Westkust

Properties3
descriptionThe western coast of Aceh, the heartland of the most protracted guerrilla resistance in the Aceh War, including the landschappen of Lhong, Leupoeëng, Meulaboh, Seunagan, Djeuram, Bakongan, Troemon, Kloeët, and the Boven-Wojla; renowned among Dutch troops for the fanatieke klewangaanvallen of its inhabitants.
tagsplace, region, coast, aceh, aceh-war, westkust, 19th-century, 20th-century, colonial, dutch, onderhoorigheden, scheepvaartregeling, sumatra, achehnese, concept
aliasesWestkust van Atjeh, West Coast of Aceh, Westkust van Sumatra, the West Coast of Atjeh, de Westkust, West Coast of Sumatra, Sumatra's Westkust, Sumatra's West Coast, Sumatra's Westkust van 1650-1791, Sumatras Westkust

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Westkust — the West Coast of Aceh, in Van Heutsz’s spelling also de Westkust — was the heartland of the most protracted and fanatieke guerrilla resistance in the Atjeh-oorlog. Comprising the landschappen of Lhong, Leupoeëng, Meulaboh, Seunagan, Djeuram, Bakongan, Troemon, Kloeët, and the Boven-Wojla federation of the Kawaj XII, the Westkust was bosch en bergen — ruig land eigende zich het meest for the plotselinge aanvallen uit hinderlagen. In Van Heutsz’s 1893 tract De onderwerping van Atjeh, the Westkust is also the coastal region of the Atjehnese Onderhoorigheden comprising the statelets of Loong, Melaboeh, Telok-Kroet, Troemon and the smaller statelets of the Zuidelijke nederzettingen (Kloewang, Tampat Toean, Rigas, Tenom, Senagan, Tamsih, Gempang). The Westkust served — with the Noordkust and the Oostkust — as one of the three coastal divisions on which the war’s outcome turned.

Military character

The vechtersbazen of the Westkust grepen elke kans aan, and deden hun voordeel with elke fout of ours. The traditioneele land of the klewangaanvallen was Seunagan, where the Atjeher always aanviel with vollen inzet of his persoon. The peudeueng — the Westkust curved klewang, a Turksche sabel — was the characteristic weapon. The Westkust’s ruige land made the strijdwijze different from the Noord- en Oostkust, where vlak land noopte to the strijd on grooten afstand.

Key figures and episodes

The Westkust was the territory of Teukoe Oemar (Heer der westelijke zee), of Tjoet Nja Din and Tjoet Gambang, of Tengkoe Poetih (grandson of the heiligen Habib Seunagan), of Tjoet Ali who led the 1925-1927 resistance, and of Potjoet Barin, oeléëbalang of Toengkob in the Boven-Wojla.

The Lhong punitive expedition of April 1897 — with its f 30,000 fine, confiscation of vee, and seizure of women’s gold and silver jewellery — was one of the beschamendste episodes on the Westkust. The 1925-1927 resistance under Tjoet Ali, ending in his death at Kandang on 25 May 1927, was the last major eruption.

Account from De onderwerping van Atjeh (Van Heutsz, 1893)

In Van Heutsz’s 1893 tract De onderwerping van Atjeh, the Westkust is the coastal region of the Atjehnese Onderhoorigheden that comprised the statelets of Loong (the Boegineesche settlement whose Radja was descended from the Bugis Daeng Mancoer Boegis of Wadjo), Melaboeh (the seat of the assistent-resident ter Westkust), Telok-Kroet (the Westkust call-port opposite the island of Poeloe Raja), Troemon (the southern extremity of the entire Atjehnese coast and the southern limit of the 1884 rigoureuse blokkade), and the smaller statelets of the Zuidelijke nederzettingen (Kloewang, Tampat Toean, Rigas, Tenom, Senagan, Tamsih, Gempang). The Westkust served — with the Noordkust and the Oostkust — as one of the three coastal divisions on which the war’s outcome turned; the Westkust’s assistent-resident at Melaboeh was the institutional seat from which the scheepvaartregeling on the Westkust was administered, and the Westkust’s pepper, copra and resins were, in Van Heutsz’s diagnosis, the fiscal stake that gave the closure-and-scheepvaartregeling system its leverage over the hoofden of the Westkust.

Composition: the statelets of the Westkust

The Westkust fell, in Van Heutsz’s classification, into a ring of statelets whose hoeloebalangs (territorial chiefs) gave the region its constitutional shape. The northernmost was Loong — the Boegineesche settlement whose Radja was descended from the Bugis Daeng Mancoer Boegis of Wadjo (Celebes), who had been shipwrecked on Poeloe Bras and brought to Loong by Loongsche fishermen. South of Loong lay Melaboeh — the seat of the assistent-resident ter Westkust (standplaats Melaboeh), the institutional seat from which the Westkust-side of the scheepvaartregeling was administered. Further south lay Telok-Kroet — the Westkust call-port opposite the island of Poeloe Raja, where the scheepvaartregeling Van Heutsz prescribed in 1893 would establish an etablisement. At the southern extremity lay Troemon — the southern limit of the 1884 rigoureuse blokkade van Tamiang op de Oostkust tot Troemon op de Westkust.

The Zuidelijke nederzettingen — the smaller statelets of the southern Westkust — included, in Van Heutsz’s catalogue, Kloe-wang (whose radja was, since 1880, the panglima sagi XXV Tjoet Abas), Tampat Toean (the southern Westkust call-port of Van Heutsz’s 1893 prescription), Rigas (the hoeloebalang-seat of the Potjoet Toewong family), Tenom, Senagan and Tamsih (the route-nodes of the Westkust path from Kemala to the Gleh Loedah pass), and Gempang (the Westkust route-node).

The 1877 tuchtiging of Loong and the assistant-resident ter Westkust

The first Dutch military operation on the Westkust was the 1877 tuchtiging (chastisement) of Loong — the Boegineesche statelet whose Radja had resisted Dutch authority. Van Heutsz records the operation: Achtereenvolgens werd nu in 1877 Loong op de Westkust getuchtigd, tot tweemaal opgetreden te Melaboeh en daar een post gevestigd, Langsar en Mojopahit onderworpen, nogmaals eene expeditie naar Simpang Olim gezonden, en hevig gestreden en een post gevestigd te Samalanga (Successively in 1877 Loong on the Westkust was punished, [Dutch forces] proceeded twice to Melaboeh and established a post there, Langsar and Mojopahit were subdued, once again an expedition was sent to Simpang Olim, and heavily fought and a post was established at Samalanga). The Melaboeh post — established tot tweemaal (twice) — was the institutional form by which the assistent-resident ter Westkust (standplaats Melaboeh) was constituted. The post was abolished under the 1884 Concentratie, and its functions transferred to the militaire commandant at Melaboeh. The post was re-established under the Van Teijn governorship, and the assistent-resident ter Westkust was, in the 1891 reconnaissance of Telok-Kroet and Poeloe Raja, the ambtenaar who accompanied the chef van den staf.

The 1884 Concentratie and the Westkust’s closure

The Concentratie of 1884 prescribed, as its second operational component, the rigoureuse sluiting van het geheele kustgebied, d. w. z. van Tamiang op de Oostkust tot Troemon op de Westkust — the rigorous closure of the entire coastal region from Tamiang on the East Coast to Troemon on the West Coast. The Westkust was thus, in the prescription, the southern half of the rigoureuse blokkade’s scope — the coast from Melaboeh and Telok-Kroet south to Troemon that was to be closed to all foreign trade. The Demmeni besluit of 13 October 1884 — the soort scheepvaartregeling Demmeni introduced in lieu of the full closure — established call-ports at Edi, Segli and Oleh-leh for the Noord- en Oostkust, but no Westkust call-port. The Westkust was thus, in Demmeni’s hybrid scheme, the closed coast par excellence — the coast with no open call-port through which foreign trade could be routed.

The Van Teijn closure and the Westkust

The Westkust was, in the Van Teijn governorship of 1886–1891, the southern half of the progressive closure of the Noord- en Westkust. The closure, begun in January 1888 and extended in stages, was in ‘t begin van 1890 eindelijk was uitgestrekt over de geheele Noord- en Westkust — at the beginning of 1890 finally extended over the entire North- and West Coast. The Westkust’s licenties at Telok-Kroet were, in Van Heutsz’s diagnosis, the moeilijkheid of the closure — the bijzondere omstandigheid through which the closed Westkust continued to draw levensmiddelen. Van Heutsz records the difficulty: niettegenstaande zij niet zoo afdoende was, als die in 1884 door de Regeering gewenscht, omdat de Oostkust open bleef en door bijzondere omstandigheden, ook voor Telok Semawé en Kerti op de Noord- en voor Telok Kroet op de Westkust een beperkte invoer van levensmiddelen door middel van licenties was toegestaan, trof zij, in weerwil hiervan, toch nog boven verwachting doel (notwithstanding that it was not so effective as that wished by the Regeering in 1884, because the Oostkust remained open and through special circumstances, also for Telok Semawé and Kerti on the Noordkust and for Telok Kroet on the Westkust, a limited import of foodstuffs by means of licences was permitted, it struck, despite this, beyond expectation).

The 1893 prescription: the Westkust’s open ports

In Van Heutsz’s own 1893 prescription, the Westkust retained three open call-ports — Telok-Kroet, Melaboeh and Tampat Toean — through which the Westkust’s trade was to be routed, with the entire coast between these ports closed to all foreign trade. The Westkust’s pepper, copra and resins were, in Van Heutsz’s diagnosis, the fiscal stake that gave the closure-and-scheepvaartregeling system its leverage over the hoofden of the Westkust. Van Heutsz records the export: Ook van de andere artikelen van uitvoer, die allengs aan de markt zullen komen, zooals b. v. in zoo’n klapperland copra, verder gom en harssoorten, die thans alle via Tamsih, Gempang en Senagan of Kroeng Sabil de Westkust uitgaan en van meer andere artikelen (Also of the other articles of export, which will gradually come to market, such as for example in such a coconut-land copra, further gum and resin kinds, which now all go out via Tamsih, Gempang and Senagan or Kroeng Sabil from the Westkust, and many other articles). The Westkust’s export-route through Tamsih, Gempang, Senagan and Kroeng Sabil was, in Van Heutsz’s prescription, the route to be re-routed through the Westkust’s three open call-ports under the scheepvaartregeling Van Heutsz would himself implement as Governor of Atjeh from 1898 onward.

The Westkust and the Gleh Loedah pass

The Westkust was, in Van Heutsz’s diagnosis, the southern approach to the Gleh Loedah pass — the pass through which the Westkust route from Kemala entered the IV Moekims Kroeng Raba of Groot-Atjeh. Van Heutsz records the route, in his critique of Resident Scherer’s claim that Groot-Atjeh could be sealed from the Westkust by closing the Gleh Loedah pass: Scherer argued that men nog over den Barisan naar de Westkust kunnen trekken en dan zoo door den Gleh Loedah pas de IV Moekims Kroeng Raba in Groot-Atjeh bereiken (one could still cross the Barisan to the Westkust and then so through the Gleh Loedah pass reach the IV Moekims Kroeng Raba in Groot-Atjeh), but that die weg is lang en nagenoeg onbegaanbaar (that road is long and practically impassable). Van Heutsz’s response — Ook deze weg naar Groot-Atjeh is te volgen en ook niet zoo bijzonder moeilijk, want men kan hem b. v. geheel te paard afleggen. Hij loopt van Kemala over Tamsih en Gempang naar Kroeng Sabil en verder langs de Westkust naar den Gleh Loedah pas enz. (This road too to Groot-Atjeh is practicable and also not particularly difficult, for one can traverse it entirely on horseback. It runs from Kemala over Tamsih and Gempang to Kroeng Sabil and further along the Westkust to the Gleh Loedah pass etc.) — fixed the Westkust as the southern approach to the Gleh Loedah pass whose closure was, in Van Heutsz’s diagnosis, the operational complement of the Kroeng Raja seal on the north-east.

See Also

Sources

Atjeh, door H.C. Zentgraff. Gedrukt bij Drukkerij “De Unie”, 1938, Batavia. OCR-filename: 20260709_002148_DLP-81-Atjeh_OCR.txt.

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. 10, 14, 17, 22, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 40, 56, 62, 84, 94. OCR-filename: 20260718_105749_DLP-107-De_onderwerping_van_Atjeh_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt. De Koloniën, by Dr. F. W. Stapel, in Geschiedkundige Atlas van Nederland (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1931), kaart 19, blz. 14–23 (tekst bij blad 4: Atjeh en de Westkust van Sumatra in 1684) en blz. 1–7 (tekst bij blad 5: De Compagnie in den Archipel na 1684 tot 1791 — Sumatra: Atjeh en de Westkust). 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.

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