Sibree is a mukim (territorial district) within the XXII Mukims — the highland sagi of Great Acheh known as the Tunong — which is mentioned in The Achehnese Vol. I as one of the districts united in a joint judicial union exercised by boards of imeums. Together with Ba’et and a part of Lam Ara, Sibree formed one of the three- or four-mukim groupings to which the adat assigned a measure of judicial authority independent of the uleebalang.
The Judicial Unions of the XXII Mukims
Snouck Hurgronje introduces Sibree in his discussion of the imeum’s role as acting uleebalang in those parts of the XXII Mukims that lay too far from the headquarters of the uleebalang to admit of all matters of importance being submitted to his decision. “In some parts of the XXII Mukims which are situated too far from the headquarters of the uleebalang to admit of all matters of importance being subjected to his decision, the adat has assigned a measure of judicial authority to specified boards of imeums. Groups of three or four mukims are united for this purpose, and the decision of the three or four imeums has the same force as that of the uleebalang.”
Sibree is named in a footnote as one of the components of such a union. “Examples of such unions are Lam Lheue, Lam Kra’, Krueng Ma’ and Ateue’; Sibree, Ba’et and a part of Lam Ara; another part of Lam Ara, Aneu’ Gle and Jrue’.”
The Imeum as Judge
The judicial authority wielded by the imeums of these unions was, however, exceptional. As a rule, Snouck notes, the imeum had “just as little judicial authority as the heads of the gampongs,” but in his quality of arbitrator he could deal with questions that lay outside the reach of the village authorities, inasmuch as more than one gampong was concerned in them. Since his income depended entirely on chance profits, the imeum naturally made it his object to bring as many such questions as possible within his own scope, always on the pretext of acting as mediator, so that his clients might avoid the heavy fines and costs exacted by the uleebalang.
Significance
Sibree’s chief historical importance lies in its membership of the joint-judicial union with Ba’et and part of Lam Ara. This arrangement reflects a characteristic feature of highland Achehnese self-government: where the great uleebalang of the VII Mukims Ba’et was too remote to dispense justice in person, the imeums of the smaller mukims — Sibree among them — combined to administer adat on his behalf. The district thus illustrates the way in which the political geography of the Tunong adapted the formal structure of the sultanate to the practical needs of mountain communities.
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.