Teuku Ne' of Meura'sa

Properties2
tagsperson, warrior, uleebalang, sultanate, adat-chief, xxv-mukims
aliasesTeuku Ne, Teuku Ne' Raja Muda Seutia, Uleebalang of Meura'sa, Ne' Raja Muda Seutia, Teuku Ne of Ulee Lheue, Uleebalang of Ulee Lheue

15 min read

An important uleebalang of Meura’sa, popularly reported to have absorbed about 13 pounds of mercury into his body through invulnerability treatment. He kept a sacred crocodile in the river behind his house, addressed as “Teungku,” and a one-eyed coconut for protection while traveling. In the war he made a show of warlike preparation before surrendering to the Dutch.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa

Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa was the hereditary uleebalang of the great mukim of Meura’sa in the XXV Mukims of Great Acheh, and one of the four chiefs on whose counsel the Sultan of Acheh was traditionally held to depend. His title Ne’ — meaning “grandfather” — was an hereditary style borne by the chiefs of certain great mukims of the sultanate in token of the intimate relation between their houses and the royal house; he was also styled in full Teuku Ne’ Raja Muda Seutia, “Grandfather of the Sultan, the Faithful Heir-Apparent.”

Snouck Hurgronje, in The Achehnese Vol. I, records that the Sultan could do nothing without consulting four chiefs: Teuku Kali, Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa, the Panglima Meuseugit Raya, and the Imeum of Lueng Bata. These four were in their turn dependent on the decision of the three panglima sagi. The statement occurs in a letter of Teungku Tiro to the Dutch Government, in which the ulama expressed his astonishment that the Gompeuni had been from the very commencement so eager to obtain concessions from the Sultan; the Sultan, Teungku Tiro argued, was no absolute ruler, but a constitutional prince bound to act through his four great officers.

The traditional title of “grandfather of the sultan” was borne by two uleebalangs: the chief of Mukim Meura’sa (and in earlier times of the VI Mukims as well) and the chief of the IX Mukims of the XXV, Teuku Ne’ Peureuba Wangsa. The Achehnese explained the title as expressing the original relation between the powerful sagi-chief and the sultan; in the case of the chief of Lho’ Seumawe, whose title Mahraja or Mbahraja was similarly explained as “father of the king,” the survival of such patriarchal styles in the nomenclature of the chiefdoms is to be traced to the early constitution of the sultanate.

The Meura’sa chief was also one of the four “principal uleebalangs” of the XXV Mukims, alongside Teuku Ne’ Peureuba Wangsa and Teuku Nanta Seutia who, by detaching the VI Mukims from the control of Teuku Ne’, had reduced the ancient extent of his command. Nanta Seutia, originally uleebalang of our supreme lord, succeeded in detaching the VI Mukims from the control of Teuku Ne’, chief of the great mukim of Meura’sa, and the protests of the latter, reiterated down to the present day, were of no avail against this secession. The loss of the VI Mukims is one of the indices of the long decline of the Meura’sa house in the years before the Dutch war.

The intimate connexion of the Meura’sa house with the royal family was exhibited at every coronation. The panglima of the XXVI Mukims and Teuku Ne’ were the first to approach the branda seumah, the coronation platform; the presence of Teuku Ne’ at all three of the successive installations gave evidence of his intimate relation with the royal house. The respect in which the reigning house was held, and which gradually acquired a sort of religious aspect, is illustrated by the famous journey of Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa and his followers to the court at Keumala, when all who accompanied him were implored by their friends and relations to bring back with them some water wherein the pretender to the sultanate had washed his feet.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Ne’ Raja Muda Seutia

Teuku Ne’ Raja Muda Seutia was the hereditary uleebalang of the great mukim of Meura’sa in the XXV Mukims of Acheh, and, in earlier times, of the VI Mukims as well. Together with his fellow-Ne’ Teuku Ne’ Peureuba Wangsa of the IX Mukims, he was reckoned one of “the true potentates of this sagi” — a chief whose effective authority far outstripped that of the nominal panglima of the XXV Mukims, Teuku Seutia Ulama.

The title Ne’, Achehnese for “grandfather”, was borne by both Raja Muda Seutia and Peureuba Wangsa in their capacity as hereditary “grandfathers of the sultan”. Snouck Hurgronje explains the title as typifying “the original relation between the powerful sagi-chief and the sultan”: just as the Panglima Polem of the XXII Mukims was styled the “elder brother” of the prince, so the two Ne’s of the XXV Mukims were addressed as his grandfathers. The honorific Raja Muda Seutia — approximately “Faithful Younger Raja” — distinguishes this line from the Peureuba Wangsa line.

The Meura’sa chief’s connection with the royal house was further manifested at the installation of a new sultan. Snouck describes how, after the panglima of the XXVI Mukims had advanced to the wall of the coronation platform and the kali had recited the Quranic formula of nomination (IV, 62: “Obey Allah and his Messenger and those among you who be clad with authority”), the ceremony was repeated with the panglima of the XXV and then with the panglima of the XXII. “The presence of Teuku Ne’ at all three installations”, Snouck notes, “gave evidence of his intimate relation with the royal house” — a unique ceremonial prerogative of the Meura’sa chief.

In the course of the nineteenth century, however, the house of Raja Muda Seutia lost the VI Mukims to the upstart Teuku Nanta Seutia, an “uleebalang of our supreme lord” who had originally been invested with that rank for exceptional services to one of the princes. “Nanta Seutia succeeded in detaching the VI Mukims from the control of Teuku Ne’, chief of the great mukim of Meura’sa, and the protests of the latter reiterated down to the present day have been of no avail against this secession”. The dispute was eventually overtaken by the Achehnese War: in 1896, the Nanta family having taken a prominent part in the treachery of Teuku Uma against the Dutch, the Ne’ family was restored to power, and the Dutch Government appointed as chief Teuku Raja Itam — a son of the Teuku Ne’ who had been uleebalang of Meura’sa at the beginning of the Dutch operations in Acheh.

Snouck also records the famous episode of the journey of Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa and his followers to the court at Keumala, when all who accompanied him were implored by their friends and relations to bring back with them some water wherein the pretender to the sultanate had washed his feet — a striking illustration of the quasi-religious reverence enjoyed by the royal house, and of the Meura’sa chief’s privileged access to it.

Sources

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.

Teuku Ne was the hereditary uleebalang of Ulee Lheue (called by the Dutch Olehleh), the coastal village immediately to the west of Banda Acheh which formed one of the principal landing-places and fishing-stations of the Achehnese capital. He is mentioned in The Achehnese Vol. I in Snouck Hurgronje’s account of the Achehnese sea-fisheries, as one of the three chiefs by whom the pukat-fishermen of Ulee Lheue found themselves “dealt with” in the late nineteenth century.

The Achehnese fishery was subject to a system of contributions by which the pawangs (fishing-masters) were required to set aside a portion of their catch for the territorial chief, his wife, and the rakans or followers of his house. The severity of this system may be judged, Snouck observes, from the case of Ulee Lheue, where the pukat-fishermen had to deal with at least three chiefs at once: the uleebalang Teuku Ne, his banta (deputy) Teuku Sandang, and Raja Itam, a son of a deceased Teuku Ne. These three always enforced their demands for fish and punished defaulters with the langgéh, the ban by which the offender’s sampan and pukat were placed under interdict for a month or sometimes for an unlimited period, depriving him of his livelihood until he could appease the uleebalang with a money present.

The presence of a son of a deceased Teuku Ne alongside the reigning Teuku Ne points to the hereditary character of the office, and to the Achehnese habit by which the members of the chief’s house — including the sons of former holders of the dignity — retained a share in the exactions attached to it. The Teuku Ne of Ulee Lheue is to be carefully distinguished from the Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa of the XXV Mukims, whose style is written with the apostrophe denoting the Achehnese word for “grandfather”; the Ulee Lheue chief, by contrast, is designated by the simpler name Ne without the hereditary “grandfather of the sultan” style.

The foreshore at Ulee Lheue was divided for the pukat-fishermen into two lho’s (literally “bays”), each of which gave a religious feast, the kanduri laot, at the changes of the monsoon — one in keunong 17, at the beginning of the S.W. monsoon (about April), and the other in keunong 5, at the beginning of the N.E. monsoon (about September). The day for the feast was fixed by the panglima of the pawang guild, who invited to it all the pawangs and their crews, the uleebalang Teuku Ne, and the gampong authorities of his mukim. The feast was consecrated by dikr, the repetition of psalms of praise in honour of the Prophet, and by hatam, the recitation in chorus of portions of the Quran by the teungkus and leubes present; during the seven days following the kanduri, neither the pawangs belonging to that “bay” nor their colleagues from neighbouring parts might fish in the waters fronting that division.

See Also

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.

An important uleebalang of Meura’sa, popularly reported to have absorbed about 13 pounds of mercury into his body through invulnerability treatment. He kept a sacred crocodile in the river behind his house, addressed as “Teungku,” and a one-eyed coconut for protection while traveling. In the war he made a show of warlike preparation before surrendering to the Dutch.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa

Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa was the hereditary uleebalang of the great mukim of Meura’sa in the XXV Mukims of Great Acheh, and one of the four chiefs on whose counsel the Sultan of Acheh was traditionally held to depend. His title Ne’ — meaning “grandfather” — was an hereditary style borne by the chiefs of certain great mukims of the sultanate in token of the intimate relation between their houses and the royal house; he was also styled in full Teuku Ne’ Raja Muda Seutia, “Grandfather of the Sultan, the Faithful Heir-Apparent.”

Snouck Hurgronje, in The Achehnese Vol. I, records that the Sultan could do nothing without consulting four chiefs: Teuku Kali, Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa, the Panglima Meuseugit Raya, and the Imeum of Lueng Bata. These four were in their turn dependent on the decision of the three panglima sagi. The statement occurs in a letter of Teungku Tiro to the Dutch Government, in which the ulama expressed his astonishment that the Gompeuni had been from the very commencement so eager to obtain concessions from the Sultan; the Sultan, Teungku Tiro argued, was no absolute ruler, but a constitutional prince bound to act through his four great officers.

The traditional title of “grandfather of the sultan” was borne by two uleebalangs: the chief of Mukim Meura’sa (and in earlier times of the VI Mukims as well) and the chief of the IX Mukims of the XXV, Teuku Ne’ Peureuba Wangsa. The Achehnese explained the title as expressing the original relation between the powerful sagi-chief and the sultan; in the case of the chief of Lho’ Seumawe, whose title Mahraja or Mbahraja was similarly explained as “father of the king,” the survival of such patriarchal styles in the nomenclature of the chiefdoms is to be traced to the early constitution of the sultanate.

The Meura’sa chief was also one of the four “principal uleebalangs” of the XXV Mukims, alongside Teuku Ne’ Peureuba Wangsa and Teuku Nanta Seutia who, by detaching the VI Mukims from the control of Teuku Ne’, had reduced the ancient extent of his command. Nanta Seutia, originally uleebalang of our supreme lord, succeeded in detaching the VI Mukims from the control of Teuku Ne’, chief of the great mukim of Meura’sa, and the protests of the latter, reiterated down to the present day, were of no avail against this secession. The loss of the VI Mukims is one of the indices of the long decline of the Meura’sa house in the years before the Dutch war.

The intimate connexion of the Meura’sa house with the royal family was exhibited at every coronation. The panglima of the XXVI Mukims and Teuku Ne’ were the first to approach the branda seumah, the coronation platform; the presence of Teuku Ne’ at all three of the successive installations gave evidence of his intimate relation with the royal house. The respect in which the reigning house was held, and which gradually acquired a sort of religious aspect, is illustrated by the famous journey of Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa and his followers to the court at Keumala, when all who accompanied him were implored by their friends and relations to bring back with them some water wherein the pretender to the sultanate had washed his feet.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Teuku Ne’ Raja Muda Seutia

Teuku Ne’ Raja Muda Seutia was the hereditary uleebalang of the great mukim of Meura’sa in the XXV Mukims of Acheh, and, in earlier times, of the VI Mukims as well. Together with his fellow-Ne’ Teuku Ne’ Peureuba Wangsa of the IX Mukims, he was reckoned one of “the true potentates of this sagi” — a chief whose effective authority far outstripped that of the nominal panglima of the XXV Mukims, Teuku Seutia Ulama.

The title Ne’, Achehnese for “grandfather”, was borne by both Raja Muda Seutia and Peureuba Wangsa in their capacity as hereditary “grandfathers of the sultan”. Snouck Hurgronje explains the title as typifying “the original relation between the powerful sagi-chief and the sultan”: just as the Panglima Polem of the XXII Mukims was styled the “elder brother” of the prince, so the two Ne’s of the XXV Mukims were addressed as his grandfathers. The honorific Raja Muda Seutia — approximately “Faithful Younger Raja” — distinguishes this line from the Peureuba Wangsa line.

The Meura’sa chief’s connection with the royal house was further manifested at the installation of a new sultan. Snouck describes how, after the panglima of the XXVI Mukims had advanced to the wall of the coronation platform and the kali had recited the Quranic formula of nomination (IV, 62: “Obey Allah and his Messenger and those among you who be clad with authority”), the ceremony was repeated with the panglima of the XXV and then with the panglima of the XXII. “The presence of Teuku Ne’ at all three installations”, Snouck notes, “gave evidence of his intimate relation with the royal house” — a unique ceremonial prerogative of the Meura’sa chief.

In the course of the nineteenth century, however, the house of Raja Muda Seutia lost the VI Mukims to the upstart Teuku Nanta Seutia, an “uleebalang of our supreme lord” who had originally been invested with that rank for exceptional services to one of the princes. “Nanta Seutia succeeded in detaching the VI Mukims from the control of Teuku Ne’, chief of the great mukim of Meura’sa, and the protests of the latter reiterated down to the present day have been of no avail against this secession”. The dispute was eventually overtaken by the Achehnese War: in 1896, the Nanta family having taken a prominent part in the treachery of Teuku Uma against the Dutch, the Ne’ family was restored to power, and the Dutch Government appointed as chief Teuku Raja Itam — a son of the Teuku Ne’ who had been uleebalang of Meura’sa at the beginning of the Dutch operations in Acheh.

Snouck also records the famous episode of the journey of Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa and his followers to the court at Keumala, when all who accompanied him were implored by their friends and relations to bring back with them some water wherein the pretender to the sultanate had washed his feet — a striking illustration of the quasi-religious reverence enjoyed by the royal house, and of the Meura’sa chief’s privileged access to it.

See Also

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.

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