Agam was the male transport elephant of the colonial army’s elephant transport in Aceh, one of the four elephants — Agam the male, and Isah, Sarah and Rimba the female elephants — that were disposed of in the time when the narrator of Oost-Indisch Journael by Merac (1947) was posted there. Agam is the elephant whose serious disagreement with his mahout and whose wild behaviour led to his being put down by the firing squad at Tangsé — a salvo from “his old comrades, the men with the red patches on the collar, the marechaussées.”
The purchase by the Sultan of Djocja
Agam had been purchased by the Sultan van Djocja (the Sultan of Yogyakarta), but before he could be brought to Medan and on to Java, he had a serious disagreement with his mahout and behaved so wildly that there was nothing for it but to put him down.
The firing squad at Tangsé
So he came to Tangsé for the firing squad. A volley rang out from his old comrades, the men with the red patches on the collar — the marechaussées. The old hero lifted his trunk high and sank soundlessly sideways. He died as a warrior by the bullet.
The firing squad of marechaussées — the men with the red patches on the collar — is the book’s marker of the elephant’s status as a warrior: the transport elephant who had served the colonial army was given the firing squad of the marechaussée, his old comrades. The old hero who lifted his trunk high and sank soundlessly sideways is the book’s — and the colonial memory’s — marker of the elephant’s warrior death: the transport elephant who died as a warrior by the bullet.
Significance
Agam is significant in Oost-Indisch Journael as the male transport elephant whose firing squad at Tangsé is the book’s set-piece of the elephant transport’s end. The book’s argument — that the transport elephant who had served the colonial army was given the firing squad of the marechaussée, his old comrades, and that he died as a warrior by the bullet — is the book’s — and the colonial memory’s — marker of the elephant’s status as a warrior. Agam is therefore the book’s marker of the former-times elephant transport: the male who died as a warrior by the firing squad of the marechaussée.
Sources
De Koloniën, by Dr. F. W. Stapel, in Geschiedkundige Atlas van Nederland (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1931), kaart 19, blz. 22 (tekst bij blad 4: Atjeh en de Westkust van Sumatra in 1684).
See Also
- Oost-Indisch Journael
- Transport-olifanten (Aceh)
- Isah
- Sarah
- Rimba
- Tangsé
- Sultan van Djocja
- Korps Marechaussee van Atjeh en Onderhorigen
- Atjeh-oorlog
- Jan van Leene
- Painansch Contract
- Priaman
- Bajang
- Fort de Kock
- Menangkabau
- Padangsche Bovenlanden
- Westkust van Sumatra
- Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie
- 17 March
- 1682
Source
Oost-Indisch Journael: Palaver om de tafel met het gat, by Merac, Toekan-Serie no. 2, ed. G. L. Tichelman (Haarlem: De Gulden Pers, 1947), chapter Atjeh’s Transport-Olifanten
Agam was the male transport elephant of the colonial army’s elephant transport in Aceh, one of the four elephants — Agam the male, and Isah, Sarah and Rimba the female elephants — that were disposed of in the time when the narrator of Oost-Indisch Journael by Merac (1947) was posted there. Agam is the elephant whose serious disagreement with his mahout and whose wild behaviour led to his being put down by the firing squad at Tangsé — a salvo from “his old comrades, the men with the red patches on the collar, the marechaussées.”
The purchase by the Sultan of Djocja
Agam had been purchased by the Sultan van Djocja (the Sultan of Yogyakarta), but before he could be brought to Medan and on to Java, he had a serious disagreement with his mahout and behaved so wildly that there was nothing for it but to put him down.
The firing squad at Tangsé
So he came to Tangsé for the firing squad. A volley rang out from his old comrades, the men with the red patches on the collar — the marechaussées. The old hero lifted his trunk high and sank soundlessly sideways. He died as a warrior by the bullet.
The firing squad of marechaussées — the men with the red patches on the collar — is the book’s marker of the elephant’s status as a warrior: the transport elephant who had served the colonial army was given the firing squad of the marechaussée, his old comrades. The old hero who lifted his trunk high and sank soundlessly sideways is the book’s — and the colonial memory’s — marker of the elephant’s warrior death: the transport elephant who died as a warrior by the bullet.
Significance
Agam is significant in Oost-Indisch Journael as the male transport elephant whose firing squad at Tangsé is the book’s set-piece of the elephant transport’s end. The book’s argument — that the transport elephant who had served the colonial army was given the firing squad of the marechaussée, his old comrades, and that he died as a warrior by the bullet — is the book’s — and the colonial memory’s — marker of the elephant’s status as a warrior. Agam is therefore the book’s marker of the former-times elephant transport: the male who died as a warrior by the firing squad of the marechaussée.
See Also
- Oost-Indisch Journael
- Transport-olifanten (Aceh)
- Isah
- Sarah
- Rimba
- Tangsé
- Sultan van Djocja
- Korps Marechaussee van Atjeh en Onderhorigen
- Atjeh-oorlog
Source
Oost-Indisch Journael: Palaver om de tafel met het gat, by Merac, Toekan-Serie no. 2, ed. G. L. Tichelman (Haarlem: De Gulden Pers, 1947), chapter Atjeh’s Transport-Olifanten.