The Murder of Teuku Chut Lamreueng took place early in the Acheh War, after Teuku Lamreueng had tendered his submission to the Dutch Government. He was murdered in Pidie — whither he had gone to fetch his family — by the adherents of Teuku Muda Lampaseh, his rival for the panglimaship of the XXVI Mukims. His infant son, the future Teuku Nya’ Banta, escaped the same fate through the help of a faithful servant.
Background of the rivalry
The rivalry that ended in the murder had its origin in a disputed succession during the reign of Ibrahim Manso Shah (1858–70). On the death of the previous panglima, Teuku Muda Lampaseh was by adat the proper successor, and was duly recognised by the sultan after reporting himself at the Dalam. Even before he had quitted the palace, however, the firing of guns was heard from the direction of the XXVI Mukims, and on enquiry it appeared that the people of that district — who objected to Lampaseh as an opium-smoker — had installed a younger brother of the deceased panglima in his place. This was Teuku Chut Lamreueng. The sultan, unable to enforce either claim, recognised the second aspirant as well, so that there were then two panglimas in the XXVI Mukims.
The war and the submission
At the commencement of the war both chiefs fled to Keumala, but Teuku Lamreueng in the end re-established himself in his territory and tendered his submission to the Dutch Government. This act of submission, in the politics of the sagi, was more than a personal defection: it struck at the authority of his rival, who had remained in opposition, and at that of the whole anti-Dutch party. Lampaseh’s adherents thus had every motive of faction, as well as every pretext of patriotism, for seeking his removal.
The murder and its sequel
The opportunity came when Teuku Lamreueng journeyed to Pidie to fetch his family. There the adherents of Lampaseh overtook him and killed him. His infant son — afterwards known as Teuku Nya’ Banta (also called Teuku Lamreueng) — was saved by the fidelity of a servant. This son was afterwards recognised by the Government as Panglima of the XXVI Mukims, while after the death of Teuku Muda Lampaseh, the latter’s son Teuku Juhan was appointed panglima at Lampaseh’s side. The dual panglimaship instituted by Ibrahim Manso Shah was thus continued under Dutch auspices, and the murder of Teuku Chut Lamreueng became the founding episode of a feud that ran through the next generation of XXVI Mukim politics.
See Also
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.