Arakoendoer (also written Arakoendoer, Aru Kunder) was a river on the east coast of Atjeh in the neighbourhood of the hostile states of Simpang Olim and Tandjong Semantoh, designated by the Dutch government in 1876 as the place to which troops should be sent in support of the friendly radja Toekoe Moeda Angkasa of Merbau, who had been driven from his country by the two hostile states and wished to recover it with Dutch help.
The Plan, 1876
The Dutch government wished in this period to act vigorously against two states on the east coast that had remained hostile — Simpang Olim and Tandjong Semantoh. A favourable opportunity presented itself to do damage to those states, because another prince in that region, Toekoe Moeda Angkasa, had been driven from his country, Merbau, by these two, and wished nothing more than to take revenge and, with Dutch help, to recover what he had lost. The government held that he should be strongly supported, and gave the commander in Atjeh to understand “that the government as little wished that Toekoe Moeda Angkasa should be defeated, as that he should conquer without our assistance; if possible, troops should therefore be sent to the Arakoendoer-rivier.”
The commander, General Wiggers van Kerchem, was little inclined to reduce further the troop strength at Atjeh, and on a new application, in November, for 350 to 400 men he made objection, “both with a view to the complete unusability of the auxiliary troops, and to the approaching favourable monsoon, which would soon make the continuation of operations in Great Acheh possible.” This disagreement led to his resignation; his successor, General Diemont, at once took up the expedition against Simpang Olim with vigour.
See Also
- Simpang Olim
- Tandjong Semantoh
- Merbau
- Toekoe Moeda Angkasa
- G. B. T. Wiggers van Kerchem
- A. J. E. Diemont
- Expedition against Simpang Olim and Tandjong Semantoh (November-December 1876)
- Aceh War
Source
De geschiedenis van Nederland in onzen tijd, by J. A. de Bruyne, Directeur der Hoogere Burgerschool te Zierikzee. Deel IV. 1872-1883. Nieuwe uitgave. Schiedam: J. F. Dupont, 1912, Hoofdstuk I, pp. 79-83.