Gayo- en Alaslanden — Gajo- en Alaslanden in the spelling of the Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, Gajo LoeBus, Gajo LoeDoes, and Gajo Loelus in OCR variants, Gayo Alas in modern Indonesian — was an afdeeling (administrative division) of the Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden in the interior highlands of Aceh, comprising the homelands of the Gayo (Gajo) and Alas peoples and the seat of the zelfbesturende landschappen (self-governing territories) of the onderafdeelingen (sub-divisions) Takingeun (the Gayo highlands, with the gebied van Rädjö Boekét / territory of Rädjö Boekét) and Alaslanden (the Alas valley, with the gebieden / territories of Bambel, Poeloe Nas, Kedjoerön Batoe Mboelan, and Kedjoerön Bambel). The Inhoud (table of contents) of the 1930 compilation places the afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden as the originating seat of three regulations — Regs. 4c (the Takingeun Pantjang Alas uitvoeringsbesluit / implementing decision), 21 (the Serbeudjadi Rafflesia-natuurmonument designation), and 22 (the Takingeun alang-alang en dennenbosschen-verordening / cogon-grass and pine-forest regulation) — and as the recipient of parallel regelingen (arrangements) in the comparative tables of nearly every other regulation in the book.
Geography and the Gayo and Alas peoples
The afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden — the Gayo and Alas lands — occupies the highland interior of Aceh, running south from the north-coast onderafdeelingen (Bireuën, Lhokseumawe, Lhoksoekon) toward the Batak lands of north Sumatra. The Gayo people (in Gayo urang Gayo) inhabit the northern half of the highlands, around Laut Tawar lake and the principal settlement of Takingeun (Takengon); the Alas people (in Alas orang Alas) inhabit the southern half, the valley of the Alas river — the Tanah Alas (Land of the Alas) of the Malay signatory clauses. The two peoples share a common Muslim-Batak highland culture but are linguistically and ethnically distinct: Gayo is a Central-Austronesian language with unique features; Alas is closer to the Batak languages of south Sumatra.
The Inhoud entry for Reg. No. 22 confirms the afdeeling scope: “TELLFESTUURRSTEEEREEEENN van 20 Mel 1924 houdende regelen om- trent het branden van alang-alang op woeste en bebouwde granden benevens het kappen en besehndigen van dennenhosseen in de landschappen der onderafdeeling Takingeun. (Afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden)”. The Inhoud entry for Reg. No. 4a likewise confirms: “CALFFESTTUUSYTHREEDENNN van 27 Jull 1925 tot vaststelling van een regeling op de heffing en Inning van de zg. ,,Pantjang Alas” in de landschappen der afdeeling Pidie. (Afdeeling Gajo en Aluslanden)” — i.e. the Pantjang Alas regeling is seated in the afdeeling Pidië but extended by parallel regelingen to the Afdeeling Gajo en Aluslanden. The Inhoud cross-references consistently pair the Afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden with the originating afdeelingen of Pidië, Noordkust, Oostkust, and Westkust.
The onderafdeelingen of Takingeun and Alaslanden
The afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden comprises two principal onderafdeelingen: the onderafdeeling Takingeun (the Gayo highlands, including the gebied van Rädjö Boekét) to the north, and the onderafdeeling Alaslanden (the Alas valley, including the gebieden of Bambel, Poeloe Nas, Kedjoerön Batoe Mboelan, and Kedjoerön Bambel) to the south. The Takingeun signatory clauses locate the onderafdeeling within the afdeeling: “De Zelfbestuurders der Onderaf- deeling Takingeum gelegen in de ofdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden Gou- vernement Atjeh en Onderhoorig- heden” — the Zelfbestuurders (Self-Governing Rulers) of the onderafdeeling Takingeum, situated in the afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden, Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden. The Alaslanden signatory clauses locate the onderafdeeling similarly: “Bambel dan Poeloe Nas dari Afdeeling tanah Alaslanden” — Bambel and Poeloe Nas of the Afdeeling tanah Alaslanden.
The Page 119 footnote clarifies that the afdeeling Alaslanden of 1914 is coterminous with the onderafdeeling Alaslanden of 1930 — i.e. the formerly free-standing afdeeling Alaslanden was subordinated to the broader afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden between 1914 and 1930. The onderafdeeling Serbeudjadi — the seat of the Rafflesia-natuurmonument (natural monument) regulation of 1 January 1921 (Reg. No. 21) — is a third onderafdeeling of the afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden, located in the eastern Gayo lands and ruled by the Kedjoeroen Abog (Panta Ali Aman Lage) as Zelfbestuurder.
Regulations seated in the afdeeling
Three regulations in the 1930 compilation are seated directly in the afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden:
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Reg. No. 4c — Zelfbestuursbesluit van 1 October 1926, houdende vaststelling van uitvoeringsvoorschriften en modellen betrekking hebbende op de regeling van de heffing en inning van de z.g. Pantjang Alas in de landschappen der onderafdeeling Takingeun (Self-Government Decision of 1 October 1926, establishing implementing provisions and forms relating to the regulation of the levy and collection of the so-called Pantjang Alas in the territories of the sub-division Takingeun), issued by the Zelibestuur dari negeri-negeri didalam onderafdoeling Takingeuu, approved by the Gouverneur on 31 December 1926 — the most-detailed operational supplement in the Pantjang Alas regime, providing for the vergunning (permit) system administered by the Oeleebalang (territorial chief) in overleg (in consultation) with the Plaatselijk Besturend Ambtenaar (Local Administrative Official).
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Reg. No. 21 — Zelfbestuursbesluit van 1 Januari 1921 houdende aanwijzing van terreinen als natuurmonumenten in het landschap Serbeudjadi (Self-Government Decision of 1 January 1921 designating grounds as natural monuments in the territory of Serbeudjadi), issued by the Kami Oelesbalang dari landschap Serbendjadi, Kedjoeroen Aboq, Banta Ali Aman Lage, dari onderafdeeling Serbeudjadi, afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden — the only natuurmonument designation in the compilation, designating thirteen named Rafflesia-sites at Aloer Doeren Tarotoeng, Aloer Kloewat, and Aloer Itam.
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Reg. No. 22 — Zelfbestuursverordening van 20 Mei 1924 houdende regelen omtrent het branden van alang-alang op woeste en bebouwde gronden benevens het kappen en beschadigen van dennenbosschen in de landschappen der onderafdeeling Takingeun (Afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden) (Self-Government Regulation of 20 May 1924 establishing rules on the burning of cogon-grass on waste and cultivated grounds as well as the felling and damaging of pine-forests in the territories of the sub-division Takingeun), issued by the Zelibestuur dari negeri-negeri didalam onderafdoeling Takingeuu — the only dennenbosschen (pine-forest) regulation in the compilation, with its dual subject (cogon-grass burning + pine-forest felling) and its mutual-aid fire-fighting duty on omwonenden (residents).
The Page 144 comparative table for Reg. No. 22 extends parallel regelingen to Serbeudjadi (29-5-1924, inwerking / entry into force 1-5-1925), Gajo Loelus (28-5-1924, inwerking 6-6-1924), and Alaslanden (6-6-1924) — i.e. the afdeeling’s three principal onderafdeelingen each received a parallel regeling within weeks of the originating Takingeun regulation. The Page 29 comparative table for Reg. No. 4a extends parallel Pantjang Alas regelingen to Takingeun (1-10-1926), Serbeudjadi (1-10-1926), Gajo Loelus (1-9-1926), and Alaslanden (1-11-1925) — again all three onderafdeelingen of the afdeeling.
Parallel regelingen extended to the afdeeling
Beyond the three Gajo- en Alaslanden-seated regulations, the afdeeling receives parallel regelingen in the comparative tables of nearly every other regulation in the compilation. The Page 72 comparative table extends the Peureula’ inkomstenbelasting (income tax, Reg. No. 9a) to Gajo LoeBus — “Gajo LoeBus” with dagteekening (date) onbekend (unknown), inwerking 1-1-1921. The Page 109 comparative table extends the Bireuën heerendienst-regeling (corvée-service arrangement, Reg. No. 14) to Gajo LoeBus (11 Feb 1929) and Alaslanden (7 Dec 1928 / 17 Oct 1928), all with inwerking 1 January 1929. The Page 113 comparative table extends the Teunom-Panga schoolgeld-regeling (school-fee arrangement, Reg. No. 15) to Gajo LoeBus (Juli-Dec 1917) and Alaslanden (Juli-Dec 1917). The Page 123 comparative table extends the Alaslanden cattle-transport regulation (Reg. No. 16) to Gajo LoeBus (24 Oct 1914) — i.e. across the entire afdeeling. The Page 129 comparative table extends the Lhoksoekon klappercultuur-verordening (coconut-cultivation regulation, Reg. No. 18a) to Gajo LoeBus (11-1916) and Alaslanden (12-1916). The Page 133 comparative table extends the Lhoksoekon mantri-instructie (petty-official instruction, Reg. No. 18b) to Gajo LoeBus (1 Sept 1916) and Alaslanden (21 Nov 1916). By 1930, the afdeeling was thus both an originating seat (Regs. 4c, 21, 22) and a recipient (Regs. 9a, 14, 15, 16, 18a, 18b) of the Gouvernement-wide regulatory mesh.
Significance
The afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden’s significance in the Aceh Wiki History record rests on four things. First, it is the only interior highland afdeeling of the Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden — distinct from the four coastal afdeelingen (Pidie, Noordkust, Oostkust, Westkust) that comprise the rest of the Gouvernement — and therefore the natural laboratory for regulations whose subject-matter is peculiar to the highlands: the dennenbosschen (pine forests, Pinus merkusii) protected by Reg. No. 22, the Rafflesia-natuurmonumenten designated by Reg. No. 21, and the highland-Gayo cattle-breeding stock protected by the Alaslanden Regs. 5 and 16. Second, it is the originating seat of the only natuurmonument designation in the compilation — Reg. No. 21 of 1 January 1921, the Serbeudjadi Rafflesia-natuurmonument designation made under the ordonnantie van 18 Maart 1916 Staatsblad van Nederlandsch-Indië No. 278 (ordinance of 18 March 1916, Netherlands Indies Statute Book No. 278), the only regulation in the book designating natuurmonumenten. Third, it is the originating seat of the most-detailed operational supplement in the Pantjang Alas regime — Reg. No. 4c of 1 October 1926, the Takingeun uitvoeringsbesluit (implementing decision) with its four model-forms (A, B, C, D) and its vergunning-system administered by the Oeleebalang in overleg with the Plaatselijk Besturend Ambtenaar. Fourth, it is the demonstration — through the Page 119 footnote documenting the 1914-to-1930 reorganisation by which the formerly free-standing afdeeling Alaslanden was subordinated as an onderafdeeling within the broader afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden — of the colonial administrative-territorial reorganisation of the Atjeh highlands in the 1910s–1920s. The afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden is, in this sense, the empirical demonstration of the highland regulatory regime and the natuurmonument-designation motive’s only appearance in the Atjeh regulatory record.
Account from Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)
Gajo- en Alaslanden is an afdeeling of the Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, comprising the highland regions of the Gajo country and the Alas lands in the interior of northern Sumatra. The afdeeling was formed in 1905 in the aftermath of Van Daalen’s expeditions of 1901 and 1904, was re-allotted in 1908 among other administrative areas, but was restored in 1922 with chief place Takengon, comprising the onderafdeelingen Takéngon, Gajoe Loeös, Serbödjadi and Alaslanden. The administrative work is still hampered by the lack of communications. This afdeeling is perhaps the largest in all Sumatra, and the assistent-resident needs a month to visit all the onderafdeelingen.
Account from Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh (1923)
Gajo- en Alaslanden was the department of Atjeh and Onderhoorigheden comprising the central Sumatran highlands of the Gajo and Alas peoples — the last tract of the province to be formed, definitively created as a department in 1908 after the expedition of Lieutenant-Colonel G. C. E. van Daalen (February 1904), and traversed by the Gajo road from Bireuen to the Laoet Tawar and the great road from Medan over the Karo plateau to Koeta Tjane.
The people and the old relation with Atjeh
The Gajoes inhabited the inner part of Sumatra enclosed between the Atjehnese coast states; they were cijnsbaar (tributary) to the Sultans of Atjeh and had in the last years to furnish heavy war contributions, both in victuals and in fighting strength, so that they suffered much: poverty drove them from their land to seek work on agricultural enterprises elsewhere, or to go raiding. As good Mohammedans the Gajoes detested the bad morals in Atjeh, yet bore the Atjehnese yoke with resignation; the struggle against the Netherlands had been represented to them as a prang sabil (holy war), and as such acceptable also to them. But the Gajo chiefs began to see that they did well to join the Netherlands: they soon ascribed the Atjehnese adversity to the wrath of Allah over their immorality, and therefore sought contact with the Dutch government, in which a certain Teungkoe Hadjie lent his cooperation. In the highlands the subjects of the signatory coast-rajahs did not consider themselves bound by the submission of the coast.
Expedition and department
The agricultural enterprises at Idi and in neighbouring Langkat repeatedly suffered the attacks of the Gajoes. Under Governor Van Heutsz the Gajo and Alas lands were sketched into the first general map of Atjeh (1901) from data collected by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, and in February 1904 Lieutenant-Colonel Van Daalen was entrusted with the expedition through the Gajo, Alas and Batak lands (see J. C. J. Kempees’s account). Van Daalen, as governor from 1905, laboured to realize the province’s political unity also economically: the mountain passage was opened to motor traffic by the completion of the Gajo road from Bireuen to the Laoet Tawar; in 1908, as the last piece, the department of the Gajo- and Alaslanden was definitively created.
Development
In the Gajo lands the potato, until then unknown, was introduced under Van Daalen; Merino sheep were brought in to obtain a wool-sheep in the highlands (disposed of without result in 1918), and the native horse breed — the original Gajo-paard (Gayo pony) — had long gone back in quality: crossing with Sandelhout stallions and Australian breeding-mares achieved little, and better success was expected from covering some dozens of mares by a selected Batak stallion. The Regeerings-Commissaris Frijling (1922–1923) even made “the far and difficult journey to the Gajoloeös”, where Captain Kaniess, “the father of the Gajoes”, already 11 years established, was extraordinarily promoted during that tournée. Governor A. G. H. van Sluys’s programme of 1923 asked for a road from Koeta Tjane to Blang Kedjeren and Takengon, connecting the highlands with the Atjehnese road system; the government road from Medan over the Karo highland to Koeta Tjane in the Alas lands was complete and fit for motor traffic, and was continued as horse-path to Blang Kedjeren, linking with the paths to Lōköp and over Rantō Pandjang to Birem-Rajeu in the East Coast department.
See Also
- 1901
- 1904
- 1905
- 1908
- 1914
- 1922
- 1924
- Alaslanden
- Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- Serbeudjadi
- Takingeun
- Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)
- Zelfbestuur
- Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- Van Daalen’s expedition through the Gajo, Alas and Batak lands (1904)
- G. C. E. van Daalen
- Roads and bridges in Atjeh
- Laoet Tawar
- Agriculture in Atjeh
Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu
Interior highland region opened to cultivation when the Gajo-weg was completed in 1914. Focus of mountain cultures (tea and coffee). Circumcision practices differ from coastal Aceh.Gajo people; gold washing historic and current; pine forests; coffee; potatoes; rice-growing using fire-light methods to keep animals away.
Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 141, 142, 143, 195, 204.
Sources
Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, Serie A No. 9 of the Mededeelingen van de Afdeeling Bestuurszaken der Buitengewesten van het Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur, Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1930, esp. Inhoud (pp. V–VII). OCR-filename: 20260719_030404_DLP-112-Zelfbestuursverordeningen_Atjeh_en_onderhoorigheden_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt.
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), passim.
Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh, by Joh. Langhout (The Hague: N.V. Boekhandel v/h W. P. van Stockum & Zoon, 1923), pp. 37–38, 80–81, 83, 88–90, 105, 112, 125, 128, illustration caption p. 88.
Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 141, 142, 143, 195, 204.