Ateuh Raja — written in Dutch as also Ateuh, Ateuh-Tjoct, masdjid Ateuh, Ateuh-Lam Lo-West, and collectively Groot Ateuh for the broader Ateuh area — was a kampong in the Ateuh moekim of the Lamkrak complex and the site of major combat on 9 June 1896 in the course of the tuchtiging of the Lamkrak Moekims. As described in Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96, Ateuh Raja was attacked by the 9e Bataljon under luit.-kol. Veeren in one continuous attack: the 1e compagnie (kapitein H. T. de Moulin) hit the breastwork behind the Kroeng Ateuh, and the attack was led by 2de luit. W. A. Engelbrecht. The European fusilier v. Dongen was first on the borstwering but received a fatal chest shot from the last Atjeher. Ateuh Raja, with Ateuh Tjoet and Groot Ateuh, formed the Ateuh sub-cluster of the broader Lamkrak complex.
Description and Location
Ateuh Raja lay in the Ateuh moekim of the Lamkrak complex — the “streek tusschen Biloel en Ana Galoeng en benoorden het gebergte gelegen” (the region between Biloel and Ana’ Galong, north of the mountains). The Ateuh moekim included the sub-kampongs of Ateuh Tjoet, Ateuh Raja, and Groot Ateuh (collectively, the “Ateuh” of the 7-mukim complex of Lam-Krak). The Kroeng Ateuh (Ateuh river) ran through the kampong, and a breastwork behind the Kroeng Ateuh was the principal Achehnese defensive position. The mosque of Ateuh, also Mesigit Ateuh was occupied at 7:45 AM on 8 April 1896 in the course of Kolonel Stemfoort’s relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit. The kampong was bounded on the north by the Lam-Lheuë mukim (with its Kling fortification of Mon Selassa / Mon Seulassa) and on the south by the XXV Moekims and the IX Moekims.
Historical Background
Ateuh Raja had been part of the hostile Lamkrak complex throughout the Atjeh-oorlog. The kampong had been a base for hostile benden operating against the buitenposten of the buitenlinie — particularly Biloel and Lamkoenjit. The mosque of Ateuh was a fortified masdjid that served as a strongpoint. The kampong had been the object of Dutch artillery fire in April 1896 — two kampongs named Ateuh were the objective of artillery fire on 8 April 1896, and the Manch kampong was mentioned alongside Ateuh-Tjoct. The 1878 campaign of Generaal van der Heiden had passed through the Ateuh country, and the 1893 legioen of T. Djohan had operated in the area.
Role in the 1896 Operations
Ateuh Raja was the site of major combat on 9 June 1896 in the course of the tuchtiging of the Lamkrak Moekims. The 1e colonne of the tuchtiging under luit.-kol. Veeren of the 9e Bataljon advanced from Biloel against Ateuh Raja in one continuous attack. The 1e compagnie (kapitein H. T. de Moulin) hit the breastwork behind the Kroeng Ateuh, and the attack was led by 2de luit. W. A. Engelbrecht. The European fusilier v. Dongen was first on the borstwering but received a fatal chest shot from the last Atjeher — one of the most-celebrated incidents of individual heroism of the tuchtiging. Earlier, on 8 April 1896, the mosque of Ateuh was occupied at 7:45 AM by the 9e Bataljon in the course of Kolonel Stemfoort’s relief of Biloel and Lamkoenjit. The Manch kampong was mentioned alongside Ateuh-Tjoct as an artillery target on 8 April 1896. On 10 April 1896 enemy shooters in the east rand of Lege were driven out, and on 12 April 1896 the W. rand of Oleh-Soesoeh was occupied. The borstwering behind the Kroeng Ateuh was the principal Achehnese defensive position at Ateuh Raja on 9 June 1896.
Significance
Ateuh Raja was the principal Achehnese strongpoint in the Ateuh moekim of the Lamkrak complex and the scene of one of the most-celebrated incidents of the tuchtiging of 9–10 June 1896 — the fatal wounding of European fusilier v. Dongen by “the last Atjeher” as he was first on the borstwering. The fall of Ateuh Raja, together with the fall of Baha and Lam-Djamé on the same day, broke the back of organised Achehnese defence in the Lamkrak complex.
Account in Hooijer’s De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897)
Ateuh was a place in the XXVI Moekims of Groot-Atjeh on the inner path running from Tjot Rang to Tjot Iri, mentioned by G. B. Hooijer in his account of the difficulty of movement in the marshy terrain around Tjot Rang.
In Hooijer’s description
Explaining how hard it was for Dutch troops to fight in terrain where no roads had been laid, Hooijer noted that even het binnenpad, waarop de patrouille zich voortbeweegt en dat van Tjot Rang over Ateuh naar Tjot Iri voert — the inner path along which the patrol moves, running from Tjot Rang over Ateuh to Tjot Iri — had to be reckoned as something particularly easy.
See Also
- Tuchtiging of Lam-Krak Moekims (9–10 June 1896)
- J. F. Th. Veeren
- W. A. Engelbrecht
- H. T. de Moulin
- Lamkrak Moekims
- Biloel
- Lamkoenjit
- Masdjid Ateuh
- Ateuh Tjoet
- 1896
- Tjot Rang
- Tjot Iri
- Sagi der XXVI Moekims
Sources
ATJEH ‘96, door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L., met 2 kaarten en 4 portretten (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913). Instituut Kern, Leiden. OCR-filename: 20260715_163243_DLP-89-Atjeh_96_Met_2_kaarten_en4_DOORA_KRUISHEER_Kapiteinder_Infanterie_nemoretriever-ocr-v1_OCR.txt, pp. 66, 67, 72, 74–75, 80, 89, 91, 121, 244, 252–254, 315, 558.
De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh, door G. B. Hooijer, Gep. Luit.-Kolonel O. I. Leger, met 24 platen (Haarlem: De Erven F. Bohn; Batavia: G. Kolff & Co., 1897). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Centrale Boekerij, Amsterdam. OCR-filename: 20260719_140140_DLP-134-De_verlaten_posten_in_Groot_Atjeh_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, p. 34.
Acknowledgement of sources. This article is a single consolidated account combining the material previously held in this entry with the account given in De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897) by G. B. Hooijer. Dutch terminology has been rendered in English, the original Dutch being retained only in direct quotations and in bibliographic citations.