The Baroh (literally “below, lowland”) is the lowland region of Great Acheh, the country of the ureueng baroh or “lowland people.” It comprises the greater part of the XXV and XXVI Mukims — the two sagis which, together with the highland XXII Mukims, make up the tripartite “true Acheh” — and includes the capital, Banda Acheh. The Baroh is the constant counterpart of the Tunong in Snouck Hurgronje’s account of Achehnese life, the two being contrasted in dress, speech, dwellings, food, morals and political temper.
Following the capital
As regards language and manners, the lowlanders followed the people of the capital. The Dalam or residence of the Sultan — also known as Kuta Raja — formed before the war the nucleus of a number of fine and prosperous gampongs. The centre of these, with its mosque and market-place, was called Banda Acheh and gave the tone to the whole country in matters of custom and dress. The most important of these gampongs were Gampong Jawa, Pande, Peunayong, Lam Bhu, Lueng Bata, Lam Seunong, Ateung, Batoh and Alura’sa. The inhabitants of these and the neighbouring villages, with their language and customs, were distinguished by the epithet banda — town-bred, civilized — and the people of other districts who conformed as much as possible to the tone of the capital enjoyed the same title. In contrast, all others who spoke in their own local dialects and were unacquainted with the manners of the town were called dareun (like désa in Sundanese) — countrified, uncivilized. The lowlanders in general came most closely into contact with the trading centre, whilst ureueng dareun and ureueng tunong became practically synonymous; but with this distinction, that families of standing in the Tunong conformed as far as possible to the manners of the capital, whilst in the more distant lowland districts the influence of Banda Acheh is scarcely traceable.
Dress, dwellings and household equipment
In dress and deportment there is a difference between the true Tunong folk and those of the lowland districts. The peculiar Achehnese trousers (siluetië or ietëng Acheh) of prodigious width are characteristic of both, but those worn by the lowlanders are longer, and the materials most in use differ from those employed in the Tunong. The ija pinggang of the lowlander barely extends to just above the knees, its lower edge aslant, while the Tunong man lets it hang down to below the knees with a flap in the centre. The lowlanders usually wear bajus — either the baju Acheh with long narrow sleeves and a big gold button (dòma) in the middle, or the baju sikuët sapay — whereas the highlanders make comparatively little use of this garment. The women of the lowlands wear the chignon on the centre of the crown, divided into two portions suggesting a pair of horns, while the Tunong women either carry the topknot entirely to one side, or let it hang down behind in the form of a sausage. Porcelain dishes (pitiëng) and plates (chupè) are to be found in the chests almost everywhere in the lowland districts, but when there are no guests the simpler ware common in the Tunong — large earthenware or wooden plates called chapah and smaller ones known as chie — is here also used.
Land and agriculture
In the lowlands, the whole country has long been reclaimed by man; real primary jungle (rimba) suitable for clearing is scarcely to be met with, and uncultivated fields or plains are seldom seen. The only padang in the neighbourhood of the capital was a small tract near Pante Pira’. The price of land is higher in the lowlands: under native rule, the lowest price of an ordinary yō (requiring one naleh of seed padi) was 100 dollars, whereas in the highlands treble the area might be bought for the same price. Letting (peusewa) of rice-fields used to be rare in the lowlands, though common in the highlands.
Politics and morals
In respect of political development, the lowlands are described as more advanced. The kawom or clan system had in the lowlands largely faded, whereas it maintained greater force in the Tunong, Pidie and the VII Mukims Bueng. The lowlanders have grown somewhat “civilized” through contact with foreigners; unreasoning fanaticism, contempt for strangers and self-conceit are all less strongly marked than in the upper country. Among the lowlanders, however, opium, drink and unnatural crime exercise greater influence than among the highlanders, and the colonies of Achehnese pepper-planters on the East and West Coasts — drawn in large part from the lowlands — develop every vice of the nation to its highest pitch.
See Also
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.