The Sultan of Turkey in the sixteenth century — known to the Achehnese as the Raja Rom, “the lord of all believers” — is the Ottoman sovereign who, in the popular Achehnese legend preserved by Snouck Hurgronje in The Achehnese Vol. I, received the embassy sent from Acheh to Stambul and in return sent the great cannon Lada Sichupa’ and a colony of skilled artisans to the Achehnese court. The legend accounts both for the connexion between Acheh and the Sublime Porte and for the strictness with which the feast of the Prophet’s birth (the Mo’lot, or Maulud) was observed throughout the Achehnese country.
In the tradition as recorded by Snouck, the Sultan of Turkey was for a year or two ignorant of the existence of Acheh. The Ottoman officials, moved by foolish pride, denied the Achehnese ambassadors the audience they sought, and the envoys were gradually compelled to sell their cargo of pepper to supply themselves with the necessaries of life. At last the Sultan, returning one Friday from the mosque to his palace, espied the Achehnese among the crowd of respectful spectators; struck by their peculiar dress, he enquired whence they came and what had brought them to Constantinople.
Once the desired explanation had been given, the Sultan vented his wrath on the officials whose foolish pride had so long denied this embassy admittance to his presence, and requested the strangers to come that same day to his palace. The Achehnese, delighted at having attained their object, were at the same time ashamed at having no clothing left suitable for such a visit, and also because, out of the whole cargo of pepper which they had brought with them, only a single chupa’ remained. When admitted to the Sultan’s presence, they told him about the kingdom of Acheh, and informed him that they had wished to present him with a cargo of pepper by way of first tribute, but were compelled to turn it into money for their needs, so that they could now only offer him a single chupa’ as a sample of that product. The Sultan accepted the gift most graciously, and requested them to tell him all about affairs in Acheh, the distance of that kingdom from Stambul, the difficulties of the journey and so forth.
The Sultan then made three grants to his new vassal. First, he ordered a great cannon to be given them as a return present, and to this was given the name of Lada Sichupa’. Second, in compliance with their request, he gave them a number of skilled artisans from his kingdom to instruct their fellow-countrymen in various arts hitherto unknown to them — among whom, according to the tradition, were the Syrian settlers who founded the gampong of Bitay beside the Dalam and taught the Achehnese, among other things, the art of casting cannon. Third, the Sultan of Turkey considered it unbefitting to bind his new vassal to the regular despatch of embassies or tribute, since the great length of the journey presented too many difficulties. “Let the faithful observance,” said he, “of a religious custom in your country take the place of the yearly payments which elsewhere constitute the mark of submission to a suzerain. The observance of the feast of Mohammad’s birth is among the most meritorious of works of devotion. So let there be no village in Acheh where the inhabitants do not publicly hold a Mo’lot feast — that shall be your tribute to the lord of the Faithful.”
This legend, though legendary in detail, has a historical core: the Achehnese sultanate of the sixteenth century did in fact exchange embassies with the Ottoman Porte, and Ottoman gun-founders and military instructors were active in Acheh in the reigns of the great sultans. The personification of the Ottoman suzerain in the Achehnese tradition — as a remote and almost fabulous figure, exercising no political authority but binding the Achehnese to a religious observance — reflects the peculiar character of Achehnese Islam, in which the connexion with Stambul survived chiefly as a pious memory and a ceremonial precedent.
See Also
- Sultan of Acheh (16th century)
- Lada Sichupa’
- Stambul
- Bitay
- Teungku di Bitay
- Maulud
- Sultanate of Acheh
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
The Sultan of Turkey in the sixteenth century — known to the Achehnese as the Raja Rom, “the lord of all believers” — is the Ottoman sovereign who, in the popular Achehnese legend preserved by Snouck Hurgronje in The Achehnese Vol. I, received the embassy sent from Acheh to Stambul and in return sent the great cannon Lada Sichupa’ and a colony of skilled artisans to the Achehnese court. The legend accounts both for the connexion between Acheh and the Sublime Porte and for the strictness with which the feast of the Prophet’s birth (the Mo’lot, or Maulud) was observed throughout the Achehnese country.
In the tradition as recorded by Snouck, the Sultan of Turkey was for a year or two ignorant of the existence of Acheh. The Ottoman officials, moved by foolish pride, denied the Achehnese ambassadors the audience they sought, and the envoys were gradually compelled to sell their cargo of pepper to supply themselves with the necessaries of life. At last the Sultan, returning one Friday from the mosque to his palace, espied the Achehnese among the crowd of respectful spectators; struck by their peculiar dress, he enquired whence they came and what had brought them to Constantinople.
Once the desired explanation had been given, the Sultan vented his wrath on the officials whose foolish pride had so long denied this embassy admittance to his presence, and requested the strangers to come that same day to his palace. The Achehnese, delighted at having attained their object, were at the same time ashamed at having no clothing left suitable for such a visit, and also because, out of the whole cargo of pepper which they had brought with them, only a single chupa’ remained. When admitted to the Sultan’s presence, they told him about the kingdom of Acheh, and informed him that they had wished to present him with a cargo of pepper by way of first tribute, but were compelled to turn it into money for their needs, so that they could now only offer him a single chupa’ as a sample of that product. The Sultan accepted the gift most graciously, and requested them to tell him all about affairs in Acheh, the distance of that kingdom from Stambul, the difficulties of the journey and so forth.
The Sultan then made three grants to his new vassal. First, he ordered a great cannon to be given them as a return present, and to this was given the name of Lada Sichupa’. Second, in compliance with their request, he gave them a number of skilled artisans from his kingdom to instruct their fellow-countrymen in various arts hitherto unknown to them — among whom, according to the tradition, were the Syrian settlers who founded the gampong of Bitay beside the Dalam and taught the Achehnese, among other things, the art of casting cannon. Third, the Sultan of Turkey considered it unbefitting to bind his new vassal to the regular despatch of embassies or tribute, since the great length of the journey presented too many difficulties. “Let the faithful observance,” said he, “of a religious custom in your country take the place of the yearly payments which elsewhere constitute the mark of submission to a suzerain. The observance of the feast of Mohammad’s birth is among the most meritorious of works of devotion. So let there be no village in Acheh where the inhabitants do not publicly hold a Mo’lot feast — that shall be your tribute to the lord of the Faithful.”
This legend, though legendary in detail, has a historical core: the Achehnese sultanate of the sixteenth century did in fact exchange embassies with the Ottoman Porte, and Ottoman gun-founders and military instructors were active in Acheh in the reigns of the great sultans. The personification of the Ottoman suzerain in the Achehnese tradition — as a remote and almost fabulous figure, exercising no political authority but binding the Achehnese to a religious observance — reflects the peculiar character of Achehnese Islam, in which the connexion with Stambul survived chiefly as a pious memory and a ceremonial precedent.
See Also
- Sultan of Acheh (16th century)
- Lada Sichupa’
- Stambul
- Bitay
- Teungku di Bitay
- Maulud
- Sultanate of Acheh
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.