The Imeum of Chade’ (also written Chadé or Chade) was the influential hereditary chief of the mukim of Chade’ within the territory of the Sultan of Acheh. Together with the Imeum of Lueng Bata, the Teuku Kali, and the Panglima Meuseugit Raya, he is singled out by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese as one of the uleebalangs of the so-called wakeueh-districts — that is, districts in the sultan’s territory — who, although not formally numbered among the “twelve uleebalangs” of adat tradition, exercised more practical weight in the affairs of the capital than many of those who were.
Snouck Hurgronje’s reference occurs in the course of his discussion of the “twelve uleebalangs, who appoint and dethrone princes.” This celebrated formula, he explains, is an Achehnese adat-tradition that divides the guardianship of the sultanate among four chiefs from each of the Three Sagis — the XXVI Mukims, XXV Mukims, and XXII Mukims. To make up the round number, the adat authorities included the head kalis of each sagi and the panglima sagi, leaving two chief uleebalangs for each quarter. The tradition, however, is “even if we disregard its subordination of facts to round numbers,” at most a snapshot of the conditions that existed during a short period.
In reality, Snouck Hurgronje continues, “the whole twelve had not in the long run a voice in the affairs of the capital, while some of them had absolutely no share therein. On the other hand there were uleebalangs in the sultan’s territory and the so-called wakeueh-districts (as for instance Teuku Kali, the Panglima Meuseugit Raya, the Imeums of Lueng Bata and Chade’ etc.) who had much more weight in the scale than many of the members of the board of twelve.”
The Imeum of Chade’ thus exemplifies the structural fact that effective political power in Acheh could not be read off from formal adat-lists. As in the case of the same chief’s appearance as “the most powerful supporter of the finally defeated candidate” in the last conflict for royal honours before the Achehnese War (see Imeum of Chadé), the practical influence of the office far outran its nominal subordination to a territorial uleebalang. The history of the office forms part of the long degeneration of the imeum-ship from its original religious character into a hereditary adat-chieftainship indistinguishable, in practical terms, from that of an uleebalang — a development already visible in the eighteenth-century Hikayat Potjut Muhamat and confirmed by the events of the 1870s.
See Also
- Imeum of Chadé
- Imeum of Lueng Bata
- Teuku Kali
- Panglima Meuseugit Raya
- Chade’
- Three Sagis (XXVI, XXV, XXII Mukims)
- XXVI Mukims
- XXV Mukims
- XXII Mukims
- Coronation of the Sultan
- Acheh War
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.
The Imeum of Chade’ (also written Chadé or Chade) was the influential hereditary chief of the mukim of Chade’ within the territory of the Sultan of Acheh. Together with the Imeum of Lueng Bata, the Teuku Kali, and the Panglima Meuseugit Raya, he is singled out by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese as one of the uleebalangs of the so-called wakeueh-districts — that is, districts in the sultan’s territory — who, although not formally numbered among the “twelve uleebalangs” of adat tradition, exercised more practical weight in the affairs of the capital than many of those who were.
Snouck Hurgronje’s reference occurs in the course of his discussion of the “twelve uleebalangs, who appoint and dethrone princes.” This celebrated formula, he explains, is an Achehnese adat-tradition that divides the guardianship of the sultanate among four chiefs from each of the Three Sagis — the XXVI Mukims, XXV Mukims, and XXII Mukims. To make up the round number, the adat authorities included the head kalis of each sagi and the panglima sagi, leaving two chief uleebalangs for each quarter. The tradition, however, is “even if we disregard its subordination of facts to round numbers,” at most a snapshot of the conditions that existed during a short period.
In reality, Snouck Hurgronje continues, “the whole twelve had not in the long run a voice in the affairs of the capital, while some of them had absolutely no share therein. On the other hand there were uleebalangs in the sultan’s territory and the so-called wakeueh-districts (as for instance Teuku Kali, the Panglima Meuseugit Raya, the Imeums of Lueng Bata and Chade’ etc.) who had much more weight in the scale than many of the members of the board of twelve.”
The Imeum of Chade’ thus exemplifies the structural fact that effective political power in Acheh could not be read off from formal adat-lists. As in the case of the same chief’s appearance as “the most powerful supporter of the finally defeated candidate” in the last conflict for royal honours before the Achehnese War (see Imeum of Chadé), the practical influence of the office far outran its nominal subordination to a territorial uleebalang. The history of the office forms part of the long degeneration of the imeum-ship from its original religious character into a hereditary adat-chieftainship indistinguishable, in practical terms, from that of an uleebalang — a development already visible in the eighteenth-century Hikayat Potjut Muhamat and confirmed by the events of the 1870s.
See Also
- Imeum of Chadé
- Imeum of Lueng Bata
- Teuku Kali
- Panglima Meuseugit Raya
- Chade’
- Three Sagis (XXVI, XXV, XXII Mukims)
- XXVI Mukims
- XXV Mukims
- XXII Mukims
- Coronation of the Sultan
- Acheh War
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.