A young guerrilla leader who, with his father’s blessing, gathered panglimas and fixed his headquarters near his birthplace of Lam Bada. He executed the traitor kupala Punteuet as a lesson and died at Ulee Lheue under circumstances Achehnese regarded as martyrdom, although the fatal shot was actually fired by soldiers occupying the mosque there.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Asan
Teuku Asan was one of the Achehnese guerrilla leaders of the early years of the Achehnese War against the Dutch, whose fighting men were later recruited by Teungku Tiro for the holy war. He is named by Snouck Hurgronje alongside Teuku Uma as a typical example of the adventurous leaders who, before the rise of the great ulamas, organised bands of fighting men from the vagrant elements of Achehnese society.
The raw material from which chiefs like Teuku Asan recruited their bands was of a very varied description: vagrants without visible means of subsistence, who in ordinary circumstances supplied their needs in the way of rice and opium through theft or — especially in the highlands and sparsely populated districts of the West Coast — through murder and rapine, could choose nothing better than to turn from their evil ways and pursue their old trade under an honourable name, with the certain expectation of plunder or an incomparable recompense after death. Among the religious students some were always to be found who were inspired by their teachers with a desire to become shahids or martyrs to the faith; the younger men in the gampongs were also subject to the incentives of hot blood and passion for the glory of battle, and where the war was against an infidel enemy even their parents could not withhold them from what all believed to be a pious task.
These bands, however, were too much wanting in organisation to remain long on foot unless constant encounters gave them the chance of getting plunder. Where this failed they were strong enough to compel the people of the gampongs in their neighbourhood to provide for their maintenance; but this soon created disgust, all the more because these troops were not as a rule distinguished by a godly life, except as champions against the infidel. It was at this point that the ulamas found their golden opportunity: while allowing all credit to the guerrilla leaders for their endeavours to cause loss to the infidels, the ulamas could — nay, were bound by the text of their sacred books to — point out that such leaders could lay no effective claim to general cooperation. The war ordained of Allah must be waged in conformity with His decree; the finances of the holy war must be defrayed from the revenues of the Moslim state and from the zakat tax, and the troops must refrain from levying contributions on the villages in whose neighbourhood they were encamped.
When Teungku Tiro rose to be the recognised commander-in-chief of the holy war, he drew upon the same vagrant elements that had formerly supplied Teuku Asan and Teuku Uma with their fighting men; but each recruit was first duly “converted” by the Teungku, strictly drilled, and subjected to a better discipline than suited these lawless volunteers. The transition from the irregular leadership of Teuku Asan to the organised religious war of Teungku Tiro thus marks a decisive stage in the Achehnese resistance: the vagrant bands of the early guerrillas were transformed, under the authority of the great ulama, into the more disciplined forces of the jihad.
See Also
- Great Acheh
- Imeum of Lueng Bata
- Kupala Punteuet
- Nya’ Bintang
- Teuku Uma
- Teuku Usen of Pagaraye
- Teungku Tiro (Muhamat Amin)
- Ulee Lheue
- West Coast (of Acheh)
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
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.
A young guerrilla leader who, with his father’s blessing, gathered panglimas and fixed his headquarters near his birthplace of Lam Bada. He executed the traitor kupala Punteuet as a lesson and died at Ulee Lheue under circumstances Achehnese regarded as martyrdom, although the fatal shot was actually fired by soldiers occupying the mosque there.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Asan
Teuku Asan was one of the Achehnese guerrilla leaders of the early years of the Achehnese War against the Dutch, whose fighting men were later recruited by Teungku Tiro for the holy war. He is named by Snouck Hurgronje alongside Teuku Uma as a typical example of the adventurous leaders who, before the rise of the great ulamas, organised bands of fighting men from the vagrant elements of Achehnese society.
The raw material from which chiefs like Teuku Asan recruited their bands was of a very varied description: vagrants without visible means of subsistence, who in ordinary circumstances supplied their needs in the way of rice and opium through theft or — especially in the highlands and sparsely populated districts of the West Coast — through murder and rapine, could choose nothing better than to turn from their evil ways and pursue their old trade under an honourable name, with the certain expectation of plunder or an incomparable recompense after death. Among the religious students some were always to be found who were inspired by their teachers with a desire to become shahids or martyrs to the faith; the younger men in the gampongs were also subject to the incentives of hot blood and passion for the glory of battle, and where the war was against an infidel enemy even their parents could not withhold them from what all believed to be a pious task.
These bands, however, were too much wanting in organisation to remain long on foot unless constant encounters gave them the chance of getting plunder. Where this failed they were strong enough to compel the people of the gampongs in their neighbourhood to provide for their maintenance; but this soon created disgust, all the more because these troops were not as a rule distinguished by a godly life, except as champions against the infidel. It was at this point that the ulamas found their golden opportunity: while allowing all credit to the guerrilla leaders for their endeavours to cause loss to the infidels, the ulamas could — nay, were bound by the text of their sacred books to — point out that such leaders could lay no effective claim to general cooperation. The war ordained of Allah must be waged in conformity with His decree; the finances of the holy war must be defrayed from the revenues of the Moslim state and from the zakat tax, and the troops must refrain from levying contributions on the villages in whose neighbourhood they were encamped.
When Teungku Tiro rose to be the recognised commander-in-chief of the holy war, he drew upon the same vagrant elements that had formerly supplied Teuku Asan and Teuku Uma with their fighting men; but each recruit was first duly “converted” by the Teungku, strictly drilled, and subjected to a better discipline than suited these lawless volunteers. The transition from the irregular leadership of Teuku Asan to the organised religious war of Teungku Tiro thus marks a decisive stage in the Achehnese resistance: the vagrant bands of the early guerrillas were transformed, under the authority of the great ulama, into the more disciplined forces of the jihad.
See Also
- Great Acheh
- Imeum of Lueng Bata
- Kupala Punteuet
- Nya’ Bintang
- Teuku Uma
- Teuku Usen of Pagaraye
- Teungku Tiro (Muhamat Amin)
- Ulee Lheue
- West Coast (of Acheh)
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.
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.