Sajjid al-Mukammal — the traditional name for Sultan Ala ad-din Riayat Shah of Atjèh, who reigned from approximately 1588 to 1604 — is, in Kreemer’s history, the sultan under whose reign the first Dutch visitors came to Atjèh and under whom the diplomatic engagement between the Atjèh sultanate and the Dutch Republic began. His reign sits at the threshold between the golden century of Atjèh (1550–1650) and the great reign of Iskandar Muda (1607–1636).
The first Dutch visit (1599)
Kreemer records that it was during the reign of Sajjid al-Mukammal — specifically in 1599 — “dat onze voorouders het eerst Atjèh bezochten” — “that our ancestors first visited Atjèh.” In that year the brothers Cornelis and Frederik de Houtman, in the service of the Zeeuwschen reeder Balthazar de Moucheron, arrived with two ships before Atjèh. The visit ended disastrously: “het ongeluk wilde, dat juist in dien tijd de verhouding van Atjèh tot de Portugeezen beter was dan te voren. Dit werkte ongunstig op de ontvangst der Nederlanders met het bekende gevolg, dat Cornelis verraderlijk vermoord en Frederik, die tijdens den overval aan wal vertoefde, gevangen genomen werd” — “misfortune willed that just at that time the relationship of Atjèh to the Portuguese was better than before. This worked unfavourably on the reception of the Dutchmen, with the well-known consequence that Cornelis was treacherously murdered and Frederik, who was ashore during the assault, was taken prisoner.” The attempt to ransom the prisoners failed, and the two ships’ commanders undertook the return voyage to Middelburg.
Paulus van Caerden’s visit (1600)
In November 1600, Kreemer records, Paulus van Caerden — “een tochtgenoot van Pieter Both, het bevel voerende over twee schepen van de Brabantsche compagnie” — “a voyage-companion of Pieter Both, commanding two ships of the Brabantine company” — appeared before the roadstead of Atjèh to establish relations. He initially succeeded in concluding a commercial treaty, but when Atjèh’s good feelings — “op aanstoken der Portugeezen” — “at the instigation of the Portuguese” — turned again, he unexpectedly had the pepper lifted from all the ships lying in the harbour and undertook the return voyage in 1601. Frederik de Houtman had managed to escape to Van Caerden’s ship, but for the sake of good relations he surrendered himself again into the hands of the Sultan.
The embassy to Prince Maurits (1601)
Also during Sajjid al-Mukammal’s reign, Kreemer records the first Atjèh embassy to the Dutch Republic. When in 1601 the Gerard le Roy and Laurens Bicker mission — a part of a Middelburgsch squadron — came to Atjèh with orders to deliver gifts and a letter from Prins Maurits to the Sultan, they were well received and obtained permission to establish a factorij. Frederik de Houtman and his companions regained their freedom. “Een andere bijzonderheid tijdens het bestuur van Soeltan Ala ad-din Riajat Sjah was, dat met de thuisvarende Zeeuwsche schepen een gezantschap van twee Atjèhsche grooten naar Prins Maurits werd gezonden, om het verbond van vriendschap met hem te bekrachtigen. Een dezer afgevaardigden kwam tijdens de zeereis te overlijden, de ander volbracht zijn zending en bezocht den Prins in het belegeringskamp voor Grave” — “Another particularity during the government of Sultan Ala ad-din Riayat Shah was that with the homeward-bound Zeeland ships an embassy of two Atjèhnese grandees was sent to Prince Maurits, to ratify the bond of friendship with him. One of these envoys died during the sea voyage; the other fulfilled his mission and visited the Prince in the siege-camp before Grave.”
Succession
Sajjid al-Mukammal was succeeded, Kreemer records, by “den volgenden Soeltan Ali Riajat Sjah III, alias Soeltan Moeda (1604–1607)” — “the next Sultan Ali Riayat Shah III, alias Sultan Muda (1604–1607)” — whose brief reign Kreemer passes over in silence, before the great reign of Iskandar Muda began in 1607.
See Also
- Acheh
- Cornelis de Houtman
- Frederik de Houtman
- Balthazar de Moucheron
- Paulus van Caerden
- Gerard le Roy
- Laurens Bicker
- Prince Maurits
- Iskander Muda
- Grave
- Middelburg
- Portuguese conquest of Malaka (1511)
- 1588
- 1599
- 1600
- 1601
- 1604
Source
Atjèh. Algemeen samenvattend overzicht van land en volk van Atjèh en onderhoorigheden, door J. Kreemer, Archivaris van het Atjèh Instituut. Eerste Deel. Leiden: N.V. Boekhandel en Drukkerij voorheen E.J. Brill, 1922. Hoofdstuk I, A (“Oudste geschiedenis tot 1824”), blz. 4–5.