The revocation of Baid Setia Maharadja’s honours occurred in 1896, when the Netherlands Indies government confiscated the gold chain bearing the Dutch coat of arms that had been granted to Teukoe Moeda Baid Setia Maharadja, uleebalang of the VII Moekims, just eight years earlier in 1888. The original Dutch text states that the chain was “hem in 1896 wegens ontrouw ontnomen” — “taken from him in 1896 on account of disloyalty.”
The revocation
The confiscation of a formally awarded colonial honour was a serious political act, representing not merely a personal disgrace but a public rupture in the relationship between the colonial state and one of its indigenous allies. The Dutch word ontrouw (disloyalty, faithlessness) is unambiguous: Baid Setia Maharadja was judged to have betrayed the trust placed in him when he accepted the chain.
Interpretation
The revocation illustrates a recurring pattern in the Aceh War: the difficulty the Dutch faced in securing lasting loyalty from the uleebalang class. Uleebalangs who accepted Dutch honours and subsidies frequently found themselves caught between the demands of their colonial patrons and the expectations of their own communities, where collaboration with the Dutch could be seen as betrayal of the Islamic cause. Many uleebalangs who initially cooperated with the Dutch later rejoined the resistance, or were suspected of maintaining secret contacts with the guerilla fighters.
The year 1896 was still well before the Dutch adopted their final, more effective strategy — the so-called “short war” under Van Heutsz and the systematic use of Marechaussee units — and the colonial position in the interior of Atjeh remained precarious. Baid Setia Maharadja’s apparent defection, whether real or merely suspected, reflects the unstable and contested nature of Dutch authority in the Acehnese hinterland at this date.
The chain in the museum
After confiscation, the chain entered the collection of the Batavian Society, where it was displayed in Cabinet 5 (Atjeh) as a specimen of Acehnese-period goldwork — albeit one with a distinctly colonial backstory. Its catalogue entry in the 1928 guide preserves both the date of the original grant and the date and reason for its revocation, making it a valuable historical document in its own right.
See Also
- Teukoe Moeda Baid Setia Maharadja
- Granting of Dutch coat of arms chain to Baid Setia Maharadja (1888)
- VII Moekims
- Uleebalang
- 1896
- Aceh War
Source
Gids voor den bezoeker van de schatkamer, Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, Batavia, 1928. Druk: Ruygrok & Co., Batavia. Cabinet 5 (Atjeh), item 31.