Mukim Tujoh (Achehnese Mukim Tujoh, “the Seven Mukims”) is the popular Achehnese designation of the VII Mukims of Pidie, a group of seven mukims or territorial districts which form an administrative sub-division of the Pidie country. In The Achehnese Vol. I, Snouck Hurgronje notes this usage in connection with the nomenclature of the Achehnese mukim groupings.
The Naming of the Mukim-Groups
The author explains that the Achehnese have a peculiar manner of designating groups of mukims. The famous district of the three mukims is generally described simply as “the Mukims Three” (Mukim Lhée), while other uleebalangships of three mukims are called “the three mukims so-and-so” — for instance, Lhee Mukim Lam Rabo or Lhee Mukim Kayee Adang. In the same manner, the IV Mukims of the XXV are always known as “the IV Mukims of the XXV,” and the VII Mukims of Pidie as “the Mukim Tujoh.” The numeral alone, without further specification, is reserved for those groupings so pre-eminent that no confusion is possible.
The Sagi of the XXII Mukims
Snouck Hurgronje further records that the sagi of the XXII Mukims now contains thirty-seven mukims, or forty-six if one includes the VII Mukims Pidie (the Mukim Tujoh) — the latter being, in reality, nine in number. This discrepancy between the nominal seven and the actual nine reflects the fluid nature of the mukim as a unit: districts have been added or detached from the uleebalangship over time without altering its traditional numeral. The Mukim Tujoh thus exemplifies a common feature of Achehnese political geography, where the names of districts preserve the memory of an older state of things.
Pidie and the Wider System
The Mukim Tujoh belongs to the Pidie country, that rich and populous region which lies to the east of Great Acheh and which has always been closely connected, in trade and in politics, with the sultans of Acheh. Its inclusion in the count of the XXII Mukims sagi underlines the loose and fluctuating character of the older Achehnese confederacies, in which the outlying districts of Pidie might be reckoned to one or another sagi according to the political convenience of the moment.
See Also
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.