Laut Tawar — Dutch Laoet Tawar, also called the lake of Takengeun and the Gayo lake — is the great natural lake of the Gayo highlands of Aceh, approximately 16 kilometres long and 4 kilometres wide, lying at about 1,200 metres above sea level in a basin enclosed by the high, pine-forested walls of the *Klietel*-massif to the south and the B. ni Segi–B. ni Beboeli chain to the north. It is the geographical and demographic heart of the Gajo Loeës high plateau and the headwater of the Kr. Peusangan, which descends from it to the North Coast; the village of Takengeun stands on its shore at the southern terminus of the *Gajo-weg*. De Buitenbezittingen treats the Laoet Tawar as the principal physical feature of the Gayo lands: the body of water around which the great rice plains of Bintang and Takengën formed, and the barrier whose only access of hoogen weg from the north — the Klietel-saddle — was the route of the Gajo-weg, “met ontzaglijke moeite en kosten geslagen” (opened with immense effort and cost).
Topography and formation
The Laoet Tawar is an afdammingsmeer — a dammed lake — formed by the natural blocking of the Peusangan valley by the Telëgë-heights and the Klietel-massif. The lake’s water is contained by the high, almost perpendicular walls of the surrounding mountains, which “langs overal tot de slechts hier en daar wat terugwijkende bergflanken bijna oevers naar voren dringen” — everywhere thrust the shores forward, almost to the only here and there somewhat receding mountain flanks. Small, fully enclosed shore-plains — Kenawa, Towéran, Rawé, and Nosan — provided the sawahs of a few small settlements; the larger, gently sloping plains of Bintang and Takengën on the eastern and western shores became, by their continuous subsidence and their fertility, “welvarende bevolkings-centra” (prosperous population centres).
The outflow and the Peusangan
Even west of the present bestuursvestiging Takengën, the Laoet Tawar breaks through the narrow western wall of the basin and draws into its watershed the Peusangan river, which thereafter absorbs the small Wol ni Aréh and the keteldal (kettle-valley) of Pegasèng on its way to the coast. The heavy forested slopes of the Telëgë heights then turn the Peusangan in its course to the west, forcing it to seek a lower drempel (threshold) and to break through the narrow, deep valley between the steep watershed of the upper Wojla and the third Barisan coulisse. Below the Pegasèng-drempel, the Peusangan descends to the North Coast through the keteldal of Ketël and the moorish delta of the Kr. Peusangan. It is the lake whose water the Peusanganrivier carries to the sea — a fact which makes Laut Tawar the headwater of one of the principal North-Coast watercourses of Atjeh.
The settlements and the chiefdoms
The shores of the Laoet Tawar are the demographic core of the Gajo Loeës. The great kampong of Bintang — seat of the Boekét Ewéh branch of the Kédjoerön Boekét house — lies on its eastern shore; the bestuursvestiging of Takengën lies on its western shore; the small shore settlements of Kenawa, Towéran, Rawé, and Nosan occupy the enclosed plains along its banks. The Kédjoerön Pétiambang — the titular overlord of the Gayo Loeës whose authority had, by the colonial period, decayed into a theoretisch gezag (theoretical authority) — had his seat at Penampacian on the lake shore.
The Gajoweg and Laut Tawar
The Gajoweg now leads to Takengeun on the beautiful lake in the Gajolanden, over a distance of 103 km. At km 11 one passes the bridge over the Peusanganrivier, which carries the water of Laut Tawar to the sea. In Oost-Indisch Journael by Merac (1947), Laut Tawar is the book’s — and the lieutenant’s journey through Aceh — destination: the beautiful lake in the Gajolanden at the end of the Gajoweg, whose water the Peusanganrivier carries to the sea.
Hydrography and orographic setting (Encyclopaedisch Bureau, 1917)
The Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s earlier Sumatra-wide survey (Aflevering 1, Hoofdstuk I) places the Laoet Tawar on the rand (edge) of the Gajosche Centraalgebergte (Gayo central mountain range), between the Geureudong I (71) and Boer ni Telong (73) volcanoes, and among the second category of Sumatran kratermeren (crater lakes). The lake’s waters drain through the Kroeëng Keureutë to the Noordkust (North Coast) of Atjeh, forming the principal hydrographical connection between the Gayo hoogvlakte (high plateau) and the Noordkust kustvlakte (coastal plain); its stroomgebied (watershed) includes the hoogvlakte of Takengon and Ketol.
The Laut Tawar in the Second World War
In the Dutch WWII staff history’s Atjeh chapter, the Laoet Tawar’s rand at Takengon is the site of Palmer van den Broek’s 19 March 1942 capitulation, of Lt Van Zanten’s post-capitulation resistance, and of Lt Onvlee’s post-war brief of the Korpscommandant on the safeguarding of the vaandel.
Significance
Laut Tawar is significant both as the physical heart of the Gayo lands and as a recurring landmark in the colonial and military geography of Atjeh. In Oost-Indisch Journael it is the beautiful lake of the Gajolanden at the end of the Gajoweg — the destination of the lieutenant’s journey through Aceh. In De Buitenbezittingen it is the principal physical feature of the Gayo lands and the headwater of the Peusangan. In the Dutch WWII staff history it is the site of the March 1942 capitulation at Takengon and of the post-capitulation resistance of Lt Van Zanten. Across all three accounts, the lake marks the southern terminus of the Gajoweg and the geographical pivot of the Gayo highlands.
Account from Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)
Laoet Tawar — modern Laut Tawar — is the great lake of the Gajo country in the interior of northern Sumatra, on whose shore lies the chief place Takengon. The lake, more than 1.200 metres above sea-level, is 16 km long; its greatest breadth is 5 km. It is the great attraction of Takengon, but by no means the only one. A road runs along the lake, hewn out of the mountain-wall, and here and there lie the small villages, whose population fishes and has its sawahs by the rivers that bring their water into Laut Tawar. On the west side it discharges into the Peusangan river.
Use in Literature
The lake is the central feature of Snouck Hurgronje’s Het Gajo-land en zijn bewoners (1903), and is the geographic heart of the Afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden as reconstituted in 1922. Broersma describes the lake and its surroundings in the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Verkenningen in Atjeh, on the Gajo-weg and the interior.
The Depèq and the Fishery
The lake is subject to the depèq — a dry wind that sometimes rises to storm-force in the months April–October, and against which the praws of fishermen on the lake must quickly take shelter. The fishing on the lake is one of the principal livelihoods of the Gajo kampongs on its shore.
Significance
Laoet Tawar is the geographic landmark of the Gajo country and the principal scenic attraction of the interior of northern Sumatra. The lake and its surrounding mountains form the highland basin which the colonial government hoped to develop as a herstellingsoord — a convalescent station — for the European population of the lowlands.
Account from Atjeh als land voor handel en bedrijf (1925)
Laut Tawar (Laoet Tawar) was lake at 1200+ meters above sea, 16 km long greatest width 5 km, at Takengon in Gajo-landen, draining west via Peusangan River.
Description
Great attraction Takengon but not only. Road along lake cut in mountain side small villages population fishes sawahs along rivers feeding lake. Can be rowed motorboat bestuur. View water surface tranquil splendour changing tints enjoy from road height surrounding or ridge mountains.
Around Takengon trips e.g., Pegasèn-Relop valley, Kebajakan and Sarel. West of place stretches big blang grass plain Blang Kolag excellent terrain exercise game pleasant resort.
Early settlement 1874 representatives Indian government meeting Gajos at Peureula where descended small vessels with dammar rottan gambir tobacco gold dust. Their land must be beautiful large lake densely populated kampongs per Atjehers tales.
See Also
- 1903
- 1917
- 1922
- 1942
- 1947
- Bintang (Gayo settlement)
- Bireuën
- Boer ni Telong
- De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 1
- Depèq (wind)
- Gajo Loeës
- Gajo-land
- Gajo-weg
- Gajoesche Centraalgebergte
- Gajoland
- Gajoweg
- Geureudong
- H. van Zanten
- Het Gajo-land en zijn bewoners
- Ketol
- Klietel-massif
- Kr. Peusangan
- Kroeëng Keureutë
- Kédjoerön Boekét
- Kédjoerön Pétiambang
- L. C. G. F. Onvlee
- Major W. F. Palmer van den Broek
- Oost-Indisch Journael
- Peusangan
- Peusanganrivier
- Takengeun
- Takengon
- Takengën
- Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)
- Blang Kolag
Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu
Lake in the central highlands of Aceh; a large afdammingsmeer (dammed-up lake). Maleische naam means ‘the saltless sea’. Surrounded by quartaire gronden and terraced land suitable for rice, gardens, and ladangLake atTakengon around which white cabbage, coffee, and pine forests are situated.
Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 76, 77, 78, 178, 184, 185, 186.
Source
De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 2: Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 4–6, 9. De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 1: Sumatra, Algemeene Hoofdstukken, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), Hoofdstuk I (Oro-hydrographisch), pp. 12–13, 17–20. Oost-Indisch Journael: Palaver om de tafel met het gat, by Merac, Toekan-Serie no. 2, ed. G. L. Tichelman (Haarlem: De Gulden Pers, 1947), chapter Jagerslatijn. Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), chapters XI–XII, ‘De Gajo-weg en zijn landschap’ and ‘In het hart van Gajo-land’, pp. 76–83. Atjeh als land voor handel en bedrijf, by Dr. R. Broersma, Gebrs. Cohen, Utrecht, 1925, pp. 71-73.
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. 76, 77, 78, 178, 184, 185, 186.