Soetan Moeda Indra Kesoema was the Langkat-appointed ruler of a fragment of the Bandahara lands in Tamiang, whose disputed authority over the southern part of the Bandahara territory became the focal point of a long-running quarrel between the Sultan of Langkat and the Radja Bandahara — a quarrel that ultimately drew the Dutch into the politics of Tamiang and led to the formal transfer of Langkat’s claims over the Tamiang landschapjes to the Netherlands-Indies Government in 1878.
The Tjoet Gát inheritance
The Bandahara territory, on both banks of the Tamiang River, had been ceded by the two Keudjeuroeën of Karang and Moeda to the heir of a certain Tjoet Gát — a subject of the Sultan of Langkat who had led the combined forces of the two Keudjeuroeëns to victory against adventurers from Meureudoe. Tjoet Gát himself fell in the battle; in gratitude, the two Keudjeuroeëns granted the Bandahara territory to his heir, who became the first Radja Bandahara. The Sultan of Langkat — Tjoet Gát having been his subject — used the occasion to proclaim his own suzerainty over the new landschapje, and on the death of the first Radja Bandahara, appointed his own nephew, Soetan Moeda Indra Kesoema, to rule over part of the Bandahara territory.
The war with Atjeh and Langsa
The Bandahara heir’s response to this Langkat intervention was armed resistance, supported by Atjeh and Langsa. The war that followed — between Langkat, on one side, and the Radja Bandahara (backed by Atjeh and Langsa) on the other — produced no decisive outcome. Years later, in 1861, the Sultan of Langkat exploited the presence of Dutch warships off Poeloe Kompai to summon the Tamiang princes and induce them to appeal to the Dutch Gouvernement and to offer their submission. The Keudjeuroeën Karang and the Keudjeuroeën Moeda answered the summons, and at the same occasion recognised Soetan Moeda Indra Kesoema as the legitimate ruler of the Bandahara fragment.
Dutch confirmation and the 1878 transfer
In 1865 the Dutch Government issued formal acts of confirmation to the Keudjeuroeën Karang, to the Keudjeuroeën Moeda, and to Soetan Moeda Indra Kesoema. In 1878 the Sultan of Langkat formally transferred his rights over the Tamiang landschapjes to the Dutch Gouvernement, which then placed a bestuursambtenaar — a civil administrator — in the territory. De Buitenbezittingen records that Tamiang was incorporated into the indirect bestuurd gebied of the Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden only in 1908, having previously been administered as part of the Oostkust van Sumatra on the basis of Langkat’s now-extinguished claims.
See Also
- Tamiang
- Bandahara
- Sultan of Langkat
- Tjoet Gát
- Keudjeuroeën Karang
- Keudjeuroeën Moeda
- Poeloe Kompai
- 1878
- 1908
- Langsa
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. 77–79.
Soetan Moeda Indra Kesoema was the Langkat-appointed ruler of a fragment of the Bandahara lands in Tamiang, whose disputed authority over the southern part of the Bandahara territory became the focal point of a long-running quarrel between the Sultan of Langkat and the Radja Bandahara — a quarrel that ultimately drew the Dutch into the politics of Tamiang and led to the formal transfer of Langkat’s claims over the Tamiang landschapjes to the Netherlands-Indies Government in 1878.
The Tjoet Gát inheritance
The Bandahara territory, on both banks of the Tamiang River, had been ceded by the two Keudjeuroeën of Karang and Moeda to the heir of a certain Tjoet Gát — a subject of the Sultan of Langkat who had led the combined forces of the two Keudjeuroeëns to victory against adventurers from Meureudoe. Tjoet Gát himself fell in the battle; in gratitude, the two Keudjeuroeëns granted the Bandahara territory to his heir, who became the first Radja Bandahara. The Sultan of Langkat — Tjoet Gát having been his subject — used the occasion to proclaim his own suzerainty over the new landschapje, and on the death of the first Radja Bandahara, appointed his own nephew, Soetan Moeda Indra Kesoema, to rule over part of the Bandahara territory.
The war with Atjeh and Langsa
The Bandahara heir’s response to this Langkat intervention was armed resistance, supported by Atjeh and Langsa. The war that followed — between Langkat, on one side, and the Radja Bandahara (backed by Atjeh and Langsa) on the other — produced no decisive outcome. Years later, in 1861, the Sultan of Langkat exploited the presence of Dutch warships off Poeloe Kompai to summon the Tamiang princes and induce them to appeal to the Dutch Gouvernement and to offer their submission. The Keudjeuroeën Karang and the Keudjeuroeën Moeda answered the summons, and at the same occasion recognised Soetan Moeda Indra Kesoema as the legitimate ruler of the Bandahara fragment.
Dutch confirmation and the 1878 transfer
In 1865 the Dutch Government issued formal acts of confirmation to the Keudjeuroeën Karang, to the Keudjeuroeën Moeda, and to Soetan Moeda Indra Kesoema. In 1878 the Sultan of Langkat formally transferred his rights over the Tamiang landschapjes to the Dutch Gouvernement, which then placed a bestuursambtenaar — a civil administrator — in the territory. De Buitenbezittingen records that Tamiang was incorporated into the indirect bestuurd gebied of the Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden only in 1908, having previously been administered as part of the Oostkust van Sumatra on the basis of Langkat’s now-extinguished claims.
See Also
- Tamiang
- Bandahara
- Sultan of Langkat
- Tjoet Gát
- Keudjeuroeën Karang
- Keudjeuroeën Moeda
- Poeloe Kompai
- 1878
- 1908
- Langsa
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. 77–79.