The uleebalang who conducted the actual negotiations with Teuku Uma for the release of Mrs. Hansen, managing through several discussions to reduce the ransom demand from 25,000, of which he personally received $500.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Ba’et
Teuku Ba’et is the hereditary uleebalang of the VII Mukims Ba’et in the XXII Mukims sagi of Great Acheh, and one of the two principal uleebalangs of that sagi. His power and influence, together with those of Panglima Polem in the XXII Mukims sagi, are described by C. Snouck Hurgronje as “among the most ancient and most firmly established of all that now exist in Great Acheh”.
The political constitution of the three sagis of Great Acheh vested real power, beneath the nominal authority of the panglima sagi, in a handful of hereditary uleebalangs. The Achehnese tradition of the “twelve uleebalangs, who appoint and dethrone princes” — four from each sagi — gives, for the XXII Mukims, the names of Teuku Ba’et (as uleebalang of the VII Mukims) and Teuku Waki Chi’ Gampong Baroh (as chief of the V Mukims). Snouck Hurgronje cautions that the list “at most represents the conditions that existed during a short period” and that the head kalis should not be included among the uleebalangs.
The position of Teuku Ba’et within the XXII Mukims sagi is striking because the sagi was nominally headed by Panglima Polem, the powerful chief of the highlands whose relations with the sultans of Acheh were a continual index of the balance of power between the port-kings and the territorial magnates. Yet, as Snouck Hurgronje observes, “there arose in his own sagi another chief who thought himself no whit his inferior, the uleebalang of the VII Mukims Ba’et”. The power and influence of these two potentates — Polem and Ba’et — are “among the most ancient and most firmly established of all that now exist in Great Acheh”; in the other sagis, by contrast, preponderance alternated between one uleebalang and another.
The VII Mukims Ba’et over which Teuku Ba’et holds sway is one of the older territorial units of Great Acheh; the durability of his house, alongside that of Panglima Polem, reflects the deep roots of certain hereditary uleebalangships even amid the anarchy of the late sultanate and the Dutch war. Such stability was the exception rather than the rule in the nineteenth-century Achehnese political order.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Muda Ba’et
Teuku Muda Ba’et, also called simply Teuku Ba’et, was the hereditary uleebalang of the Seven Mukims Ba’et — a chiefdom within the XXII Mukims of Great Acheh. The Achehnese compound expression tujōh mukim Ba’et denotes both a territory of seven mukims and the uleebalangship whose chief bears the title Teuku Muda Ba’et; the qualifying word Muda (“young”) distinguishes the chief from senior members of his house and was probably derived from the court style at Banda Acheh.
Snouck Hurgronje emphasizes that, although such titles may have been borrowed from the court at Banda Acheh, the authority of these territorial chiefs was “beyond all doubt of more ancient origin and dependent on no royal letters-patent.” Their position was confirmed, not created, by the port-kings of Acheh, and even the edicts of the most powerful rajas of Acheh expressed themselves with much caution in matters affecting the rights of the uleebalangs. The Ba’et chiefdom thus represented one of the most ancient and most firmly established power centres in all of Great Acheh.
In the XXII Mukims the uleebalang of the VII Mukims Ba’et was accounted one of the two principal chiefs of the sagi, alongside the chief of the V Mukims, Teuku Waki Chi’ Gampong Baroh. Together with these two, the panglima sagi and the two Ne’ of the XXV Mukims, and the two chiefs of the XXVI Mukims, the Ba’et chief was reckoned among the traditional “twelve uleebalangs who appoint and dethrone princes,” the advisory body which the Achehnese authorities on adat regarded as the council of guardians of the sultanate. Snouck warns that this round number reflects the Achehnese fondness for symmetry more than political reality, but it does record the special weight attached to Ba’et in the affairs of the sagi.
The power and influence of the Ba’et chief were such that, in the XXII Mukims, he alone was thought a match for the Panglima Polem himself — the great hereditary sagi-chief whose house gave its name to the highland chieftaincy. While in the other sagis the preponderance of one uleebalang over another alternated in the course of time, in the XXII Mukims two rival potentates stood side by side on a roughly equal footing from an early period. The Ba’et territory also contained the most important panglimas of the Imeum Peuet clan, the foremost of the four great kawoms of Achehnese tribal life.
See Also
- Achehnese War
- Hok Canton Incident
- Mrs. Hansen
- Panglima Polem
- Sultanate of Acheh
- Teuku Ateue’
- Teuku Imeum Tungkob
- Teuku Uma
- Teuku Waki Chi’ Gampong Baroh
- Three Sagis (XXVI, XXV, XXII Mukims)
- Uleebalang
- XXII Mukims
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.
The uleebalang who conducted the actual negotiations with Teuku Uma for the release of Mrs. Hansen, managing through several discussions to reduce the ransom demand from 25,000, of which he personally received $500.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Ba’et
Teuku Ba’et is the hereditary uleebalang of the VII Mukims Ba’et in the XXII Mukims sagi of Great Acheh, and one of the two principal uleebalangs of that sagi. His power and influence, together with those of Panglima Polem in the XXII Mukims sagi, are described by C. Snouck Hurgronje as “among the most ancient and most firmly established of all that now exist in Great Acheh”.
The political constitution of the three sagis of Great Acheh vested real power, beneath the nominal authority of the panglima sagi, in a handful of hereditary uleebalangs. The Achehnese tradition of the “twelve uleebalangs, who appoint and dethrone princes” — four from each sagi — gives, for the XXII Mukims, the names of Teuku Ba’et (as uleebalang of the VII Mukims) and Teuku Waki Chi’ Gampong Baroh (as chief of the V Mukims). Snouck Hurgronje cautions that the list “at most represents the conditions that existed during a short period” and that the head kalis should not be included among the uleebalangs.
The position of Teuku Ba’et within the XXII Mukims sagi is striking because the sagi was nominally headed by Panglima Polem, the powerful chief of the highlands whose relations with the sultans of Acheh were a continual index of the balance of power between the port-kings and the territorial magnates. Yet, as Snouck Hurgronje observes, “there arose in his own sagi another chief who thought himself no whit his inferior, the uleebalang of the VII Mukims Ba’et”. The power and influence of these two potentates — Polem and Ba’et — are “among the most ancient and most firmly established of all that now exist in Great Acheh”; in the other sagis, by contrast, preponderance alternated between one uleebalang and another.
The VII Mukims Ba’et over which Teuku Ba’et holds sway is one of the older territorial units of Great Acheh; the durability of his house, alongside that of Panglima Polem, reflects the deep roots of certain hereditary uleebalangships even amid the anarchy of the late sultanate and the Dutch war. Such stability was the exception rather than the rule in the nineteenth-century Achehnese political order.
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Muda Ba’et
Teuku Muda Ba’et, also called simply Teuku Ba’et, was the hereditary uleebalang of the Seven Mukims Ba’et — a chiefdom within the XXII Mukims of Great Acheh. The Achehnese compound expression tujōh mukim Ba’et denotes both a territory of seven mukims and the uleebalangship whose chief bears the title Teuku Muda Ba’et; the qualifying word Muda (“young”) distinguishes the chief from senior members of his house and was probably derived from the court style at Banda Acheh.
Snouck Hurgronje emphasizes that, although such titles may have been borrowed from the court at Banda Acheh, the authority of these territorial chiefs was “beyond all doubt of more ancient origin and dependent on no royal letters-patent.” Their position was confirmed, not created, by the port-kings of Acheh, and even the edicts of the most powerful rajas of Acheh expressed themselves with much caution in matters affecting the rights of the uleebalangs. The Ba’et chiefdom thus represented one of the most ancient and most firmly established power centres in all of Great Acheh.
In the XXII Mukims the uleebalang of the VII Mukims Ba’et was accounted one of the two principal chiefs of the sagi, alongside the chief of the V Mukims, Teuku Waki Chi’ Gampong Baroh. Together with these two, the panglima sagi and the two Ne’ of the XXV Mukims, and the two chiefs of the XXVI Mukims, the Ba’et chief was reckoned among the traditional “twelve uleebalangs who appoint and dethrone princes,” the advisory body which the Achehnese authorities on adat regarded as the council of guardians of the sultanate. Snouck warns that this round number reflects the Achehnese fondness for symmetry more than political reality, but it does record the special weight attached to Ba’et in the affairs of the sagi.
The power and influence of the Ba’et chief were such that, in the XXII Mukims, he alone was thought a match for the Panglima Polem himself — the great hereditary sagi-chief whose house gave its name to the highland chieftaincy. While in the other sagis the preponderance of one uleebalang over another alternated in the course of time, in the XXII Mukims two rival potentates stood side by side on a roughly equal footing from an early period. The Ba’et territory also contained the most important panglimas of the Imeum Peuet clan, the foremost of the four great kawoms of Achehnese tribal life.
See Also
- Achehnese War
- Hok Canton Incident
- Mrs. Hansen
- Panglima Polem
- Sultanate of Acheh
- Teuku Ateue’
- Teuku Imeum Tungkob
- Teuku Uma
- Teuku Waki Chi’ Gampong Baroh
- Three Sagis (XXVI, XXV, XXII Mukims)
- Uleebalang
- XXII Mukims
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.