Pante Pira’ is a locality in the neighbourhood of the Achehnese capital, and the site of the only padang — that is, open unwooded ground suitable for temporary cultivation — to be found in the immediate vicinity of the capital. In The Achehnese Vol. I, Snouck Hurgronje cites Pante Pira’ in connection with the Achehnese law of land-tenure.
The Padang and its Cultivation
The author explains that, where umôngs (rice-lands) are scarce in a mukim, the right to open gardens on the padang is sometimes accorded to the umông-holders of that mukim, which umôngs thenceforward become their property. This privilege, however, is seldom availed of. “It is more usual to open gardens on the padang,” the author continues, “but this gives a right to what is planted only and not to the ground itself. The only padang in the neighbourhood of the capital was a small tract near Pante Pira’. Elsewhere in the lowlands it is rarely to be met with.”
The Scarcity of Open Land
The singularity of Pante Pira’ lies in the fact that, in the lowlands of Acheh Proper, open unwooded ground was so uncommon as to be almost unknown. The capital was surrounded by sawahs, by umôngs, and by the lush vegetation of the tropical lowland; and the only padang available for temporary cultivation was the small tract near Pante Pira’. The very existence of this tract thus constituted a topographical curiosity of the metropolitan district, and gave to the locality a modest importance in the agrarian economy of the capital.
Wakeuëh and the Ownership of Trees
The author further notes that ownership of the trees and other plants grown on such a padang — exclusive of ownership of the ground itself — is not confined to the padangs; it is also to be met with in the case of what are called wakeuëh lands. The tract near Pante Pira’ thus illustrates, in the immediate neighbourhood of the capital, the more general Achehnese distinction between the ownership of the soil and the ownership of what is planted upon it — a distinction which lies at the root of Achehnese land-tenure.
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.