Meura'sa

A district and gampong near the capital of Acheh. In the lowland districts, especially in

ornamentation of tombstones (nisam, batee jeurat), in which they displayed considerable skill. This art is now practically defunct. Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa — depicted in a photograph in the book — was a famous chief of this district; he absorbed 10 katis (about 13 lbs) of quicksilver into his body through the skin to secure invulnerability, and carried a one-eyed coconut as a charm. He had a Teuku Karong guide from Bateue Hie’ in Samalanga. During the Dutch war, the people of Meura’sa submitted to the Gompeuni without striking a blow, a fact the poet of the Hikayat Prang Gompeuni criticizes sharply. Teuku Ne’ is later mentioned among those near the mosque of Ulee Lheue during the incident involving Teuku Asan. In the sadati kisah: ‘On the banks of the salt-water creek is established one who is said to be invincible; he is known as Teuku Ne’ of Meurasa.’ The keude (market) of Meura’sa formerly lay near the tomb of Tuan di Keude (also called ‘Saint of the 17 yards’). Teuku Chot and Tuan di Puta are also saints buried in Gampong Pi within the territory of Meura’sa. Tuan di Chot Aron is in Gampong Lam Jabat in Meura’sa.

Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Meura’sa

Meura’sa is the great mukim of the XXV Mukims of Great Acheh, the seat of an hereditary uleebalangship of considerable antiquity, and the home of the Ne’ family — whose chief bore the official title of “grandfather of the sultan.” The mukim lies in the immediate neighbourhood of the Dalam and the capital, and is repeatedly mentioned in The Achehnese in connection both with the political constitution of the sultanate and with the technical arts of the Achehnese.

The chief of Meura’sa and the Ne’ family

The chief of the mukim of Meura’sa bore, with the chief of the IX Mukims of the XXV, the official title of “grandfather” (Ne’) of the sultan — a style which, like that of “elder brother” (Polem) in the XXII Mukims, probably typified the original relation between the powerful sagi-chief and the sultan. The full style of the chief was Teuku Ne’ Raja Muda Seutia (“Grandfather of the Sultan, the Faithful Heir-Apparent”). The Meura’sa chief was also in earlier times chief of the VI Mukims; these were lost to his house when Teuku Nanta Seutia succeeded in detaching them from his control. The protests of the latter, reiterated down to the present day, were of no avail against this secession. In 1896 the Nanta family having taken a prominent part in the treachery of Teuku Uma against the Dutch, the Ne’ family was restored to power; the Dutch Government appointed as chief Teuku Raja Itam, a son of the Teuku Ne’ who was uleebalang of Meura’sa at the beginning of the Dutch operations in Acheh.

The Meura’sa chief was one of the four “principal uleebalangs” of the XXV Mukims, alongside Teuku Ne’ Peureuba Wangsa of the IX Mukims and Teuku Nanta Seutia who had wrested the VI Mukims from him. He is also named, alongside Teuku Ba’et of the VII Mukims, Teuku Waki Chi’ Gampong Baroh of the V Mukims, Teuku Ateue’ of the IV Mukims and Teuku Imeum Tungkob of the XIII Mukims Tungkob, in the traditional list of the “twelve uleebalangs who appoint and dethrone princes.”

The tomb of the tyrant

The grandfather of the present Teuku Ne’ — who, under the title of Teuku Ulee Lhueng, was the right-hand man of the old Teuku Ne’ (the second predecessor of the present chief) — lives in the memory of the people as an atrocious tyrant. The Achehnese believe that the tormented wretches shriek in their graves, and that it is undesirable to live in the neighbourhood of the tombs of great evildoers or tyrants; the memory of the Meura’sa chief’s grandfather was, at the time of Snouck’s writing, still fresh in the popular imagination as a warning of the lasting reputation of cruelty.

The batee Meura’sa

Until quite recent times, the people of Meura’sa possessed great skill in cutting tombstones. The bateë Meura’sa were in great demand throughout all Acheh. The stones themselves were of a porous and easily workable kind, brought from Pulo Batee (“Stone Island”), opposite [[Ulee Lheue|Ulee Lheue (Olehleh)]. In former times the wealthier folk had chiselled tombstones from this material; the tombstones were given a different shape according as they were intended for men or for women (nisbat agam and inong), with prism-shaped stones for the former and flat or thin ones for the latter. The art of the Meura’sa cutters has, however, disappeared in recent times; hewn tombstones are now largely imported from Penang.

The Meura’sa and the court

The intimate connexion of the Meura’sa house with the royal family was exhibited at every coronation. The panglima of the XXVI Mukims and Teuku Ne’ were the first to approach the branda seumah, the coronation platform; the presence of Teuku Ne’ at all three of the successive installations gave evidence of his intimate relation with the royal house. The respect in which the reigning house was held, and which gradually acquired a sort of religious aspect, is illustrated by the famous journey of Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa and his followers to the court at Keumala, when all who accompanied him were implored by their friends and relations to bring back with them some water wherein the pretender to the sultanate had washed his feet.

Political attitude towards the Dutch

The people of Meura’sa were generally regarded as having taken the foremost place among those disposed to submission to the Dutch from the very first. They were said to be of the opinion that the wisest course would be to submit to the first kafir power that came by; they had, however, maintained en fond their old doctrine in regard to infidels, owing to the ephemeral nature of the impression they had received during the last twenty years of the power of the Gompeuni. They added that they found it too troublesome to put this doctrine in practice owing to the exposed position of their territory. Even the people of Meura’sa and Gampong Jawa, who had wholly compromised themselves by complete submission, called all Dutch authorities jihi and spoke without the slightest intention to give offence of the regulations of the kaphè.

Sources

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. Chapter I, §§ 2, 7, pp. 24, 126.

See Also

• Acheh
• Gampong Pi
• Hikayat Prang Gompeuni
• Samalanga
• Teuku Asan
• Tuan di Keude
• Ulee Lheue
• XXV Mukims
• Great Acheh
• Dalam
• Teuku Ne’ Raja Muda Seutia
• Teuku Ne’ of Meura’sa
• Teuku Nanta Seutia
• Teuku Raja Itam
• Teuku Uma
• Pulo Batee
• Gampong Jawa
• Keumala
• Banda Acheh
• Gampong
• Mukim
• Uleebalang

Source

The Achehnese, Vol. II, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.