The Fire at Penajoeng was a mysterious conflagration that broke out on 19 December 1873 in the house of Toengkoe Kali (also known as Toengkoe Kadli Malikoel Adil) in the kampong of Penajoeng, shortly after the Dutch expeditionary force under Lieutenant-General Van Swieten had occupied the position. The fire destroyed the house — described as a substantial plank-built dwelling — together with the Acehnese state archive stored within it, and drove Toengkoe Kali, one of the most promising Acehnese intermediaries for peace, into flight and permanent estrangement from the Dutch cause. Van Swieten regarded the event as one of the most consequential misfortunes of the campaign.
Toengkoe Kali’s Position
Toengkoe Kali was the Sultan Aladin Mahmud Shah’s second father-in-law — having married the Sultan to his daughter in early 1873 — and the acting bandhara (treasurer and chief minister) of the Acehnese court. He was, by all accounts, favourably disposed toward the Dutch. During the negotiations of March 1873, he had been among those who understood the advantages that a treaty with the Netherlands-India Government would bring to the Sultan and had been willing to advise acceptance. He had been restrained, however, by the opposition of the sagie chiefs, particularly Panglima Polim, who saw clearly that Dutch sovereignty would extinguish their own quasi-independent authority.
During the landing and advance of the Second Expedition, Toengkoe Kali had advised his associates to accept the Dutch presence and had encouraged peaceful contact. Toekoe Nek, the panglima of the XXV Moekims at Maraksa, had similarly counselled Toengkoe Kali to approach the commanding general, promising a cordial reception.
The Fire
On 19 December 1873, as the Dutch column under Van Swieten advanced through Penajoeng and established occupation of the position, the substantial plank house of Toengkoe Kali was set ablaze. The circumstances remain uncertain: it occurred after the column had already passed through, and no one was ever able to discover who set the fire or how it was ignited. Colonel Wiggers van Kerchem, who was the first to take possession of Penajoeng, later recounted to Van Swieten that it had appeared to be a fine, well-built house.
Within the house, the Acehnese state archive — a collection of documents of great historical value — was stored. The archive went up in flames and was irretrievably lost. Van Swieten described this as the destruction of “a treasure of great historical worth.”
Consequences
The destruction of his home and the loss of his archives had an immediate and decisive effect on Toengkoe Kali. When, during the Second Expedition, the Dutch forces arrived at Penajoeng, Toengkoe Kali had intended to come forward and join the Dutch side. But the burning of his house — whether by accident, by design of Acehnese patriots who suspected his sympathies, or by some other cause — destroyed his confidence. He fled into the interior and took no further part in the negotiations.
Later, when Toengkoe Kali had submitted and was in Batavia, he stayed for half a month at the home of Councillor of the Indies Levysohn Norman, who gathered many interesting particulars from him. Levysohn Norman asked why Toengkoe Kali, who was inclined to align with Dutch policy, had not joined the commanding general during the second expedition. His answer was: “Toekoe Nek also advised me to do so, and promised a favourable reception. I was also minded to do it; but when on 19 December, at the arrival of the troops at Penajoeng, my house was set on fire, my confidence was destroyed and I took flight.”
Van Swieten’s Assessment
Van Swieten regarded this event as a calamity of the first order. “We lost with Toengkoe Kali a means of contact with many chiefs who, like him, did not want the war and were inclined to accept our political arrangements,” he wrote. He further observed that the house-burnings — a recurring practice during the campaign, whether ordered or merely tolerated — produced not only moral injury but struck at the very foundation of utility. By destroying the homes of those who might have been willing to cooperate, the Dutch alienated precisely the people whose cooperation was most needed.
“This is again proof,” Van Swieten wrote, “of what incalculable evil those disastrous burnings cause, and how not only morality but also the principle of utility is thereby violated.”
The fire at Penajoeng thus stands as one of those seemingly minor incidents whose consequences rippled far beyond their immediate cause. The loss of a single friendly chief, the destruction of a single archive, and the alienation of a single network of moderate Acehnese leaders may have prolonged the war by years.
See Also
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873-1874)
- Toengkoe Kadli Malikoel Adil
- Penajoeng
- Panglima Polim
- Jan van Swieten
- Kraton of Aceh
- Aceh War
Source
De waarheid over onze vestiging in Atjeh, door den Luitenant-Generaal J. van Swieten, Zalt-Bommel, Joh. Noman en Zoon, [1879], pp. 21–22.