The Pedir-dijk was the dike along the right (west) bank of the Atjeh-rivier from Lemboe downstream to Kota Radja Bedil at the river-mouth, which Borel calls “de aangewezen verdedigingslijn der Atjeh-rivier” — the designated defensive line of the Atjeh-rivier. Built originally by the Atjehneezen to hold floodwater off the sawahs, it served the Dutch, once they had occupied it, as a raised causeway and natural parapet commanding the river, the sawahs to either side, and the kampong belt of Langkroek, Lamara and Berauw along its length.
Strategic value
The Pedir-dijk was, in Borel’s analysis, the obvious line on which to base any Dutch stelling at the mouth of the Atjeh-rivier. Its elevated crest gave command of the sawah (irrigated rice fields) on both sides, its continuous length provided a ready-made communication trench between Kwala Atjeh and Lemboe, and its western flank was covered by the marshes of the marine-benteng and the river-mouth itself. The dike was therefore the key to the security of the Penajoeng bivouak, the Marine-benteng, and ultimately the Kraton from attack along the right bank. Borel insists that it should have been occupied and garrisoned in February 1874 — after the Bital and Ketapang Doewa expeditions — instead of being left to the enemy.
The dike in the war
The dike’s strategic value was demonstrated by the recurrent fights along its length. The padi-snijden concession of February–March 1874 was made to the bevolking of Langkroek on the dike. The massed Atjehnese attack on Penajoeng of 11 April 1874 — reinforced by hulptroepen from Pedir — was driven back behind the Pedir-dijk, where the enemy left some dead. The dike was only permanently secured after the battle of Garouw of 28 June 1874, when the Atjehneezen abandoned the dike, the road to Koeala, and K. R. Bedil “in one movement,” all of which the Dutch occupied at once. The conquest of Langkroek of 28 September 1874 and the conquest of Lemboe of 7 November 1874 extended the Dutch hold to the upper end of the dike; K. R. Bedil at the lower end was reoccupied on 28 June 1874.
See Also
- Atjeh-rivier
- Lemboe
- Berauw
- Langkroek
- Lamara
- Kota Radja Bedil
- Pedir-dijk (concept)
- Battle of Garouw (28 June 1874)
- Conquest of Langkroek (28 September 1874)
- Conquest of Lemboe (7 November 1874)
Source
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 52–54, 62–66, 73, 75, 92, 95, 121, 125, 142, 162–165, 200–202, 209–211.