Sultan of Langkat — the ruler of the Landschap (self-governing Malay territory) of Langkat on Sumatra’s East Coast — was elevated from the rank of Radja to Sultan in 1887 by the Dutch colonial authorities in recognition of his active resistance to the Acehnese raiding parties that had threatened the northern plantation and petroleum belt throughout the 1870s and 1880s. The Landschap of Langkat was also the territory where Zijlker had begun petroleum test-borings in 1883, leading to the concession of 1884 on which the Koninklijke Petroleum Maatschappij was founded in 1890.
Resistance to Acehnese raids
When Acehnese raiding parties attacked the tobacco plantations of Glen Bervi, Tamaram, and Ludwigsburg in 1876 — wounding the manager of Tamaram and killing one of his assistants — the Kedjoeroean (district head) of Bohorok collaborated with the raiders and subsequently fled to the Alas lands. The ruler of Langkat took the opposite course: he resisted the invaders actively. Dr. T. Volker records that the Langkat ruler “had resisted the Acehnese raids actively and was elevated from Radja to Sultan in 1887” in acknowledgement of these services.
Role in the 1878 Langkat–Tamiang transfer
The Landschap of Langkat was also the subject of the 1878 Langkat–Tamiang transfer, by which the Dutch colonial government renegotiated its relationship with the Langkat ruling house and the adjacent Tamiang zone. The Langkat ruler’s cooperation with the Dutch — in contrast to the Kedjoeroean of Bohorok’s collaboration with the Acehnese — was a significant factor in the stability of the northern plantation frontier.
Petroleum concession
The Sultan’s territory included the area near Pangkalan Brandan where Zijlker began petroleum test-borings in 1883. The 1884 concession granted by the Langkat ruling authority was the legal instrument on which the Koninklijke Petroleum Maatschappij was founded in 1890, making the Sultan of Langkat — however indirectly — one of the legal progenitors of the enterprise that eventually became Royal Dutch Shell.
See Also
- Langkat
- Acehnese raids on East Sumatra
- Expedition against Tamiang (1893)
- 1878 Langkat–Tamiang transfer
- Aeilco Zijlker
- Koninklijke Petroleum Maatschappij
- Pangkalan Brandan
- Glen Bervi
- Tamaram
- Bohorok
- 1876
- 1878
- 1883
- 1884
- 1887
- 1890
Source
Van Oerbosch tot Cultuurgebied: Een Schets van de Beteekenis van de Tabak, de Andere Cultures en de Industrie ter Oostkust van Sumatra, by Dr. T. Volker (Medan: Deli Planters Vereeniging, 1928), pp. 44–54. Delpher Digital Library, reference DLP-76. Universiteitsbibliotheek Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, shelfmark 09383.