Bitay (Achehnese pronunciation of Bétal, an abbreviation of Bétal-makdis, i.e. Jerusalem) is a gampong close to the Dalam in Banda Acheh, belonging to the VI Mukims of the XXV. In The Achehnese Vol. I, Snouck Hurgronje treats Bitay as a striking monument to the legendary intercourse between Acheh and the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century, and as the site of one of the most profane religious festivals of pre-Dutch Acheh.
Foundation by Syrian Artisans
It is said that a number of instructors who came from Syria settled in a gampong close to the Dalam, and in remembrance of their native land gave the village the name of Bitay (Achehnese pronunciation of Bétal, an abbreviation of Bétal-makdis = Jerusalem). The story is told as part of the somewhat legendary account of the relations opened by a Sultan of Acheh in the sixteenth century with the Sultan of Turkey. The Achehnese embassy, having presented a single chupa’ of pepper as sample tribute, was sent home with a great cannon named Lada Sichupa’ (“Pepper-of-a-Chupa”) and a number of skilled artisans to instruct the Achehnese in various arts hitherto unknown to them.
The Tomb of Tuan di Bitay
In Bitay may still be seen the grave of a saint, Teungku di Bitay (also called Tuan di Bitay), who according to the tradition belonged to this colony of strangers. The tomb of Tuan di Bitay, who taught the Achehnese among other things the art of casting cannon, and the mosque which stands beside the grave, are revered as sacred up to the present day. The Sultan of Turkey, the legend continues, considered it unbefitting to bind his new vassal to the regular despatch of embassies or tribute, given the great length of the journey, and instead enjoined the universal Achehnese observance of the feast of Mohammad’s birth as a token of vassalage.
The Kurubeu’en of Bitay
Before the coming of the Dutch to Acheh, great (though in many respects profane) kurubeu’en feasts used to be held in the gampong of Bitay. People assembled there in crowds from the 10th to the 13th of the month Haji, and even for a couple of days longer. They came from the capital and the whole of the surrounding district; nay, all the sagis lent their contributions to this noisy gathering. It is difficult, the author writes, “to conjecture why this tomb in particular is esteemed the proper place for offering sacrifices in the month of Haji.” We only know that Bitay came to be regarded as the place for these sacrifices, and that the feasts celebrated there assumed an entirely worldly character and became an offence to all devout persons.
Profane Pastimes and the Sacrificial Custom
Gambling, cockfighting and sadati-games were the chief pastimes indulged in by the people who crowded thither, and the fights inseparable from such pastimes were not wanting. Thus the word kurubeu’en acquired and still retains in the Achehnese vernacular the meaning of a heathenish tumult. Sacrificial cattle were also slaughtered here in large numbers. The custom in Bitay required that all beasts brought for sacrifice should be slaughtered by a descendant of the local saint, who acted as the keeper of the tomb. At the sacrifice of each animal a number of articles were presented to the slaughterer on a tray (dalong): two raw eggs, husked and unhusked rice mixed together, the various things used for the peusijuk (cooling) of a newly built house, a flask of perfumed oil, a little seureuma (eye-powder), some baja (tooth-blacking), and so on.
See Also
- VI Mukims of the XXV
- Dalam (Sultan’s Court)
- Teungku di Bitay
- Tuan di Bitay
- Turkey (Ottoman Empire)
- Jerusalem
- Syria
- Great Feast of Sacrifices)
- Embassy from Acheh to the Sultan of Turkey
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.