Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb was the oelèëbalang — self-governing official — of the landschap Peureula’ in the subdistrict Langsa whose removal by the Dutch administration in 1934 was, Piekaar records, one of the “notorious removals” of prominent self-governing officials that marked the late colonial period and that illustrated both the readiness of the population to accept such replacements and the political costs of the policy. Piekaar’s Atjèh and the War with Japan treats the removal of Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb — together with the 1938 removal of Teukoe Oemar of Keumangan — as a defining episode of the late colonial administration.
The 1934 removal
The removal of Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb in 1934 was, Piekaar records, one of the “notorious removals” of prominent self-governing officials. The removal “showed that replacement even of prominent self-governing officials by the population was accepted.” The acceptance of the removal by the Atjèhnese population reflected, in Piekaar’s reading, both the political weight of the Dutch administration and the disengagement of the population from the oelèëbalang’s cause. The removal also, however, illustrated a deeper problem: “a policy which in this respect gave the oelèëbalangs too much respect had to have its backlash on the confidence of the population in our policy.”
The category of progressive oelèëbalangs
Piekaar categorises Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb as belonging “to the category of progressive modern-oriented oelèëbalangs” — that is, the oelèëbalang’s who, like Teukoe Hadji Tjhi’ Moehamad Djohan Alam Sjah of Peusangan, combined their traditional authority with a modern orientation. The removal of so progressive an oelèëbalang was, in this sense, a particular loss: the Dutch administration had, in the name of administrative efficiency, removed the very type of collaborator whose progressive orientation had made him most useful to the colonial project.
The comparison with Teukoe Oemar
The 1934 removal of Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb is paired in Piekaar’s account with the 1938 removal of Teukoe Oemar of Keumangan. The two removals, Piekaar writes, “moreover showed that replacement even of prominent self-governing officials by the population was accepted. Since the former belonged to the category of progressive modern-oriented oelèëbalangs and the latter to the group of older still patriarchally-despotically governing administrators and both were removed for different reasons.” The pairing illustrates the range of the Dutch removal policy — from the progressive to the patriarchal — and the consistency of the population’s acceptance.
Significance
The removal of Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb is, in Piekaar’s account, one of the episodes that “had its backlash on the confidence of the population in our policy.” The political costs of the removal — the disillusionment of the progressive oelèëbalang’s, the alienation of the population from the colonial administration, and the opening that the removal created for the religious-political movements of the late 1930s — would, in the events of 1942, become apparent.
See Also
- [Peureula’]
- [Langsa]
- [Teukoe Oemar of Keumangan]
- [Teukoe Hadji Tjhi’ Moehamad Djohan Alam Sjah]
- [Oelèëbalang]
- [1934]
- [1938]
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 I, § 2.
Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb was the oelèëbalang — self-governing official — of the landschap Peureula’ in the subdistrict Langsa whose removal by the Dutch administration in 1934 was, Piekaar records, one of the “notorious removals” of prominent self-governing officials that marked the late colonial period and that illustrated both the readiness of the population to accept such replacements and the political costs of the policy. Piekaar’s Atjèh and the War with Japan treats the removal of Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb — together with the 1938 removal of Teukoe Oemar of Keumangan — as a defining episode of the late colonial administration.
The 1934 removal
The removal of Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb in 1934 was, Piekaar records, one of the “notorious removals” of prominent self-governing officials. The removal “showed that replacement even of prominent self-governing officials by the population was accepted.” The acceptance of the removal by the Atjèhnese population reflected, in Piekaar’s reading, both the political weight of the Dutch administration and the disengagement of the population from the oelèëbalang’s cause. The removal also, however, illustrated a deeper problem: “a policy which in this respect gave the oelèëbalangs too much respect had to have its backlash on the confidence of the population in our policy.”
The category of progressive oelèëbalangs
Piekaar categorises Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb as belonging “to the category of progressive modern-oriented oelèëbalangs” — that is, the oelèëbalang’s who, like Teukoe Hadji Tjhi’ Moehamad Djohan Alam Sjah of Peusangan, combined their traditional authority with a modern orientation. The removal of so progressive an oelèëbalang was, in this sense, a particular loss: the Dutch administration had, in the name of administrative efficiency, removed the very type of collaborator whose progressive orientation had made him most useful to the colonial project.
The comparison with Teukoe Oemar
The 1934 removal of Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb is paired in Piekaar’s account with the 1938 removal of Teukoe Oemar of Keumangan. The two removals, Piekaar writes, “moreover showed that replacement even of prominent self-governing officials by the population was accepted. Since the former belonged to the category of progressive modern-oriented oelèëbalangs and the latter to the group of older still patriarchally-despotically governing administrators and both were removed for different reasons.” The pairing illustrates the range of the Dutch removal policy — from the progressive to the patriarchal — and the consistency of the population’s acceptance.
Significance
The removal of Teukoe Tjhi’ Moehamad Thajéb is, in Piekaar’s account, one of the episodes that “had its backlash on the confidence of the population in our policy.” The political costs of the removal — the disillusionment of the progressive oelèëbalang’s, the alienation of the population from the colonial administration, and the opening that the removal created for the religious-political movements of the late 1930s — would, in the events of 1942, become apparent.
See Also
- [Peureula’]
- [Langsa]
- [Teukoe Oemar of Keumangan]
- [Teukoe Hadji Tjhi’ Moehamad Djohan Alam Sjah]
- [Oelèëbalang]
- [1934]
- [1938]
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 I, § 2.