Teukoe Adan — also written Teuku Adan — was an Atjèhse free band-leader of the civil government period and after, named by Snouck Hurgronje in his Verslag of 23 May 23 May 1892 as one of the two principal free band-leaders (with Teukoe Oema) who acted in the period after the Dutch withdrawal within the concentrated line. The free band-leaders — relatives of the imeum of Loeëng Bata and others — recruited panglima’s (band-leaders) and rakan’s (band-members), and conducted the guerrilla warfare against the Dutch that was the principal form of the Atjèhse resistance in the period.
The Free Band-Leaders
In the period after the Dutch withdrawal within the concentrated line — when it became clear that the kafirs were not almighty, and that there was no excuse for someone who refrained — Teungkoe di Tiro sent word far and wide that with such weak means such great success had been achieved, and that the war must be properly fought. The chiefs were admonished, the population preached to, and the cooperation became general; it became a religious war under the leadership of Teungkoe di Tiro. Yet the lust to unite and to act, also outside the own territory, was no longer general among chiefs and population; it was no longer a true people’s war, but general was the recognition that attacking the kafirs was pious sport. It were, however, more “who wanted and could” who led therein: and so one saw relatives of the imeum of Loeëng Bata, a Teukoe Adan and a Teukoe Oema, act as free band-leaders.
The Bands
The free band-leaders — Teukoe Adan, Teukoe Oema, and the relatives of the imeum of Loeëng Bata — recruited panglima’s (band-leaders), with as rakan’s (band-members): scum who could now give rein to their robbing and murdering instincts in a respectable, even religion-sanctioning way; students who, urged by their teachers, wanted to become tjahét (blood-witnesses); and hot-headed youths, eager for fame. The bands so formed were not large, but in the villages, where one recognised the piety of their striving, they were with their captured weapons irresistible; and against the Dutch too they could do something. By repeatedly taunting the Dutch in the positions to which they wished to limit themselves, it succeeded best to make it very unpleasant for them.
Significance
Teukoe Adan is, with Teukoe Oema, one of the two principal free band-leaders of the Atjèhse resistance in the period after the Dutch withdrawal within the concentrated line, named by Snouck Hurgronje in his Verslag of 23 May 23 May 1892. The free band-leaders — together with the relatives of the imeum of Loeëng Bata — were the principal military organisers of the Atjèhse resistance in the period when it was no longer a true people’s war but a pious sport of attacking the kafirs, and their bands — recruited from scum, students, and hot-headed youths — were the principal instruments of the guerrilla warfare that the Dutch found so unpleasant.
See Also
- Teuku Umar
- Imam of Loeëng Bata
- Tengkoe di Tirou
- Verslag omtrent de religieus-politieke toestanden in Atjeh
- C. Snouck Hurgronje
- Muslemin
- Heiligen Oorlog
- Panglima (Atjehese rank)
- Rakan (Atjehese band-member)
- Loeëng Bata
- Groot-Atjeh
- Aceh War
- Atjeh-oorlog
- 23 May
- 1892
Source
Drie Atjeh-mannen: Snouck Hurgronje — Van Heutsz — Van Daalen, door H. T. Damsté (September 1936). OCR-filename: 20260718_105749_DLP-111-Drie_Atjeh_mannen_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, p. 21.