Said Hussein (also written Syed Hussein, Syed Hussain, Said Hussain) was a wealthy Arab-descended (said) trader of Penang whose family became entangled in the Acheh succession dispute of the early nineteenth century. He was the father of Sultan Saif ul-Alum (Syf) and of Said Akil, and himself the means by which the Achehnese opposition in 1815 sought to displace Sultan Jauhar Alum. Although he never reigned, his role was pivotal: the Penang government’s involvement in his expedition of 1815 set in motion the train of events that led, four years later, to Raffles’s Acheh treaty of 22 April 1819.
Background and the offer of the throne
Hussein was a said — that is, a descendant of the Prophet — and was believed to be a remote relative of the Achehnese sultans’ house. He lived at Penang as a “very rich merchant”; Van der Kemp suggests that it was above all his wealth that recommended him to the Achehnese opposition. After ten years of Jauhar Alum’s rule, the dissident chiefs had judged themselves strong enough to seek a replacement, and they offered him the throne. He declined it for himself, pleading his age, but accepted it on behalf of his second son Syf, who had until then served as boatswain, or something of the kind, on his father’s boats.
The 1815 expedition and its consequences
In mid-1815 Hussein sailed for Acheh accompanied by his son. The expedition was fitted out at Penang, and although the British administration there had “no special reason to intervene”, it had not interfered either. At Acheh the assembled chiefs proclaimed Syf as sultan under the style Sil-ul-illum Shak. Among the supporters of the revolution was Tunku Pakih, the powerful potentate of Pedir. The new sultan soon quarrelled with Tunku Pakih, who thereupon went over to the deposed Jauhar Alum; Syf in turn was forced to flee the capital, taking up residence at Telok Semawé on the east coast. Hussein thus saw his son installed only briefly at Acheh, and thedynastic project threatened to dissolve into a protracted civil war.
Role in the Raffles-Coombs Commission (1819)
When, in January 1819, the joint commission of Raffles and Captain Coombs was preparing to sail for Acheh, Hussein again appeared on the stage. At a Penang conference attended by Hussein himself, it was agreed that the chiefs in the neighbourhood of the capital would be notified directly of the Commission’s approach, and that “vader Hussain” (as Van der Kemp calls him) would undertake to warn his son Syf at Telok Semawé. Raffles’s instructions to Lt. Criddle of the Company’s ship Minto, sent ahead to Pedir on 20 January 1819, likewise contemplated that “Syed Hussain the father of the Chief residing at Tullosumoy” should be the channel of communication to Syf. Hussein thus acted as intermediary between the British Commission and his son throughout the negotiations.
Later years and family
Hussein’s family continued to play a role in the Achehnese and east-coast politics of the region. His younger son Said Akil was later (c. 1824) to marry a daughter of the Sultan of Deli and, as Raja Mooda (deputy ruler), to reduce Deli to disorder until removed by British pressure in 1828. John Anderson, the Penang translator and writer, was in correspondence with the family in 1826 concerning Akil’s activities. Hussein’s own later life is not detailed in Van der Kemp’s article; he is mentioned in 1824 (in the Sultan of Deli’s letter of 27 August 1824 to the Governor of Penang) as the late Syed Hussein, whose son had been adopted by the Sultan of Deli as his own son.
See Also
- Sultan Saif ul-Alum
- Said Akil
- Sultan Jauhar Alum
- Tunku Pakih
- Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
- Captain Coombs
- Raffles-Coombs Acheh Commission (1819)
- Said Hussein’s expedition to Acheh (1815)
- Acheh succession dispute (1802-1819)
Source
Raffles’ Atjeh-overeenkomst van 1819, by P. H. van der Kemp, in Bijdragen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië, 6e Volgr., Deel VII (1900), pp. 159-239. Universiteitsbibliotheek Vrije Universiteit, LS.08781.
Said Hussein (also written Syed Hussein, Syed Hussain, Said Hussain) was a wealthy Arab-descended (said) trader of Penang whose family became entangled in the Acheh succession dispute of the early nineteenth century. He was the father of Sultan Saif ul-Alum (Syf) and of Said Akil, and himself the means by which the Achehnese opposition in 1815 sought to displace Sultan Jauhar Alum. Although he never reigned, his role was pivotal: the Penang government’s involvement in his expedition of 1815 set in motion the train of events that led, four years later, to Raffles’s Acheh treaty of 22 April 1819.
Background and the offer of the throne
Hussein was a said — that is, a descendant of the Prophet — and was believed to be a remote relative of the Achehnese sultans’ house. He lived at Penang as a “very rich merchant”; Van der Kemp suggests that it was above all his wealth that recommended him to the Achehnese opposition. After ten years of Jauhar Alum’s rule, the dissident chiefs had judged themselves strong enough to seek a replacement, and they offered him the throne. He declined it for himself, pleading his age, but accepted it on behalf of his second son Syf, who had until then served as boatswain, or something of the kind, on his father’s boats.
The 1815 expedition and its consequences
In mid-1815 Hussein sailed for Acheh accompanied by his son. The expedition was fitted out at Penang, and although the British administration there had “no special reason to intervene”, it had not interfered either. At Acheh the assembled chiefs proclaimed Syf as sultan under the style Sil-ul-illum Shak. Among the supporters of the revolution was Tunku Pakih, the powerful potentate of Pedir. The new sultan soon quarrelled with Tunku Pakih, who thereupon went over to the deposed Jauhar Alum; Syf in turn was forced to flee the capital, taking up residence at Telok Semawé on the east coast. Hussein thus saw his son installed only briefly at Acheh, and thedynastic project threatened to dissolve into a protracted civil war.
Role in the Raffles-Coombs Commission (1819)
When, in January 1819, the joint commission of Raffles and Captain Coombs was preparing to sail for Acheh, Hussein again appeared on the stage. At a Penang conference attended by Hussein himself, it was agreed that the chiefs in the neighbourhood of the capital would be notified directly of the Commission’s approach, and that “vader Hussain” (as Van der Kemp calls him) would undertake to warn his son Syf at Telok Semawé. Raffles’s instructions to Lt. Criddle of the Company’s ship Minto, sent ahead to Pedir on 20 January 1819, likewise contemplated that “Syed Hussain the father of the Chief residing at Tullosumoy” should be the channel of communication to Syf. Hussein thus acted as intermediary between the British Commission and his son throughout the negotiations.
Later years and family
Hussein’s family continued to play a role in the Achehnese and east-coast politics of the region. His younger son Said Akil was later (c. 1824) to marry a daughter of the Sultan of Deli and, as Raja Mooda (deputy ruler), to reduce Deli to disorder until removed by British pressure in 1828. John Anderson, the Penang translator and writer, was in correspondence with the family in 1826 concerning Akil’s activities. Hussein’s own later life is not detailed in Van der Kemp’s article; he is mentioned in 1824 (in the Sultan of Deli’s letter of 27 August 1824 to the Governor of Penang) as the late Syed Hussein, whose son had been adopted by the Sultan of Deli as his own son.
See Also
- Sultan Saif ul-Alum
- Said Akil
- Sultan Jauhar Alum
- Tunku Pakih
- Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
- Captain Coombs
- Raffles-Coombs Acheh Commission (1819)
- Said Hussein’s expedition to Acheh (1815)
- Acheh succession dispute (1802-1819)
Source
Raffles’ Atjeh-overeenkomst van 1819, by P. H. van der Kemp, in Bijdragen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië, 6e Volgr., Deel VII (1900), pp. 159-239. Universiteitsbibliotheek Vrije Universiteit, LS.08781.