The XIII Moekims — the “Thirteen Mukims” — were a mukim-cluster of Groot-Atjeh whose oeloebalang — Toekoe Tjoet Toengkoep — was, in the 1890s, one of the three chiefs of the driemanschap (three-man directorate) charged by the Dutch with the purification of the XXVI Moekims of Moslemin bands. The XIII Moekims are named in the Atjeh-Album of 1896 in the chapter on De Inwendige Toestand as the territory of the oeloebalang whose vreemde houding (strange attitude) led to his tijdelijke (temporary) banishment to Melaboe.
The driemanschap of the XXVI Moekims
The Atjeh-Album records that, when the Dutch attempted to extend the system of using Atjehnese auxiliaries against the Moslemin to the XXVI Moekims — a terrain in which Toekoe Oemar had weinig invloed (little influence) — the leadership of the operation was entrusted to a driemanschap of friendly hoofden: Toekoe Neq van Marassa, Toekoe Nju Banta (the panglima of the XXVI Moekims) and Toekoe Tjoet Toengkoep (the oeloebalang of the XIII Moekims). The XIII Moekims thus held a position of strategic importance in the late concentratie period, and their oeloebalang was one of the three chiefs entrusted with the principal Atjehnese auxiliary operation of the late 1880s and early 1890s.
The failure of the driemanschap
The Atjeh-Album records that the driemanschap in the XXVI Moekims liep heel wat minder gunstig af, dan in de XXV Moekims het geval was geweest (went much less favourably than had been the case in the XXV Moekims). The failure was, in the album’s reading, due in part to the vreemde houding (strange attitude) of Toekoe Tjoet Toengkoep — the oeloebalang of the XIII Moekims — who was tijdelijk naar Melaboe moest verbannen worden (had to be temporarily banished to Melaboe). The failure of the driemanschap in the XXVI Moekims — and the consequent Dutch military intervention with a full battalion and some artillery — was one of the costliest engagements of the late concentratie period, with 1 officer and 3 subordinates killed and 3 officers and 32 subordinates wounded.
Significance
The XIII Moekims’ significance in the documentary record of the Atjeh-oorlog is as the territory of Toekoe Tjoet Toengkoep — the oeloebalang whose vreemde houding and consequent banishment to Melaboe were among the principal causes of the failure of the driemanschap in the XXVI Moekims. The XIII Moekims thus held a position of strategic importance in the late concentratie period, and their oeloebalang’s banishment was one of the principal documented instances of the Dutch use of internal banishment as a disciplinary instrument against unreliable oeloebalang allies.
See Also
- Groot-Atjeh
- XXVI Moekims
- XXV Moekims
- XXII Moekims
- Mukim
- Sagi
- Toekoe Tjoet Toengkoep
- Toekoe Noq van Marassa
- Toekoe Nju Banta
- Toekoe Oemar
- Melaboe
- Geconcentreerde linie
- Aceh War
- Atjeh-Album (Eigen Haard, 1896)
Source
Atjeh-Album van Eigen Haard, uitgave van de N.V. Het Tijdschrift “Eigen Haard”, Amsterdam, 1896, p. 22 (De Inwendige Toestand — Wat Nu?).