Teukoe Bin was the oelèëbalang — self-governing ruler — of the landschap Seunagan on the West Coast of Atjèh, one of the two loyal Dutch self-governors — the other being Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Ali Akbar of the Kawaj XVI — whose displacement by the governing commission assembled by the F-propagandist Said Aboe Bakar at Meulabóh in March 1942 marked the political reorganisation of the West Coast under the Japanese occupation. Piekaar’s Atjèh and the War with Japan treats Teukoe Bin of Seunagan as one of the principal casualties of the F-organisatie’s activation — the loyal oelèëbalang whose removal illustrated the costs of the Dutch loss of Atjèh.
The loyal self-governor
Teukoe Bin of Seunagan was, Piekaar records, one of “the two loyal self-governors” of the West Coast — the other being Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Ali Akbar of the Kawaj XVI. The designation “loyal” reflected the political alignment of the two oelèëbalang’s with the Dutch administration: their continued adherence to the colonial order in a period when the religious-political movement around the Poesa and the F-organisatie’s network were working to undermine that order. The loyalty of the two men was, in the events of March 1942, the principal asset the Dutch lost on the West Coast.
The governing commission at Meulabóh
When the first Japanese troops entered Meulabóh in March 1942 — with the F-propagandists Said Aboe Bakar and Said Doellah among them — “a governing commission was immediately formed, consisting mainly of opponents of the two loyal self-governors Teukoe Bin of Seunagan and Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Ali Akbar of the Kawaj XVI.” The composition of the commission — drawn from the political opponents of the loyal oelèëbalang’s — reflected the F-organisatie’s pre-invasion strategy of mobilising the dissident network against the Dutch-aligned rulers. Most of the members of the new commission “therefore belonged to the same group of persons to whom the letters found on Said Doellah were addressed” — the network of correspondents whose letters, intercepted by the Dutch before the invasion, had revealed the existence of the F-organisatie’s fifth-column apparatus.
Significance
The displacement of Teukoe Bin of Seunagan was, in Piekaar’s account, one of the defining episodes of the West Coast under the Japanese occupation. The installation of the governing commission — drawn from the opponents of the loyal oelèëbalang’s — illustrated the political reorganisation that the F-organisatie’s activation had produced: the displacement of the Dutch-aligned rulers by the Japanese-aligned dissidents. The loyal oelèëbalang’s, who had been the principal instruments of Dutch indirect rule on the West Coast, were removed in favour of the F-organisatie’s network.
See Also
- [Seunagan]
- [Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Ali Akbar]
- [Kawaj XVI]
- [Said Aboe Bakar]
- [Said Doellah]
- [Meulabóh]
- [F-organisatie]
- [Fujiwara-kikan]
- [1942]
Source
Atjèh and the War with Japan, by Dr. A. J. Piekaar, translated from the Dutch original Atjèh en de oorlog met Japan (1949) (‘s-Gravenhage/Bandung: N.V. Uitgeverij W. van Hoeve; English edition), Chapter V, § 4.
Teukoe Bin was the oelèëbalang — self-governing ruler — of the landschap Seunagan on the West Coast of Atjèh, one of the two loyal Dutch self-governors — the other being Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Ali Akbar of the Kawaj XVI — whose displacement by the governing commission assembled by the F-propagandist Said Aboe Bakar at Meulabóh in March 1942 marked the political reorganisation of the West Coast under the Japanese occupation. Piekaar’s Atjèh and the War with Japan treats Teukoe Bin of Seunagan as one of the principal casualties of the F-organisatie’s activation — the loyal oelèëbalang whose removal illustrated the costs of the Dutch loss of Atjèh.
The loyal self-governor
Teukoe Bin of Seunagan was, Piekaar records, one of “the two loyal self-governors” of the West Coast — the other being Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Ali Akbar of the Kawaj XVI. The designation “loyal” reflected the political alignment of the two oelèëbalang’s with the Dutch administration: their continued adherence to the colonial order in a period when the religious-political movement around the Poesa and the F-organisatie’s network were working to undermine that order. The loyalty of the two men was, in the events of March 1942, the principal asset the Dutch lost on the West Coast.
The governing commission at Meulabóh
When the first Japanese troops entered Meulabóh in March 1942 — with the F-propagandists Said Aboe Bakar and Said Doellah among them — “a governing commission was immediately formed, consisting mainly of opponents of the two loyal self-governors Teukoe Bin of Seunagan and Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Ali Akbar of the Kawaj XVI.” The composition of the commission — drawn from the political opponents of the loyal oelèëbalang’s — reflected the F-organisatie’s pre-invasion strategy of mobilising the dissident network against the Dutch-aligned rulers. Most of the members of the new commission “therefore belonged to the same group of persons to whom the letters found on Said Doellah were addressed” — the network of correspondents whose letters, intercepted by the Dutch before the invasion, had revealed the existence of the F-organisatie’s fifth-column apparatus.
Significance
The displacement of Teukoe Bin of Seunagan was, in Piekaar’s account, one of the defining episodes of the West Coast under the Japanese occupation. The installation of the governing commission — drawn from the opponents of the loyal oelèëbalang’s — illustrated the political reorganisation that the F-organisatie’s activation had produced: the displacement of the Dutch-aligned rulers by the Japanese-aligned dissidents. The loyal oelèëbalang’s, who had been the principal instruments of Dutch indirect rule on the West Coast, were removed in favour of the F-organisatie’s network.
See Also
- [Seunagan]
- [Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Ali Akbar]
- [Kawaj XVI]
- [Said Aboe Bakar]
- [Said Doellah]
- [Meulabóh]
- [F-organisatie]
- [Fujiwara-kikan]
- [1942]
Source
Atjèh and the War with Japan, by Dr. A. J. Piekaar, translated from the Dutch original Atjèh en de oorlog met Japan (1949) (‘s-Gravenhage/Bandung: N.V. Uitgeverij W. van Hoeve; English edition), Chapter V, § 4.