Pang Arab — literally Panglima Arab, “the Arab commander” — was an Acehnese band chief (bendehoofd) of Arab descent of the V Moekims Montassik federation of Groot-Atjeh who, after the defection of Teuku Umar of 29 March 1896, gathered a hostile band in the Montassik country and was one of the principal Acehnese military antagonists of the Dutch in the first semester of the 1896 campaign. He is one of the principal Acehnese band chiefs of ATJEH ‘96 (1913).
Role in the 1896 campaign
Pang Arab was, in 1896, one of the band chiefs of the V Moekims Montassik federation. The 1e Deel of ATJEH ‘96 records that the hostile bands of the Montassik country, led by T. Brahim Montassik and Pang Arab and Tengkoe Tanah-Abé and T. Seuneuboe, had gathered in the federation after the defection of Teuku Umar and were raiding the surrounding country, robbing their own countrymen. The tuchtiging of the V Moekims Montassik of 16–17 June 1896 under Kolonel Stemfoort was mounted to break these bands.
The Arab-Acehnese community of resistance
The presence of a band chief identified as “Arab” in the ranks of the Montassik resistance is consistent with the wider pattern of Hadhrami sayyid involvement in the Acehnese resistance throughout the Atjeh-oorlog. Hadhrami Arabs — descendants of immigrants from the Hadramaut in southern Arabia — had settled in Atjeh over the centuries and played prominent roles in the religious and military life of the sultanate. The title Habib (literally “my beloved”, an honorific for sayyids claiming descent from the Prophet) is borne by several other resistance figures in the wiki, including Habib Lhong, Habib Samalanga, Habib Abdoerrachman el-Zahir, and others. Pang Arab may have been a habib or a sayyid of the same Hadhrami diaspora, though Kruisheer does not specify his religious status.
Significance
Pang Arab is one of the principal Acehnese band chiefs of ATJEH ‘96 and one of the principal Acehnese military antagonists of the Dutch in the first semester of the 1896 campaign. His band was one of the principal targets of the tuchtiging of the V Moekims Montassik of 16–17 June 1896. His identification as “Arab” places him in the wider context of Hadhrami Arab involvement in the Acehnese resistance.
See Also
- ATJEH ‘96 (book by A. Kruisheer)
- 1896
- V Moekims Montassik
- Tuchtiging der V Moekims Montassik (16–17 June 1896)
- Toeankoe Brahim
- Tengkoe Tanah-Abé
- T. Seuneuboe
- J. W. Stemfoort
- Defection of Teuku Umar (29 March 1896)
- Habib Lhong
- Habib Samalanga
- Aceh War
Source
ATJEH ‘96. 1e Deel, door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L. (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913), Hoofdstuk II, pp. 268–269: bendehoofden als T. Brahim Montassik, Pang Arab.