Takengeun

Properties2
tagsplace, town, aceh, gajolanden, onderafdeeling, gayo, colonial, 20th-century, zelfbestuur, highland, military, dutch, buitenbezittingen, wegennet, city, gayoland, aceh-war, capital, achehnese, gajo-land, binnenbezittingen, laot-tawar, lokop, bivouak, herstellingsoord, sub-division, meergebied
aliasesTakengon, Takeungan, Takingeun, Takingeum, Takingoun, Takingeuu, Takengën, Takengipn, Takéngón, Takéngen, Takëngon, the Gajo-landen terminus at Takengon, Takenggan, Takengon on the Laoet Tawar, Tankengon, Takengon hoofdplaats, Gajo-land capital

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Takengeun — also Takengon (modern Indonesian), Takingeun in the spelling of the Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden — is a town in the Gayo Lands of Aceh, on Laut Tawar (the lake of Takengeun), at the southern terminus of the Gajoweg — 103 km south of Bireuën. In Oost-Indisch Journael by Merac (1947), Takengeun is the destination of the lieutenant’s journey through Aceh: the beautiful lake in the Gajolanden at the end of the Gajoweg. The town is also the place where the old hunter Datoek settled permanently in 1917 — “Previously I had often made journeys to Takengeun.” In the 1930 compilation of Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, Takingeun appears as an onderafdeeling of the afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden in the interior highlands of Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, seat of the zelfbesturende landschappen whose oeleebalang collectively issued the alang-alang en dennenbosschen-verordening of 20 May 1924 (Reg. No. 22) — the only regulation in the 1930 compilation dealing with pine-forest (dennenbosschen) protection — and the uitvoeringszelfbestuursbesluit of 1 October 1926 for the Pantjang Alas in Takingeun (Reg. No. 4c), the most-detailed operational supplement in the Pantjang Alas regime.

Laut Tawar

The Gajoweg now leads to Takengeun on the beautiful lake in the Gajolanden, over a distance of 103 km. Laut Tawar — the lake of Takengeun — is the lake at the southern end of the Gajoweg. The lake is the beautiful lake of the Gajolanden: the destination of the lieutenant’s journey through Aceh.

The Datoek connection

Before settling at Blang Rakal in 1917, the old hunter Datoek had often made journeys to Takengeun. That was a beautiful time, sir: a good full-grown horse cost there in the old days only two ringgit (guilders). The Datoek connection to Takengeun is the book’s marker of the old days of the Gajolanden: the old hunter had made journeys to Takengeun before settling at Blang Rakal, and the beautiful time of those journeys was the old colonial era when a good horse cost two guilders.

The Gajolanden and the blangs

The sun was overpowering on the blangs (Gayo plains), but a cool wind blew over the endless, rolling grass-plains. In the distance the blue mountain-ranges and volcanoes loomed up: the Boerni-dit and the Boer-ni-dat. The blangs and the Boerni-dit and Boer-ni-dat are the landscape of the Gajolanden around Takengeun.

Significance

Takengeun is significant in Oost-Indisch Journael as the destination of the lieutenant’s journey through Aceh and the beautiful lake at the southern end of the Gajoweg. The book’s argument — that Takengeun was the beautiful time of Datoek’s old-days journeys, when a good horse cost two guilders — is the book’s marker of the old days of the Gajolanden. Takengeun is therefore the book’s destination: the beautiful lake at the end of the Gajoweg, and the place of the old hunter’s old-days memory.

Account from Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden (1930) — the regulatory record

In the 1930 compilation of Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, Takingeun was an onderafdeeling of the afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden in the interior highlands of Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden. The signatory clauses recurrently locate it: De Zelfbestuurders der Onderafdeeling Takingeum gelegen in de afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden (The Zelfbestuurders of the onderafdeeling Takingeum, situated in the afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden, Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden). The onderafdeeling is the northern (Gayo) half of the highland afdeeling, distinct from the southern (Alas) onderafdeeling Alaslanden. The signatory clause invokes the collective of all oeleebalang of the onderafdeeling without naming them individually — Zelibestuur dari negeri-negeri didalam onderafdeeling Takingeuu (the Zelfbesturen of the negeri-negeri of the onderafdeeling Takingeun).

The alang-alang en dennenbosschen-verordening of 20 May 1924 (Reg. No. 22)

The alang-alang en dennenbosschen-verordening of 20 May 1924 is the only regulation in the 1930 compilation dealing with cogon-grass burning and pine-forest protection together. Its full Dutch title is Zelfbestuursverordening van 20 Mei 1924 houdende regelen omtrent het branden van alang-alang op woeste en bebouwde gronden benevens het kappen en beschadigen van dennenbosschen in de landschappen der onderafdeeling Takingeun (Afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden) (Self-government regulation of 20 May 1924 establishing rules concerning the burning of alang-alang on uncultivated and cultivated lands, as well as the felling and damaging of pine-forests in the landschappen of the onderafdeeling Takingeun [Afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden]). The regulation’s distinctive feature is its dual subject: alang-alang (cogon grass, Imperata cylindrica) on the one hand, and dennenbosschen (pine forests; Malay hoetan sala, the Pinus merkusii forests of the Gayo/Alas highlands) on the other. It imposes a permit-system (schriftelijke vergunning of the Zelfbestuur) on the burning of alang-alang on woeste gronden (uncultivated lands) and on the felling or damaging of dennen, and imposes a mutual-aid fire-fighting duty on omwonenden (local residents). The comparative table on Page 144 extends parallel regelingen to Serbeudjadi (dagteekening 29 May 1924), Gajo Loelus (28 May 1924), and Alaslanden (6 June 1924). The 1924 Takingeun regulation is the precursor of — and apparently the model for — the afdeeling Pidië alang-alang regulation of 21 January 1928 (Reg. No. 23), which adds the reboisatie motive absent from Reg. No. 22.

The Pantjang Alas uitvoeringsbesluit of 1 October 1926 (Reg. No. 4c)

The uitvoeringszelfbestuursbesluit of 1 October 1926 — Zelfbestuursbesluit van 1 October 1926, houdende vaststelling van uitvoeringsvoorschriften en modellen betrekking hebbende op de regeling van de heffing en inning van de z.g. Pantjang Alas in de landschappen der onderafdeeling Takingeun (Self-government decree of 1 October 1926 establishing implementing prescriptions and models relating to the regulation of the levying and collection of the so-called Pantjang Alas in the landschappen of the onderafdeeling Takingeun) — is the operational supplement to the afdeeling Pidië Pantjang Alas regulation of 27 July 1925 (Reg. No. 4a) extended to the onderafdeeling Takingeun. It is the most-detailed operational supplement in the Pantjang Alas regime. Its full text (Fatsal 1–10) prescribes the four model-forms — Model A (vergunning / permit), Model B (vervoerpas / transport-pass), Model C (kwitantie / receipt), Model D (kasboekje / cashbook) — and requires that the uitgifte van vergunningen be kosteloos (free of charge) to every ter goede naam en faam bekend (of good name and fame) applicant. The blanco vergunningen are supplied to the Zelfbestuurder by the Plaatselijk Besturend Ambtenaar. The Kashouder der Onderafdeelingskas van Takingeun — the cashier of the onderafdeelingskas of Takingeun — recurs as the receiving official for the Pantjang Alas kwitanties. The choice of Takingeun as the originating seat of the most-detailed Pantjang Alas operational supplement reflects the highland onderafdeeling’s particular dependence on forest-product revenue (benzoë, damar, camphor).

The vee-uitvoerheffing and the Rädjö Boekét regeling

A third Takingeun-seated regulation — Reg. No. 6, the Zelfbestuursverordening van 1 December 1917 tot regeling van de heffing van gelden bij het uitvoeren van buffels, runderen en paarden door het Zelfbestuur van het gebied van Rädjö Boekét — is seated in the gebied van Rädjö Boekét, one of the landschappen of the onderafdeeling Takingeun. Its signatory clause names the Hoofd van het Gebied van Rädjö Boekét personally, in overleg (consultation) with the Bestuursassistent of Takingeun. The regulation levies f 1.50 per head on the export of buffels, runderen (cattle), and paarden (horses), exempts export to the adjacent gebieden of Rödjö Tjeg, Rödjö Linggö (Rödjö Linggo), and Siah Oetama, and expressly repeals all earlier adat uitvoerbelastingen by the Kedjroens: Bij de inwerkingtreding dezer heffing komen alle vroeger door de Kedjroens geheven uitvoerbelastingen te vervallen (On the entry into force of this levy, all earlier export-taxes levied by the Kedjroens shall cease to apply). The Takingeun regulation is the clearest single illustration in the compilation of a zelfbestuursverordening expressly abolishing an earlier adat levy.

Significance (Zelfbestuursverordeningen account)

Takingeun’s significance in the 1930 compilation rests on its being the originating seat of the only dennenbosschen (pine-forest) regulation in the compilation — Reg. No. 22 of 20 May 1924, the only regulation protecting the Pinus merkusii forests of the Gayo/Alas highlands; the originating seat of the most-detailed operational supplement in the Pantjang Alas regime — Reg. No. 4c of 1 October 1926; the originating seat of the vee-uitvoerheffing for the gebied van Rädjö Boekét (Reg. No. 6) — the clearest single illustration in the compilation of a zelfbestuursverordening expressly abolishing an earlier adat levy; and the demonstration — through its highland location in the afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden, its collective signatory clause, and its recurrent role as the originating seat of regulations whose parallel regelingen extend to the other highland onderafdeelingen — of the highland Gayo country’s status as a distinct regulatory subsystem within the Gouvernement, with Takingeun as its operational centre.

Maréchaussée station (1910)

the 1930 jubilee number of Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië records the stations assigned to the Korps Maréchaussée in 1910: 1st Division at Blang Kedjeren; 2nd Division at Meulaboh; 3rd Division at Takèngan; 4th Division at Lam Meulo; and 5th Division at Lho Soekon, “zooals zij ook thans nog gelegerd is” — where it was still quartered at the time of the 1930 jubilee. Takèngan was the station of the 3rd Division.

Earlier, in 1898, the corps had been localised with its Staff at Koeta Radja and its divisions at Selimoen, Indrapoeri, Tjot Mantjang and Glé Broet, Tjot Goet, and Lam Baroe and Lho’-Nga.

See Also

Sources

Oost-Indisch Journael: Palaver om de tafel met het gat, by Merac, Toekan-Serie no. 2, ed. G. L. Tichelman (Haarlem: De Gulden Pers, 1947), chapter Jagerslatijn.

Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, Serie A No. 9 of the Mededeelingen van de Afdeeling Bestuurszaken der Buitengewesten van het Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur, Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1930, esp. Regs. 4c, 6, and 22 (pp. 27, 33, and 118). OCR-filename: 20260719_030404_DLP-112-Zelfbestuursverordeningen_Atjeh_en_onderhoorigheden_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt. De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 2: Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 4–6, 9, 93–94, 129. Atjèh and the War with Japan, by Dr. A. J. Piekaar, translated from the Dutch original Atjèh en de oorlog met Japan (1949) (‘s-Gravenhage/Bandung: N.V. Uitgeverij W. van Hoeve; English edition), Chapter I § 4, Chapter II, Chapter IV, Chapter V § 3. De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, Deel I, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 53–56 (section “De aanleg van wegen op de Buitenbezittingen”). Atjeh, door H.C. Zentgraff. Gedrukt bij Drukkerij “De Unie”, 1938, Batavia. OCR-filename: 20260709_002148_DLP-81-Atjeh_OCR.txt. Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), chapters XI–XII, ‘De Gajo-weg en zijn landschap’ and ‘In het hart van Gajo-land’, pp. 77–87. Generaal Swart, Pacificator van Atjeh (“General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh”), by M. H. du Croo, Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with the collaboration of H. J. Schmidt, Titular Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with a foreword by His Excellency Lieutenant-General K.N.I.L. (retired) G. K. Dijkstra (Maastricht: N.V. Leiter-Nypels, 1943), Chapter XI, XII, XV.

Het Korps Maréchaussée in Atjeh: De Atjehsche Garde, 1890 - 2 April 1930 (“The Corps of Maréchaussée in Atjeh: The Atjehnese Guard”), Extra Jubileum-nummer of Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië issued for the fortieth anniversary of the corps (1930), pp. 1-16. Offprint DLP-143, Bibliotheek KITLV, accession 621 116 794.

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