Teuku Raja Itam (also written Teuku Kaja Itam) is the chief of the VI Mukims of the XXV Mukims, appointed by the Dutch Government in 1896 after the expulsion of the Nanta family. He is a son of the Teuku Ne’ who was uleebalang of Meura’sa at the beginning of the Dutch operations in Acheh.
The VI Mukims of the XXV Mukims had originally been part of the territory of the Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa, chief of the great mukim of Meura’sa. They were detached from his control by Teuku Nanta Seutia, an “uleebalang of our supreme lord” — that is, a chief invested with that hereditary rank for exceptional services to one of the princes. Such a rank carried with it “no more than dignity and claim to respect, but it made its holders unwished-for guests in the uleebalangship where they established themselves”. Once settled in another chief’s territory, they were free from all control (bibeu’eh) and in a position to make inroads on the rights of others. Nanta Seutia succeeded in detaching the VI Mukims from Teuku Ne’, “and the protests of the latter reiterated down to the present day have been of no avail against this secession”.
In 1896, however, the position was reversed. The Nanta family “having taken a prominent part in the treachery of Teuku Uma against the Dutch, the Ne’ family was restored to power. When the Nantas were expelled, the Dutch Government appointed as Chief Teuku Raja Itam, a son of the Teuku Ne’ who was uleebalang of Meura’sa at the beginning of the Dutch operations in Acheh”. The appointment thus represents the political restoration of the Meura’sa line in the VI Mukims at the expense of the Nantas, in the wake of Teuku Uma’s treachery and the Dutch reaction against it.
The political consequences of Teuku Uma’s treachery thus extended beyond the immediate military situation to the redistribution of uleebalangships in Great Acheh. The installation of Teuku Raja Itam, a young scion of the Meura’sa house, in place of the discredited Nantas, illustrates the dependence of the late nineteenth-century Achehnese political order on the fluctuations of the Dutch war.
See Also
- Teuku Nanta Seutia
- Teuku Ne’
- Meura’sa
- VI Mukims
- XXV Mukims
- Treachery of Teuku Uma against the Dutch
- Achehnese War
Source
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 Raja Itam (also written Teuku Kaja Itam) is the chief of the VI Mukims of the XXV Mukims, appointed by the Dutch Government in 1896 after the expulsion of the Nanta family. He is a son of the Teuku Ne’ who was uleebalang of Meura’sa at the beginning of the Dutch operations in Acheh.
The VI Mukims of the XXV Mukims had originally been part of the territory of the Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa, chief of the great mukim of Meura’sa. They were detached from his control by Teuku Nanta Seutia, an “uleebalang of our supreme lord” — that is, a chief invested with that hereditary rank for exceptional services to one of the princes. Such a rank carried with it “no more than dignity and claim to respect, but it made its holders unwished-for guests in the uleebalangship where they established themselves”. Once settled in another chief’s territory, they were free from all control (bibeu’eh) and in a position to make inroads on the rights of others. Nanta Seutia succeeded in detaching the VI Mukims from Teuku Ne’, “and the protests of the latter reiterated down to the present day have been of no avail against this secession”.
In 1896, however, the position was reversed. The Nanta family “having taken a prominent part in the treachery of Teuku Uma against the Dutch, the Ne’ family was restored to power. When the Nantas were expelled, the Dutch Government appointed as Chief Teuku Raja Itam, a son of the Teuku Ne’ who was uleebalang of Meura’sa at the beginning of the Dutch operations in Acheh”. The appointment thus represents the political restoration of the Meura’sa line in the VI Mukims at the expense of the Nantas, in the wake of Teuku Uma’s treachery and the Dutch reaction against it.
The political consequences of Teuku Uma’s treachery thus extended beyond the immediate military situation to the redistribution of uleebalangships in Great Acheh. The installation of Teuku Raja Itam, a young scion of the Meura’sa house, in place of the discredited Nantas, illustrates the dependence of the late nineteenth-century Achehnese political order on the fluctuations of the Dutch war.
See Also
- Teuku Nanta Seutia
- Teuku Ne’
- Meura’sa
- VI Mukims
- XXV Mukims
- Treachery of Teuku Uma against the Dutch
- Achehnese War
Source
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.