Sagi der XXVI Moekims — written in Dutch as Sagi der XXVI Moekims and meaning “Federation of the Twenty-Six Mukims”; in Van Heutsz’s spelling also Sagi XXVI or de Sagi’s XXVI — was one of the three traditional sagi (federations of mukims) into which Groot-Atjeh was divided, comprising twenty-six mukims situated on the east coast of the Atjeh-oorlog theatre around the Toengkoeb post. As described in Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96, the Sagi der XXVI Moekims was the region of the ulèëbalang Toekoe Nja Banta and of Toekoe Djohan Lampasei, and contained the mukim of Toengkoeb within its territory. Together with the XXV Moekims it is mentioned in the final Dutch assessments of 1896 as one of the prosperous regions under Dutch protection, in implicit contrast to the permanently hostile Sagi der XXII Moekims. In Van Heutsz’s 1893 tract De onderwerping van Atjeh, the XXVI Moekims is also the closing chapter of the Van der Heijden conquest — the Sagi whose July–September 1879 campaign culminated in the tocht naar Selimoen and produced the dagorder of 5 September 1879 declaring geheel Groot-Atjeh ten onder gebragt (the whole of Greater Atjeh subdued).
Description and Location
The Sagi der XXVI Moekims lay to the east of Koeta Radja on the east coast, extending from the lower Atjehrivier to the Kroeng Raba bay and the coast toward Ladoeng. It bordered the Sagi der XXV Moekims on the south and the Sagi der XXII Moekims on the west, and contained the Dutch posts of Toengkoeb (residence of the head of the XIII Moekims Toengkoeb), Tjot Rang (one of the largest pasars in this sagi), and Kroeng Gloempang (on the border with the XXII Moekims, set to protect the III Moekims Daroe against incursions from Montassik). The sagi contained the blokhuizen of Tjot Kapoela, Tjot Sabtoe, Tjot Madé, Tjot Bak Tjoe, Tjot Lampoe’ Oe, Tjot Penom, and Lam-Goet (residence of the bendehoofd Toekoe Hoesin Lehong Bata). Tjot Paklat was the site of an old Achehnese fortification.
Historical Background
The Sagi der XXVI Moekims had been the eastern bastion of the sultanate of Atjeh and was the seat of Teungkoe di Tiroe after the Dutch concentration. Toengkoeb was occupied by the Dutch to prevent the religious-warriors from re-settling and to control the hoeloebalang T. Tjoet Toengkoeb. The post of Tjot Rang had been, from 1881 to 1885, a favourite residence of marauding bands in the Boeng Tjala Moekim. After the construction of the buitenlinie the XXVI Moekims was the eastern anchor of the outer line, with Kroeng Gloempang set to protect the III Moekims Daroe and the III Moekims Ateuh against incursions from Montassik.
Role in the 1896 Operations
In the spring of 1896 the Sagi der XXVI Moekims was the scene of the eastern withdrawal of the buitenlinie. On 13 April 1896 the post of Kroeng Gloempang was subjected to a beschoeting en brandpoging by hostile benden; on 16 April 1896 the post of Toengkoeb was successfully re-supplied. On 20 April 1896 Toengkoeb, Tjot Rang, and Kroeng Gloempang were evacuated, and on 21 April 1896 Tjot Rang was burned at 11:30 AM after a three-column operation to free the beleaguered garrisons; Toengkoeb was handed over to Toekoe Nja Banta. On 28 April–29 April 1896 the night surprise of Benting Batoe was conducted within the sagi by a column from Pakan Kroeng Tjoet and Boekit Karang. On 20 June 1896 the bentengs Perampoean and Batoe near Toengkoeb were demolished by the Genie under Captain Zelle. On 23 June 1896 the Hansen column reached the plains of the XXVI Moekims by way of the Ladoeng sea-landing.
Significance
In the final Dutch assessments of 1896 the Sagi der XXVI Moekims was, with the XXV Moekims, one of the regions whose prosperity under Dutch protection was contrasted with the continued hostility of the XXII Moekims of Panglima Polim. The handover of Toengkoeb to Toekoe Nja Banta on 20 April 1896 marked the formal reliance of the Dutch on friendly ulèëbalang as a substitute for garrisoned posts, a policy that would be developed further under Van Heutsz.
Account from De onderwerping van Atjeh (Van Heutsz, 1893)
In Van Heutsz’s 1893 tract De onderwerping van Atjeh, the XXVI Moekims — Sagi XXVI, de Sagi’s XXVI, the Sagi of twenty-six mukims — is the closing chapter of the Van der Heijden conquest, the territory whose reduction fixed the nog geen 14 maanden precedent — the fourteen-month campaign that produced the geheel Groot-Atjeh ten onder gebragt declaration — and the territory whose post-1879 residual resistance the 1884 Concentratie would expose. The Sagi was the constitutional unit of Groot-Atjeh — a territorial league of mukims (parish-districts) headed by a panglima sagi and collectively constituting the ancient core of the Acehnese sultanate. The three Sagi’s — the XXII, the XXV and the XXVI — were the territorial framework within which the sultan’s authority had historically been mediated. The XXVI Moekims was the second Sagi, conquered after the XXII in 1878 and before the XXV was reached in the September 1879 reconnaissance. The XXVI Moekims’ panglima sagi was, in Van Heutsz’s later narrative, the chief whose authority the religious leader Tengkoe di Tirou would over-reach into in the Boengtjala affair — the over-reach whose effect was to shatter the unified command of the post-1884 resistance.
The July 1879 campaign and the September 1879 Selimoen tocht
The campaign against the XXVI Moekims opened in 1879, after the XXII Moekims campaign of July–October 1878 had produced the submission of Habib Abdoel Rachman and Tekoe Moeda Baid on 13 October 1878. Van Heutsz records the chronology: toen de veldtocht in de XXVI Moekims was aangevangen (when the campaign in the XXVI Moekims had begun). The campaign was the second of the two Sagi-campaigns of the Van der Heijden conquest — the operational continuation of the op Groot-Atjeh geheel veranderen van stelsel (the complete change of system on Groot-Atjeh) the inval of Habib Abdoel Rachman had triggered in June 1878. The July 1879 opening is the second of the two krijgsoperatiën the dagorder of 5 September 1879 records: De krijgsoperatiën in de XXII en XXVI Moekims, die in Juli van het vorige jaar zijn aangevangen en zoo schitterende uitkomsten hebben opgeleverd (The military operations in the XXII and XXVI Moekims, which began in July of last year and have yielded such brilliant results).
The campaign culminated in the tocht naar Selimoen of September 1879 — the final operation that closed the XXVI Moekims campaign and the entire Van der Heijden conquest. Van Heutsz records the tocht as the schitterend besloten (brilliantly concluded) operation: Met den veldtocht tegen de XXVI Moekims, schitterend besloten door den tocht naar Selimoen; is geheel Groot-Atjeh ten onder gebragt (With the campaign against the XXVI Moekims, brilliantly concluded by the expedition to Selimoen, all of Groot-Atjeh has been subdued). The Commandant van het Indische leger, who visited Atjeh in September 1879 and confirmed the dagorder’s declaration, recorded the operation plan in his own report: aan het stoute, met beleid ontworpen operatieplan volgens hetwelk Indrapoeri werd overmeesterd, de rechter rivieroever gezuiverd, Gleinn aangetast, de XXVI Moekims van verschillende zijden binnengedrongen en Selimoen door colonnes uit Lamtoba en Indrapoeri bezocht werd, hebben wij het groote succes te danken (to the bold, well-designed operational plan by which Indrapoeri was overpowered, the right river-bank cleared, Gleinn attacked, the XXVI Moekims penetrated from various sides, and Selimoen visited by columns from Lamtoba and Indrapoeri, we owe the great success). The tocht was thus a multi-column operation: Indrapoeri was overpowered, the right river-bank was cleared, Gleinn was attacked, the XXVI Moekims was penetrated from several sides, and Selimoen was visited by columns sent out from Lamtoba and Indrapoeri. The September 1879 tocht was the operational climax of the Van der Heijden conquest.
The Kroeng Kali and Tjot Lepong limits
The September 1879 reconnaissance of the conquered XXVI Moekims reached the northern limit of Kroeng Kali and the eastern limit of Tjot Lepong. The Commandant’s report recorded the limits: in de XXVI Moekims tot Kroeng Kali in het Noorden, tot Tjot Lepong in het Oosten, en in de XXV Moekims tot Kroeng Raba (in the XXVI Moekims as far as Kroeng Kali in the north, as far as Tjot Lepong in the east, and in the XXV Moekims as far as Kroeng Raba). The Kroeng Kali northern limit and the Tjot Lepong eastern limit fixed the territorial extent of the XXVI Moekims conquest: the panglima sagi’s territory ran north to Kroeng Kali and east to Tjot Lepong, and the September 1879 reconnaissance confirmed that the Dutch authority now extended across the entire Sagi. The Commandant’s report recorded the personal character of the reconnaissance: hoezeer slechts vergezeld door een twaalftal cavaleristen, nergens een schot gehoord of een gewapend Atjeher gezien heb (although accompanied only by a dozen cavalrymen, he had nowhere heard a shot or seen an armed Atjehnese). The September 1879 reconnaissance was the empirical proof that the XXVI Moekims conquest had been substantive, not merely formal.
The day-order of 5 September 1879
Van der Heijden marked the completion of the XXVI Moekims conquest — and, with it, of the entire Van der Heijden conquest of Groot-Atjeh — with the dagorder of 5 September 1879 from Kota-Radja, the text of which Van Heutsz reproduces verbatim in the 1893 tract. The dagorder opens: Dagorder. Officieren, Ambtenaren, Onderofficieren en Soldaten! Met den veldtocht tegen de XXVI Moekims, schitterend besloten door den tocht naar Selimoen; is geheel Groot-Atjeh ten onder gebragt (Day-order. Officers, Officials, Non-commissioned officers and Soldiers! With the campaign against the XXVI Moekims, brilliantly concluded by the expedition to Selimoen, all of Groot-Atjeh has been subdued). The XXVI Moekims is thus named in the very opening sentence of the dagorder — the Sagi whose conquest was the immediate occasion of the geheel Groot-Atjeh ten onder gebragt declaration. Van Heutsz’s verdict on the chronology is sweeping: In September 1879, nog geen 14 maanden na het begin van zijne zegerijke veldtochten, had Generaal v. d. Heijden aan alle verzet een einde gemaakt, was hij de door den vijand gevreesde overwinnaar van het aloude manfeliklijke Atjehsche rijk (In September 1879, barely 14 months after the beginning of his victorious campaigns, Generaal v. d. Heijden had made an end to all resistance, was he the victor — feared by the enemy — of the ancient manly Atjehsche empire).
Post-1879 residual resistance
The Van der Heijden conquest of the XXVI Moekims did not, however, extinguish the Atjehnese resistance. The post-1879 residual resistance is the subject of the closing movement of Van Heutsz’s tract. Van der Heijden was dismissed onverantwoordelijk (irresponsibly) in early 1881 — ware hij niet in het begin van 1881 op onverantwoordelijke wijze ontslagen, dan behoorde de Atjeh-krijg thans reeds lang tot het verledene (had he not been dismissed in early 1881 in an irresponsible manner, the Atjeh-war would by now long belong to the past) — and the Civiel Gouverneur regime of 1881–1883 and the Concentratie of 1884 undid the operational prestige the Van der Heijden conquest had established. The XXVI Moekims, like the rest of Groot-Atjeh, was abandoned by the 1884 Concentratie withdrawal: ons prijsgeven van de veroverde positie in de vallei van Groot-Atjeh en ons verhuizen op groote schaal (our surrender of the conquered position in the valley of Groot-Atjeh and our moving-house on a large scale) into the geconcentreerde stelling. The post-1884 resistance in the XXVI Moekims was, in Van Heutsz’s narrative, the territory in which Tengkoe di Tirou — the unifier of the Groot-Atjeh resistance after the Concentratie — would establish his wereldlijke vlag (worldly flag) by the over-reach into the worldly authority of the panglima sagi XXVI. The XXVI Moekims was thus both the territory of the Van der Heijden conquest’s greatest triumph and the territory of the post-1884 resistance’s most consequential political crisis. (The Kruisheer ATJEH ‘96 account of the 1896 operations in the Sagi der XXVI Moekims — described in the sections above — is the operational record of the post-buitenlinie-evacuation phase of that post-1884 resistance, after Van Heutsz’s 1893 tract was written.)
Significance (Van Heutsz account)
The XXVI Moekims’s significance in Van Heutsz’s 1893 tract rests on its being the closing chapter of the Van der Heijden conquest — the Sagi whose reduction fixed the nog geen 14 maanden precedent and whose abandonment by the 1884 Concentratie exposed the policy oscillation the rest of the tract diagnoses; the second of the three Sagi’s of Groot-Atjeh — the territorial league of twenty-six mukims whose reduction was the operational continuation of the XXII Moekims campaign of 1878 and the immediate occasion of the dagorder of 5 September 1879 declaring geheel Groot-Atjeh ten onder gebragt; the territory whose July–September 1879 campaign culminated in the tocht naar Selimoen — the multi-column operation that closed the Van der Heijden conquest; the territory whose September 1879 reconnaissance reached the Kroeng Kali northern limit and the Tjot Lepong eastern limit; and the territory whose post-1879 residual resistance — exposed by the 1884 Concentratie and unified by Tengkoe di Tirou — would become the operational centre of the post-1884 Groot-Atjeh resistance.
Account in Hooijer’s De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897)
The Sagi der XXVI Moekims was one of the three sagis of Groot-Atjeh, lying east of the Dutch geconcentreerde linie, long dominated by the priestly party under Teungkoe di Tiro, and the district in which the whole eastern chain of Dutch temporary posts — Toengkoeb, Kroeng Kali, Masdjid Siem and Tjot Rang — was erected between September 1893 and 1894.
The commission to Toekoe Nja Banta
On 1 September 1893, following the success of Toekoe Djohan in the XXV Moekims, the Governor of Atjeh and Dependencies authorised Toekoe Nja Banta, the friendly head of the sagi, to open the fight against the Moslemin in this terrain also. Rifles and powder were to be furnished him, and his father-in-law Toekoe Neq van Marassa and his brother-in-law Toekoe Tjoet, oeleebalang of the XIII Moekims Toengkoeb, were to help.
The action went badly. Nja Banta’s fighters were not so hardened as Oemar’s followers; they were even reproached with effeminacy for carrying handkerchiefs. Toekoe Tjoet’s wavering conduct so confused affairs that on 27 September 1893 one of his bentengs at Toengkoeb had to be occupied by Dutch troops. The benteng at Lamgoet, taken by Nja Banta on 4 September 1893, was arbitrarily abandoned by Toekoe Tjoet. Dutch soldiers appeared before Kroeng Kali on 6 October 1893 to find the required hill still unoccupied.
The Dutch relief operation
After the Moslemin re-occupied the terrain abandoned by Toekoe Tjoet’s dispersing population and cut communications between Kroeng Kali and Toengkoeb, the 3rd battalion under Overste Sievers advanced to relieve the post, clearing two of the three enemy positions on the connecting road at the cost of Luitenant Weyerman and three men killed and two officers and fifty men wounded at Masdjid Siem.
Toekoe Djohan’s campaign
It had become only too clear that without Toekoe Djohan’s help the Dutch allies would not drive the fanatics from the XXVI Moekims. On 21 October 1893 he took over Masdjid Siem with a hundred fighters. Fighters streamed in from the coastal lands to join Mad Amin — two hundred from Samalanga alone — while Oemar received reinforcements from the West Coast, from Melaboeh and from the IX Moekims, and Toekoe Tjoet was recalled from banishment because his population would not return without him.
On 2 November 1893 some 2,400 auxiliary troops assembled beneath the trees near Masdjid Siem under Oemar’s leadership and at Dutch expense to drive the Sabil bands from the sagi. Meeting little resistance, he then occupied Tjot Rang with Dutch support, dispersed Mat Amin’s bands, and on 12 November 1893 caused the enemy to evacuate the bentengs at Hoengtjala.
Terrain
Hooijer characterised the XXVI Moekims as low country of stinking marshes waaruit als het ware malaria opsteeg — out of which malaria seemed to rise — contrasting it unfavourably with the drier ground of the XXII Moekims around Anagaloeng. In 1896 the population of the southern part of the sagi took flight, and Mat Amin had by then been driven from both the XXVI and the XXII Moekims.
See Also
- Groot-Atjeh
- Sagi der XXV Moekims
- Sagi der XXII Moekims
- sagi
- Toekoe Nja Banta
- Toekoe Djohan Lampasei
- T. Tjoet Toengkoeb
- Toengkoeb
- Tjot Rang
- Kroeng Gloempang
- Night Surprise of Benting Batoe (28–29 April 1896)
- 1896
- Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz
- Mukim
- XXII Moekims
- XXV Moekims
- K. van der Heijden
- Selimoen tocht (1879)
- Day-order of 5 September 1879
- Indrapoeri
- Lamtoba
- Gleinn
- Kroeng Kali
- Tjot Lepong
- Tengkoe di Tirou
- Concentratiestelsel
- Habib Abdoel Rachman
- Tekoe Moeda Baid
- Selimoen
- Kota Radja
- 1878
- 1879
- 1881
- 1884
- 1893
- Acheh
- Banda Acheh
- Three Sagis
- XXII Mukims
- XXV Mukims
- Panglima Polim
- Three Sagis’ letter to Penang (4 December 1822)
- Snouck Hurgronje
- Aceh War
- Kemala
- 1880
- Sagi (Atjeh)
- 22 Moekims
- 25 Moekims
- Sultan’s gebied
- Moekim (Atjehese unit)
- Conquest of the 26 Moekims (1-4 July 1879)
- General van der Heijden
- Habib Abdul Rachman El-Zahir
- Pedir
- Pruijs van der Hoeven
- Laging Tobias
- Concentratie-stelsel (1884-1896)
- Civil Government Period (1881-1884)
- Atjeh-oorlog
- June 1878
- 1 July
- 1898
- Een vaderlandsch belang (Borel, 1878)
- General van Swieten War Telegrams
- III Moekims
- Indische Brigade (proposed)
- J. van Swieten
- Kota Pohama
- Kroeng Tjoet
- Kwala Gigieng
- Longbatta
- Luitenant-kolonel Engel
- Pinang
- T. Nek van Marassa
- Teukoe Oemar
- Masdjid Siem
- Hoengtjala
- Mat Amin
The Geconcentreerde Stelling and the XXVI Moekims (1884–1885)
The Concentration Decision of August 1884 acknowledged that extending control through the hostile XXVI Moekims eastward from Toengkoeb would require unacceptable sacrifices. The terrain on the approaches to the IV Moekims area — including the steep sides of the kloof van Beradin (Beradin ravine) — limited the defensive options and made lateral expansion impractical.
Key locations in the XXVI Moekims in this period included:
- Toengkoeb: The most distant post retained in the XXVI Moekims area during the pre-concentration period. Located only 1½ palen (approximately 3 kilometers) from Lamjong, its communications road was unprotected on both sides. The post was evacuated on 21 February 1885 without casualties as part of the concentration, the communications road being assessed as “slechts van zeer gering belang” (only of very minor importance) due to the short distance to Lamjong.
- Pango: Located within the defensive perimeter and incorporated into the geconcentreerde stelling (concentrated position). Expected to be evacuated after the new Lampermej post on the right bank of the Atjeh-rivier was occupied on 27 July 1885.
The evacuation of Toengkoeb on 21 February 1885 marked the eastern limit of the consolidated Dutch position. Following the concentration, the XXVI Moekims remained outside the geconcentreerde stelling, and the eastern approaches were no longer directly observed.
Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu
Confederation of mukims whose oelèëbalangs received the August 1896 Dutch ultimatum with Panglima Polém.
Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 357.
Sources
ATJEH ‘96, door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L., met 2 kaarten en 4 portretten (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913). Instituut Kern, Leiden. OCR-filename: 20260715_163243_DLP-89-Atjeh_96_Met_2_kaarten_en4_DOORA_KRUISHEER_Kapiteinder_Infanterie_nemoretriever-ocr-v1_OCR.txt, pp. 22–23, 122, 123, 143, 144, 146, 158, 164, 217, 325, 339, 344.
De onderwerping van Atjeh, door J. B. van Heutsz, Majoor der Infanterie, gewezen Chef van den Staf in Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden. ‘s-Gravenhage: De Gebroeders van Cleef; Batavia: G. Kolff en Co., 1893, esp. pp. 18, 22–24, 25, 37. OCR-filename: 20260718_105749_DLP-107-De_onderwerping_van_Atjeh_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt.
Raffles’ Atjeh-overeenkomst van 1819, by P. H. van der Kemp, in Bijdragen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië, 6e Volgr., Deel VII (1900), pp. 159–239. Universiteitsbibliotheek Vrije Universiteit, LS.08781.
J.W. van Lansberge en de praktijk van art. 4 van de Geheime Instructie van 5 Juni 1855, by M. Boon, Academisch Proefschrift ter verkrijging van den graad van doctor in de letteren en wijsbegeerte aan de Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1943, Utrecht: N.V. A. Oosthoek’s Uitgevers-Maatschappij, pp. 39-48.
De Atjeh-Oorlog: Kort Overzicht van Oorsprong, Verloop en Gevolg, door J. A. Kruijt. ‘s-Gravenhage: Loman & Funke, 1896. Chapter VI (the conquest), Chapter VIII (the loss under civil government). OCR-filename: 20260716_140310_DLP-101-De_Atjeh_oorlog_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, pp. 30–31, 41.
Atjeh gedurende de tweede expeditie en later, Een Oud Officier, Batavia: Ogilvie & Co., 1876, pp. 8-10.
Onze vestiging in Atjeh, critisch beschreven, by G. F. W. Borel, Kapitein der Artillerie. ‘s-Gravenhage: D. A. Thieme, 1878. pp. 131, 200, 228, 248, 322–329, 336–337, 350–355.
De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh, door G. B. Hooijer, Gep. Luit.-Kolonel O. I. Leger, met 24 platen (Haarlem: De Erven F. Bohn; Batavia: G. Kolff & Co., 1897). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Centrale Boekerij, Amsterdam. OCR-filename: 20260719_140140_DLP-134-De_verlaten_posten_in_Groot_Atjeh_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, pp. 16, 22, 24, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 42, 48, 50.
Acknowledgement of sources. This article is a single consolidated account combining the material previously held in this entry with the account given in De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897) by G. B. Hooijer. Dutch terminology has been rendered in English, the original Dutch being retained only in direct quotations and in bibliographic citations.
De Geconcentreerde Stelling in Groot-Atjeh, ‘s-Gravenhage: De Gebroeders Van Cleef, 1885, pp. 9, 11, 17–18, 28.
Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 357.