedition had landed east of the Atjeh river on 9 December 9 December 1873 and had pushed forward to the mouth of the Atjeh river by 15 December 15 December, Van Swieten decided to make one last attempt to end the war by negotiation. He sent two letters to the sultan. In the one, the sultan was informed on what conditions the Dutch were still willing to make peace — namely, if he declared himself willing to sign a tractaat of about the same content as the Siak-tractaat. In the other, the sultan was proposed to wage war “in the manner of civilised nations.” The bearer, Mas Soemo Widikdjo, was the son of a British-Indian officer, “who had repeatedly rendered us services as a guide or interpreter on previous occasions, hoping for his children to recover the place in society which he had lost for himself by the early death of his father.”
The Murder
He departed on 26 December 26 December [1873] but never returned. “Later it became known that, after being held prisoner a couple of days, he was murderously killed at Longbatta.” The place of his murder — Longbatta — was the kampong of the imam of Longbatta, one of the most embittered enemies of the Dutch, who was named by General Pel in 1875 as one of the principal leaders of the war-party.
Significance
The murder of Mas Soemo Widikdjo hardened the Dutch resolution to take the Kraton by force. When he did not return and the enemy began to fire on the bivouac, it was decided on 25 December [1873] to make a reconnaissance in a south-east direction, “with the plan of finding in south-east direction an open plain, which according to the reports collected before the campaign and also according to the assertion of the guides, lay on the right bank of the river opposite the Kraton, and was therefore probably a suitable place for our siege batteries.” The reconnaissance led to a fierce fight at a series of enemy fortifications near kampong Lemboe, in which the adjutant-underofficier Von Bredow planted the oranje-vaandel at the foot of the parapet; the line was carried; on 6 January 6 January 1874 the missigit of the Kraton was taken; on 12 January 12 January the Taman was stormed; on 24 January 24 January the Kraton itself was found evacuated.
See Also
- Mas Soemo Widikdjo
- J. van Swieten
- Longbatta
- Imam of Longbatta
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873-1874)
- Capture of the Kraton (24 January 1874)
- Tractaat with Siak of 1858
- Aceh War
Source
De geschiedenis van Nederland in onzen tijd, by J. A. de Bruyne, Directeur der Hoogere Burgerschool te Zierikzee. Deel IV. 1872-1883. Nieuwe uitgave. Schiedam: J. F. Dupont, 1912, Hoofdstuk I, p. 21.