VII Moekims Baid — written in Dutch as VII Moekims Baid and meaning “Seven Mukims of Baid” — was a region of Groot-Atjeh comprising seven mukims situated in the southern inland portion of the Atjeh-oorlog theatre, of which the territorial chief was T. Moeda Baid. As described in Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96, the VII Moekims Baid contained the mukims of Lamkrak, Kroeng Mak, Loetoe, and Lam Lheue, “welke steeds eene verblijfplaats van kwaad volk waren” (“which were always a haunt of bad people”). The VII Moekims Baid was crossed by Toeankoe Machmoed and Toeankoe Brahim in late May 1896 en route to Groot-Atjeh, and Ana’ Galong — at the eastern edge of the mukim — had originally been built to keep “T. Baid” in line.
Description and Location
The VII Moekims Baid lay to the south of the IX Moekims and adjoined the Lamkrak complex on the north. The mukim contained the kampongs of Lamkrak, Kroeng Mak, Loetoe, and Lam Lheue, which were the principal haunts of hostile benden and which the Dutch sought to suppress by their operations against the 4 Lamkraksche Moekims. The mukim was bounded on the south by the mountain wall and on the north by the IX Moekims. The III Moekims Daroe lay to the east. The VII Moekims Baid was traversed by the road from Ana’ Galong southward to the Lamkrak country, and was the principal recruiting ground for the Pedireezen mercenaries of the Lamkrak war-leaders.
Historical Background
The VII Moekims Baid had been the principal southern bastion of Achehnese resistance since 1873. The hoeloebalang T. Moeda Baid had been a persistent opponent of the Dutch, and the Dutch post of Ana’ Galong at the eastern edge of the mukim had been built originally to keep “T. Baid” in line. The mukims of Lamkrak, Kroeng Mak, Loetoe, and Lam Lheue within the VII Moekims Baid were the persistent haunt of hostile benden — “welke steeds eene verblijfplaats van kwaad volk waren” — that raided the IX Moekims and threatened the buitenposten of the buitenlinie. The 1893 appointment of Teuku Umar as Panglima Prang Besar had been intended in part to suppress these mukims, and the proposed 30 March 1896 operation of Luitenant-Kolonel Van Vliet (cancelled by the defection) had targeted them directly.
Role in the 1896 Operations
The VII Moekims Baid was crossed by Toeankoe Machmoed and Toeankoe Brahim in late May 1896 en route to Groot-Atjeh following their move to Ana’ Galong — a passage that the Dutch interpreted as a step in the reconstitution of Achehnese political authority under the pretender sultan. The mukims of Lamkrak, Kroeng Mak, Loetoe, and Lam Lheue within the VII Moekims Baid were the explicit object of the tuchtiging (chastisement) of the Lamkrak Moekims of 9–10 June 1896, in which two Dutch colonnes moved from Biloel and Lam-Djamoe against the kampongs of Ateuh Raja, Baha, Lam-Djamé, and the fortified mosque of Lam-Krak. The VII Moekims Baid was protected on the south by the gebergte and the Glé Taroem-pas, and was a thoroughfare for hostile benden moving between the Lamkrak country and the IV and VI Moekims of Teuku Umar.
Significance
The VII Moekims Baid was the principal southern refuge of Achehnese resistance in Groot-Atjeh. The failure of the Dutch to reduce the Lamkrak mukims within the VII Moekims Baid before 1896 had been a major strategic limitation of the buitenlinie policy, and the tuchtiging of 9–10 June 1896 was the first systematic Dutch operation against these mukims. The passage of Toeankoe Machmoed and Toeankoe Brahim through the VII Moekims Baid in late May 1896 indicated the continued political importance of the region in the Achehnese imagination.
Account in Hooijer’s De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897)
The VII Moekims Baid were the seven moekims of Groot-Atjeh headed by Toekoe Moeda Baid, het machtige hoofd der VII Moekims, whose territory adjoined the Dutch post at Anagaloeng.
Relations with the Dutch
Toekoe Moeda Baid had been banished by General van der Heijden for faithlessness and was afterwards recalled and restored to honour by General Demmeni on account of his influence. Hooijer recorded that the proximity of his territory kept the officers of the Anagaloeng garrison in suspense and the sentries awake, and that one of the neighbouring blokhuizen held by his people fell or was played into the hands of the Moslemin a few hours after a Dutch inspection had found everything in order. For two years the garrison nevertheless had a fairly quiet time, once the surrounding terrain came to be watched by Achehnese auxiliaries no longer commanded by Toekoe Baid.
See Also
- Toekoe Moeda Baid
- Ana’ Galong
- Lamkrak Moekims
- IX Moekims
- Toeankoe Machmoed
- Toeankoe Brahim
- Pretender Sultan
- Tuchtiging of Lam-Krak Moekims (9–10 June 1896)
- Ateuh Raja
- Baha
- 1896
- Anagaloeng
- General van der Heijden
- Demmeni
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. 21, 297.
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, p. 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.