The Raijah was a steamer of the Indische Paketvaart seized by pirates off the north coast of Atjeh on the night of 20 July 1893 and run ashore near Kerti, in the episode narrated by P. H. R. Beuming as the Raijah piracy.
She left Oleh-leh on 20 July 1893 bound for Penang by way of Segli, Telok Semawé and Edi, carrying besides her ordinary cargo a rumoured large sum of money for the controleur at Edi — a rumour that proved false, the consignment having gone with the Hok Canton.
Seven Pedirese were smuggled aboard at Telok Semawé by an Acehnese of the crew and hidden in the hold. That night they killed the helmsman, the second mate Alexander and the captain, and in the general massacre that followed twenty-four of those aboard were killed, twelve wounded and eighteen drowned. The European engineers survived by hiding in the engine-room; part of the crew was pressed to help work the ship, which was run onto the beach so that the bandits could go ashore with their booty and five women. Before leaving they stove in the boats, so that thirteen passengers attempting to land perished.
After the pirates had gone the engineers signalled with rockets to the warship Madura, which was in the neighbourhood and rendered immediate assistance.
See Also
- Raijah piracy (20 July 1893)
- Kerti
- Telok Semawé
- Madura (warship)
- Hok Canton (ship)
- Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij
- 20 July
- 1893
Source
Schetsen uit den strijd op Groot-Atjeh, met speciaal vervaardigde kaart en toepasselijke photo’s, bewerkt door P. H. R. Beuming, oud-onderofficier van het Ned.-Indische Leger (Amsterdam, December 1911; uitgegeven ten bate van het te stichten Herstellingsoord voor Rijks-Ambtenaren). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Br N 82-144
Acknowledgement of sources. The material in this article derives from Schetsen uit den strijd op Groot-Atjeh, met speciaal vervaardigde kaart en toepasselijke photo’s, bewerkt door P. H. R. Beuming, oud-onderofficier van het Ned.-Indische Leger (Amsterdam, December 1911). Dutch passages are quoted in the original with an English rendering.