The name Jamalul Alam — in Achehnese Jemnaloj — was borne in Achehnese history by (at least) two distinct persons, both of whom are mentioned in Vol. I of The Achehnese: a Sultan of Acheh reigning in 1689, and an Arab rival claimant to the throne who contested the succession of Alaedin Juhan Shah in 1756–1760. The two should not be confused.
Jamalul Alam, Sultan of Acheh (1689)
The first Jamalul Alam is recorded in the Achehnese chronicles as ruling in 1689. He is chiefly known to historians of Acheh through a sarakata — a royal edict having the force of law — bearing his name and dated 1689, which forms one of the small corpus of dated Achehnese sarakatas collected and described by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese.
The edict of Jamalul Alam belongs to the same class of documents as the sarakatas of Meukuta Alam (Iskandar Muda, 1607–1636) and of Shamsul-alam (who reigned only one month in 1726–1727). It is one of the principal native sources on which our knowledge of Achehnese political institutions rests. The Jamalul Alam sarakata was later revived — that is, confirmed or re-issued — by Alaedin Juhan, the second prince of the latest (Bugis-origin) dynasty, in 1752. This act of revival reflects the persistent Achehnese practice of legitimising fresh regulations by attaching them, in form, to the authority of an earlier sovereign.
Snouck Hurgronje classes Jamalul Alam’s edict with the other sarakatas he obtained copies of during his residence in Acheh, alongside the documents previously published by Van Langen. These documents, he notes, are “identical in spirit and intention” with Van Langen’s set, but contain more detail regarding the ceremonial of court and festival, the collection and disposal of import taxes, and the customs-tariffs of the port.
The sarakatas as a whole represent the only sustained attempts at centralisation of authority, or at social, political, and religious reformation, that Acheh ever knew. Yet, as Snouck Hurgronje observes, hardly a single one of the innovations comprised in these documents “has passed from document into actuality”; the state of things they reveal as already in being simply “continued its existence.” The reign of Jamalul Alam falls within the long period of dynastic struggle that followed the female rule of Acheh (1641–1699), when perpetual succession disputes prevented the establishment of solid institutions capable of surviving the overthrow of individual rulers.
Jamalul-alam, the Arab rival claimant (1756–1760)
A later and quite different Jamalul-alam was an Arab claimant to the throne of Acheh, who, in 1756–1760, contested the succession of Alaedin Juhan Shah (Alaedin Juhan, the second prince of the latest dynasty, the very prince who had revived the sarakata of his earlier namesake in 1752). The conflict was waged on Alaedin Juhan Shah’s behalf by his brother, the hero of the celebrated Achehnese heroic poem the Hikayat Potjut Muhamat. Snouck Hurgronje describes this poem as depicting “with no small skill the conflict waged by that prince in behalf of his brother Alaedin Juhan Shah (1756–60) against the latter’s Arab rival Jamalul-alam.” In spite of “sundry embroideries which characterize” the poem, it was composed shortly after the war it describes and gives, on the whole, an accurate account of the events and of the condition of things at that period.
The conflict between Alaedin Juhan Shah and the Arab Jamalul-alam — known to Achehnese tradition as the Achehnese succession war of 1756-1760 — is one of the principal episodes of the latest, Bugis-origin dynasty of Acheh. It is in this conflict that the imeums first emerge, in Achehnese heroic poetry, as independent military and political actors; the Imeum of Chadé is recorded as having been the most powerful supporter of the finally defeated candidate in “the last conflict for royal honours before the Achehnese war.” The identity of the defeated candidate is not directly stated by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I, but the reference belongs to the same recurring pattern of disputed successions, of which the war between Alaedin Juhan Shah and the Arab Jamalul-alam is the most famous eighteenth-century example.
Sources
The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
An Arab sayyid and the most remarkable pretender to the throne of Acheh in the 18th century, reigning 1703-1726 and contesting the throne thereafter. The main antagonist of the Hikayat Pochut Muhamat, he is nonetheless regarded by the common people as a saint, with a revered tomb near the principal mosque of Acheh, though the royal family forbids reading the hikayat celebrating his defeat. He escaped his fallen stronghold in female disguise.
See Also
- Sarakata (royal edicts of Acheh)
- Sultan Meukuta Alam
- Shamsul-alam
- Alaedin Juhan Shah
- Alaedin Juhan
- K. F. H. Van Langen
- Female rule of Acheh (1641–1699)
- Achehnese succession war of 1756-1760
- Imeum of Chadé
- Acheh
- Hikayat Pochut Muhamat
- Pochut Muhamat
- Alaedin Ahmat Shah
- Gampong Jawa
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 name Jamalul Alam — in Achehnese Jemnaloj — was borne in Achehnese history by (at least) two distinct persons, both of whom are mentioned in Vol. I of The Achehnese: a Sultan of Acheh reigning in 1689, and an Arab rival claimant to the throne who contested the succession of Alaedin Juhan Shah in 1756–1760. The two should not be confused.
Jamalul Alam, Sultan of Acheh (1689)
The first Jamalul Alam is recorded in the Achehnese chronicles as ruling in 1689. He is chiefly known to historians of Acheh through a sarakata — a royal edict having the force of law — bearing his name and dated 1689, which forms one of the small corpus of dated Achehnese sarakatas collected and described by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I of The Achehnese.
The edict of Jamalul Alam belongs to the same class of documents as the sarakatas of Meukuta Alam (Iskandar Muda, 1607–1636) and of Shamsul-alam (who reigned only one month in 1726–1727). It is one of the principal native sources on which our knowledge of Achehnese political institutions rests. The Jamalul Alam sarakata was later revived — that is, confirmed or re-issued — by Alaedin Juhan, the second prince of the latest (Bugis-origin) dynasty, in 1752. This act of revival reflects the persistent Achehnese practice of legitimising fresh regulations by attaching them, in form, to the authority of an earlier sovereign.
Snouck Hurgronje classes Jamalul Alam’s edict with the other sarakatas he obtained copies of during his residence in Acheh, alongside the documents previously published by Van Langen. These documents, he notes, are “identical in spirit and intention” with Van Langen’s set, but contain more detail regarding the ceremonial of court and festival, the collection and disposal of import taxes, and the customs-tariffs of the port.
The sarakatas as a whole represent the only sustained attempts at centralisation of authority, or at social, political, and religious reformation, that Acheh ever knew. Yet, as Snouck Hurgronje observes, hardly a single one of the innovations comprised in these documents “has passed from document into actuality”; the state of things they reveal as already in being simply “continued its existence.” The reign of Jamalul Alam falls within the long period of dynastic struggle that followed the female rule of Acheh (1641–1699), when perpetual succession disputes prevented the establishment of solid institutions capable of surviving the overthrow of individual rulers.
Jamalul-alam, the Arab rival claimant (1756–1760)
A later and quite different Jamalul-alam was an Arab claimant to the throne of Acheh, who, in 1756–1760, contested the succession of Alaedin Juhan Shah (Alaedin Juhan, the second prince of the latest dynasty, the very prince who had revived the sarakata of his earlier namesake in 1752). The conflict was waged on Alaedin Juhan Shah’s behalf by his brother, the hero of the celebrated Achehnese heroic poem the Hikayat Potjut Muhamat. Snouck Hurgronje describes this poem as depicting “with no small skill the conflict waged by that prince in behalf of his brother Alaedin Juhan Shah (1756–60) against the latter’s Arab rival Jamalul-alam.” In spite of “sundry embroideries which characterize” the poem, it was composed shortly after the war it describes and gives, on the whole, an accurate account of the events and of the condition of things at that period.
The conflict between Alaedin Juhan Shah and the Arab Jamalul-alam — known to Achehnese tradition as the Achehnese succession war of 1756-1760 — is one of the principal episodes of the latest, Bugis-origin dynasty of Acheh. It is in this conflict that the imeums first emerge, in Achehnese heroic poetry, as independent military and political actors; the Imeum of Chadé is recorded as having been the most powerful supporter of the finally defeated candidate in “the last conflict for royal honours before the Achehnese war.” The identity of the defeated candidate is not directly stated by Snouck Hurgronje in Vol. I, but the reference belongs to the same recurring pattern of disputed successions, of which the war between Alaedin Juhan Shah and the Arab Jamalul-alam is the most famous eighteenth-century example.
See Also
- Sarakata (royal edicts of Acheh)
- Sultan Meukuta Alam
- Shamsul-alam
- Alaedin Juhan Shah
- Alaedin Juhan
- K. F. H. Van Langen
- Female rule of Acheh (1641–1699)
- Achehnese succession war of 1756-1760
- Imeum of Chadé
- Acheh
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.