Panglima Dagang is the legendary son of Saëda — the founder of the Kédjoerön Boekét line — and the progenitor of the Boekét Lah branch of the Gayo Boekét clan, whose descendants eventually prevailed in the long contest with the rival Boekét Ewéh branch for the Boekét chieftaincy. De Buitenbezittingen follows the Lah tradition, which it judges “de minst onbetrouwbare,” in tracing the legitimacy of the Kédjoerön Boekét Lah line back to Panglima Dagang’s recovery of the bawar — the insignia of chieftaincy — through a decisive act of filial piety and political acumen.
The dispersal after Saëda
According to the legend, when the invasion of the Bataq doeloe poeloh toedjéh drove the Boekét family from the Meerstreek (the Laut Tawar basin), Saëda returned to Seroelë and disappeared from the legend. Mérah Lama, Saëda’s son by his second (Acehnese) wife, went with his two stepbrothers Ménèt and Mpos Kèlaq to Kébajakan, where — in possession of the bawar — he was installed as Kédjoerön Boekét. Panglima Dagang, the younger full brother of Mérah Lama, settled in Meureudoe.
The recovery of the bawar
The constitutional crisis that defined the Boekét succession arose when Ménèt, the stepbrother, contrived to seize the principal bawar — the keris kepala soeasa, the gold-headed kris — and refused to return it. By Gayo adat, “wie de bawar heeft, ook kédjoerön is” — whoever holds the bawar is the Kédjoerön — so Ménèt claimed the dignity. The matter was further complicated by the prang toedjéh tahoen (the “ten-years war”) that Ménèt’s refusal to pay haol (tribute) to the Sultan of Atjeh provoked, which ended with the capture of many rédjë’s of the Meerstreek by the Acehnese. The ransom demanded for these chiefs included the surrender of the keris kepala soeasa; Ménèt, forced to comply, lost the bawar and, with it, his effective claim to the Kédjoerön title.
The resolution came from Panglima Dagang. Hearing of the matter in Meureudoe, he returned to the Meerstreek and demanded from Mérah Lama the remaining bawar; he then succeeded in buying back the captured kris from the Atjehsche aanvoerder, thus reuniting all the bawar in one hand. He settled at Seroelë and assumed the title Kédjoerön Boekét. Ménèt’s forfeiture was complete: he had lost the kris, and his claim had been extinguished by the very act of surrendering it.
Descendants and the Lah–Ewéh split
The descendants of Panglima Dagang became the Boekét Lah lineage, which held the office of Kédjoerön Boekét thereafter. The descendants of Ménèt became the Boekét Ewéh, who nevertheless continued to claim the title and to exercise many of its functions, exploiting the unwritten rule that the more accessible of the two Kédjoeröns would be the one approached for decisions. De Buitenbezittingen records that the Dutch eventually strengthened the Boekét Lah’s “wankelende positie” by extending recognition to the lawful Kédjoerön, though the Ewéh branch retained considerable influence, particularly in the great kampong of Bintang and across most of the Boekét territory outside the Lah seat at Seroelë.
See Also
- Saëda (Gayo progenitor)
- Kédjoerön Boekét
- Bawar (Gayo regalia)
- Bataq Doeloe Poeloh Toedjéh
- Prang toedjéh tahoen
- Gajoland
- Laoet Tawar
- Meureudoe
- Sultans of Atjeh
Source
De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 2: Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 96–99. Citing C. Snouck Hurgronje, Het Gajoland, pp. 170–191.
Panglima Dagang is the legendary son of Saëda — the founder of the Kédjoerön Boekét line — and the progenitor of the Boekét Lah branch of the Gayo Boekét clan, whose descendants eventually prevailed in the long contest with the rival Boekét Ewéh branch for the Boekét chieftaincy. De Buitenbezittingen follows the Lah tradition, which it judges “de minst onbetrouwbare,” in tracing the legitimacy of the Kédjoerön Boekét Lah line back to Panglima Dagang’s recovery of the bawar — the insignia of chieftaincy — through a decisive act of filial piety and political acumen.
The dispersal after Saëda
According to the legend, when the invasion of the Bataq doeloe poeloh toedjéh drove the Boekét family from the Meerstreek (the Laut Tawar basin), Saëda returned to Seroelë and disappeared from the legend. Mérah Lama, Saëda’s son by his second (Acehnese) wife, went with his two stepbrothers Ménèt and Mpos Kèlaq to Kébajakan, where — in possession of the bawar — he was installed as Kédjoerön Boekét. Panglima Dagang, the younger full brother of Mérah Lama, settled in Meureudoe.
The recovery of the bawar
The constitutional crisis that defined the Boekét succession arose when Ménèt, the stepbrother, contrived to seize the principal bawar — the keris kepala soeasa, the gold-headed kris — and refused to return it. By Gayo adat, “wie de bawar heeft, ook kédjoerön is” — whoever holds the bawar is the Kédjoerön — so Ménèt claimed the dignity. The matter was further complicated by the prang toedjéh tahoen (the “ten-years war”) that Ménèt’s refusal to pay haol (tribute) to the Sultan of Atjeh provoked, which ended with the capture of many rédjë’s of the Meerstreek by the Acehnese. The ransom demanded for these chiefs included the surrender of the keris kepala soeasa; Ménèt, forced to comply, lost the bawar and, with it, his effective claim to the Kédjoerön title.
The resolution came from Panglima Dagang. Hearing of the matter in Meureudoe, he returned to the Meerstreek and demanded from Mérah Lama the remaining bawar; he then succeeded in buying back the captured kris from the Atjehsche aanvoerder, thus reuniting all the bawar in one hand. He settled at Seroelë and assumed the title Kédjoerön Boekét. Ménèt’s forfeiture was complete: he had lost the kris, and his claim had been extinguished by the very act of surrendering it.
Descendants and the Lah–Ewéh split
The descendants of Panglima Dagang became the Boekét Lah lineage, which held the office of Kédjoerön Boekét thereafter. The descendants of Ménèt became the Boekét Ewéh, who nevertheless continued to claim the title and to exercise many of its functions, exploiting the unwritten rule that the more accessible of the two Kédjoeröns would be the one approached for decisions. De Buitenbezittingen records that the Dutch eventually strengthened the Boekét Lah’s “wankelende positie” by extending recognition to the lawful Kédjoerön, though the Ewéh branch retained considerable influence, particularly in the great kampong of Bintang and across most of the Boekét territory outside the Lah seat at Seroelë.
See Also
- Saëda (Gayo progenitor)
- Kédjoerön Boekét
- Bawar (Gayo regalia)
- Bataq Doeloe Poeloh Toedjéh
- Prang toedjéh tahoen
- Gajoland
- Laoet Tawar
- Meureudoe
- Sultans of Atjeh
Source
De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 2: Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 96–99. Citing C. Snouck Hurgronje, Het Gajoland, pp. 170–191.