A village (gampong) near the capital. During the civil war between Jeumaloy and Pochut Muhamat, Jeumaloy fortified Peunayong as one of his three strongholds (along with Gampong Jawa and Meura’sa).
Expanded account from The Achehnese, Vol. I — Peunayong
Peunayong is a gampong of the lowland cluster around the Sultan’s Dalam, mentioned in The Achehnese Vol. I as one of the principal banda (town-bred) villages of the capital whose inhabitants, together with those of Gampong Jawa, Pande, Lam Bhu, Lueng Bata, Lam Seupe’eng, Ateueng, Batoh and Meura’sa, gave the tone to the whole country in matters of custom, dress and manners.
One of the Banda Gampongs
Snouck Hurgronje introduces Peunayong in his discussion of the highland–lowland distinction in Great Acheh. The Dalam, or residence of the Sultan, “formed before our war with Acheh the nucleus of a number of fine and prosperous gampongs. The centre of these with its mosque and market-place was called Banda Acheh i.e. the capital or trading mart of Acheh, and gave the tone to the whole country in matters of custom, dress etc. The most important of these gampongs were Gampong Jawa, Pande, Peunayong, Lam Bhu Lu’eng Bata, Lam Seupe’eng, Ateueng, Batoh and Alcura’sa.” The inhabitants of these and the neighbouring villages “together with their language and customs were distinguished by the epithet banda, that is, town-bred or civilized, and the people of other districts who conformed as much as possible to the tone of the capital enjoyed the same title.”
Significance
Peunayong’s inclusion in the list of banda gampongs marks it as one of the principal settlements of the pre-Dutch capital. Its standing as a banda village placed its inhabitants among the ureueng banda, the town-bred people whose dialect and manners were the standard of urban civilisation in Great Acheh. The brief mention in Vol. I is supplemented in Vol. II of The Achehnese, where individual gampongs of the capital are described in greater detail. (The spelling PeunayTmg in the OCR text of Vol. I reflects the printer’s long-s confusion typical of the 1906 Brill edition.)
See Also
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.