XIII Moekims Toengkoeb

Properties2
tagsplace, achehnese, aceh-war, military, moekim, administrative-division, groot-atjeh, xxvi-moekims
aliases13 Mukims Toengkoeb, XIII Mockims Toengkoeb, XIII Mukims Toengkoeb, Thirteen Moekims of Toengkoeb

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XIII Moekims Toengkoeb — written in Dutch as XIII Moekims Toengkoeb and meaning “Thirteen Mukims of Toengkoeb” — was a region of Groot-Atjeh comprising thirteen mukims situated in the east of the Atjeh-oorlog theatre, of which the territorial chief was T. Tjoet Toengkoeb. As described in Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96, the XIII Moekims Toengkoeb contained the kampong of Toengkoeb (the seat of its chief), the kampong and river of Kroeng-Kali, and the fortification of Batoe west of Toengkoeb. The region was the theatre of the expedition of 30 April 1896 and the second expedition of 4 May 1896, and was crossed by the maréchaussée march through Glé Taroempas on 22 June 1896. The Achehnese stelling east of Kroeng-Kali partly belonged to this region.

Description and Location

The XIII Moekims Toengkoeb lay to the east of the XXVI Moekims and adjoined the V Moekims Montassik on the south. The kampong of Toengkoeb was the residence of the head of the XIII Moekims and the site of a Dutch temporary post (evacuated on 21 April 1896 and handed over to Toekoe Nja Banta). The kampong of Kroeng-Kali contained the house of the hoeloebalang T. Tjoet Toengkoeb and a series of fortifications, and was the site of the principal Achehnese stelling east of Kroeng-Kali that partly belonged to this mukim. The benteng of Batoe lay approximately 400 metres west of the crossroads near Toengkoeb. The region was bounded on the east by the Oostergebergte (eastern mountain range) at whose edge Habib Lengkong’s fort stood, and was crossed by the mountain pass of Glé Taroempas that gave access to the valley of Beradin.

Historical Background

The XIII Moekims Toengkoeb had been under the authority of T. Tjoet Toengkoeb throughout the Atjeh-oorlog. After the Dutch occupation of Toengkoeb in the buitenlinie period the religious-warriors of Teungkoe di Tiroe had used the XIII Moekims as a base from which to threaten the XXVI Moekims. The bentengs Perampoean and Batoe near Toengkoeb had been built to defend the approaches to the region. After the defection of 29 March 1896 T. Tjoet Toengkoeb aligned himself with Umar and the XIII Moekims became a base for hostile benden operating against the buitenposten of the eastern linie. The Achehnese stelling east of Kroeng-Kali had been built up over years and was a complex of old and new versterkingen and loopgraven.

Role in the 1896 Operations

The XIII Moekims Toengkoeb were the object of two major Dutch expeditions in 1896. On 30 April 1896 a column from Boekit Karang under Majoor Breijer moved against the benteng of Batoe near Toengkoeb, supported by a night attack from Pakan Kroeng Tjoet. On 4 May 1896 a second expedition under Van Heutsz advanced against the stelling east of Kroeng-Kali, where 1e luit. Krohne was mortally wounded at the four-way intersection and the cavalerie conducted a charge. On 28 April–29 April 1896 the night surprise of Benting Batoe was conducted within this region by a column from Pakan Kroeng Tjoet under Captain Zelle’s engineers. On 17 June 1896 the benteng of Kroeng-Kali (a square redoubt of 15 metres side, walls 1.5 metres high, with a lilla) was stormed by compagnie Linck of 12e Bataljon, with 2nd Lt. Heyligers first inside; the benteng was destroyed. On 20 June 1896 the bentengs Perampoean and Batoe near Toengkoeb were demolished by the Genie under Captain Zelle. On 22 June 1896 a maréchaussée column under Luitenant Vuijkk crossed Glé Taroempas and descended into the valley of Beradin from the east. On 23 June 1896 T. Tjoet Toengkoeb and Panglima Nja Makam were attacked at Kroeng-Kali and retreated to Lam-Tobah.

Significance

The XIII Moekims Toengkoeb were the principal eastern bastion of Achehnese resistance after the defection of 29 March 1896. The repeated Dutch expeditions against Kroeng-Kali and the benteng of Batoe demonstrated that the Dutch could not leave this region unmolested, since it threatened the eastern flank of their operations against Umar and provided a refuge for retreating Achehnese benden. The demolition of the bentengs Perampoean and Batoe on 20 June 1896 and the storming of the benteng of Kroeng-Kali on 23 June 1896 broke the back of organised Achehnese defence in this mukim.

Account in Hooijer’s De verlaten posten in Groot-Atjeh (1897)

The XIII Moekims Toengkoeb were the thirteen moekims of Toengkoeb within the XXVI Moekims of Groot-Atjeh, the territory of the oeleebalang T. Tjoet Toengkoeb, brother-in-law of Toekoe Nja Banta.

In the campaign of 1893

When the Governor of Atjeh and Dependencies authorised Toekoe Nja Banta on 1 September 1893 to open the struggle against the Moslemin east of the Dutch line, Hooijer recorded that his father-in-law Toekoe Neq van Marassa and his brother-in-law Toekoe Tjoet, oeleebalang der XIII Moekims Toengkoeb, were to assist him.

The district was the scene of some of the most damaging failures of the alliance. Toekoe Tjoet’s wavering conduct led the Dutch to occupy one of his bentengs at Toengkoeb on 27 September 1893; his banishment to Malaboeh emptied the kampongs (villages), since the population would not remain without him; and the removal of his wives to Lamreng by Toekoe Nja Banta caused a general dispersal that let the Moslemin re-occupy the ground and cut communications between Kroeng Kali and Toengkoeb.

See Also

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. 14, 22, 122, 143, 144, 146, 158, 165, 322.

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, pp. 16, 24.

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.

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