Kotta Tengah (literally “Middle Fort”, modern Kota Tengah) was a place in the immediate Padangse hinterland on the Westkust van Sumatra which, together with Paoeh, formed the recurrent nucleus of Atjehsch-gezinde resistance to the Compagnie from the 1660s through the 1680s. In Dr. F. W. Stapel’s Geschiedkundige Atlas van Nederland it is one of the two most consistently rebellious places on the Westkust, always paired with Paoeh in the Compagnie’s military responses.
The 1666 Versprect contract (lost)
Versprect’s 1666 expedition, which avenged the Paoeh disaster, also produced a contract with Kotta Tengah. “From a contract with those of Kotta-tengah, from the year 1670, it appears that they on 4 November 1666 likewise concluded a contract with Versprect; this agreement however is no longer to be found” (Uit een contract met die van Kotta-tengah, uit het jaar 1670, blijkt, dat zij 4 November 1666 eveneens een contract van Verspreet sloten; deze overeenkomst is echter niet meer terug te vinden). The lost 4 November 1666 contract is one of the small archival gaps in the Westkust record.
The 1670 rising
Kotta Tengah rose with Paoeh in 1670. “On 3 April 1670 one received at Batavia the news that those of Kotta-tengah and Paoeh, aroused by the escaped rebels from Paoeh, on the rumours of the coming of an Atjehsche army, had risen” (3 April 1670 ontving men te Batavia bericht, dat die van Kotta-tengah en Paoeh, opgeruid door de gevluchte rebellen uit Paoeh, op de geruchten der komst van een Atjehsche krijgsmacht in verzet waren gekomen). The Coopman expedition of 6 June 1670 — six ships dispatched from Batavia — “took and destroyed the fortifications at Kotta-tengah and Paoeh, and drove the rebels apart” (Hij nam en vernietigde de versterkingen te Kotta-tengah en Paoeh, en sloeg de opstandelingen uiteen).
The 1671 submission
After the Coopman expedition “through the intermediation of those same Padangse regents came in September also the chiefs of the defeated Kotta-tengah to Padang, and offered anew their submission, under confession of guilt. After payment of a fine of 400 rijksdaalders they were again taken into the general alliance” (Door tusschenkomst dierzelfde Padangsche regenten kwamen in September ook de hoofden van het verslagen Kotta-tengah naar Padang, en boden opnieuw hun onderwerping aan, onder bekentenis van schuld. Na betaling eener boete van 400 rijksdaalders werden zij weer in het algemeene bondgenootschap opgenomen).
The 1676 rising
In 1676 the Kotta Tengah chiefs were again in revolt. “Those of Kotta-tengah, by the unrest caused by the Atjehers, also came to unrest again” (die van het nabij Padang gelegen Kotta-tengah door een en ander ook weer tot onrust kwamen). Batavia had to send soldiers twice in 1676 to the Westkust.
The 1677 submission
By 1677 commandeur Pits — about to leave for Malakka — “tasted the pleasure that the rebellious elements of Kotta-tengah and Paoeh sent their envoys to Padang, and on 30 August of that year by contract offered their submission anew, the Compagnie acknowledging as stadtholder of the king of Menangkabau for the coastal lands” (smaakte hij het genoegen, dat de oproerige elementen van Kotta-tengah en Paoeh hun gezanten naar Padang zonden, en 30 Augustus van dat jaar bij contract opnieuw hun onderwerping aanboden, de Compagnie erkennende als stadhouder des konings van Menangkabau voor de kustlanden).
The 1680 Padang Conference and the 1680 oath
Kotta Tengah was, with Paoeh, the principal target of commissioner Pit de Jonge’s 1680 mission. On arrival at Padang the principal rebels of Paoeh and their adherents of Kotta-tengah “at once came to beg pardon” (al dadelijk de voornaamste rebellen van Paoeh en hun aanhangers van Kotta-tengah vergiffenis kwamen verzoeken). On the Koran they swore on 24 July 1680 a solemn oath of loyalty and obedience. On 5 August they renewed their submission.
The governor of Kotta Tengah was one of the four signatories of the Padang Conference of 29 August 1680 — together with the “keijser” of Indrapoera, the panglima-radja at Padang and the governor of Salido.
The 1682 submission
Kotta Tengah rose again in the 1682 Bajang-Priaman-Agam disturbances. “Subsequently also the regents of Kotta-tengah came on 5 July d.a.v. to humble themselves. They requested and obtained pardon of the Compagnie, promising ‘to obey all commands and ordinances’” (Vervolgens kwamen ook de regenten van Kotta-tengah zich 5 Julij d.a.v. verootmoedigen. Zij verzochten en verkregen pardon van de Compagnie, belovende ‘dereller bevelen en ordonnantien te gehoorzamen’).
Significance
Kotta Tengah is, with Paoeh, the recurring nucleus of Westkust resistance to the Compagnie. Its repeated risings — 1670, 1676, 1682 — and repeated submissions — 1671, 1677, 1680, 1682 — define the rhythm of the Compagnie’s Westkust government in the consolidation phase of the Painansch Contract system. The Compagnie’s response is uniformly the same: military expedition, destruction of fortifications, formal submission, fine, reintegration into the general alliance. The cycle is the operational proof that the Painansch Contract system, however complete on paper, depended on the recurrent application of military force.
The pairing of Kotta Tengah with Paoeh in every Compagnie response — they are always named together — suggests that the two places formed a single political-military complex in the Padangse hinterland, with Kotta Tengah as the “Middle Fort” between Padang and the Paoeh uplands.
See Also
- Paoeh
- Padang
- Painansch Contract
- Padang Conference (29 August 1680)
- Abraham Versprect
- Pieter Coopman
- Jacob Jorisse Pits
- Melchior Hurdt
- Laurens Pit de Jonge
- Jan van Leene
- Indrapoera
- Salido
- Menangkabau
- Westkust van Sumatra
- Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie
- 3 April
- 4 November
- 6 June
- 5 July
- 30 August
- 24 July
- 29 August
- 1666
- 1670
- 1671
- 1677
- 1680
- 1682
Source
De Koloniën, by Dr. F. W. Stapel, in Geschiedkundige Atlas van Nederland (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1931), kaart 19, blz. 17–22 (tekst bij blad 4: Atjeh en de Westkust van Sumatra in 1684).