The year 1589 is, in the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s survey of the Outer Possessions, the approximate date of the Atjehsche destruction of the Batakrijk Aroe — the cataclysm by which the Atjehers shattered the great Batak kingdom of Aroe that had extended along the Strait of Malakka from the present cultivation district of the East Coast of Sumatra south-eastward into south-eastern Atjeh.
Events
- atjehsche-vernietiging-van-het-batakrijk-aroe-(c-1589) — the destruction of the Batakrijk Aroe by the Atjehers, placed by the Encyclopaedisch Bureau “probably” in 1589 on the basis of Batak saga.
- atjehsche-invasie-in-tamiang-en-noordelijk-langkat-(c-1589) — the Atjehnese seizure of Tamiang and Northern Langkat under a vertegenwoordiger of the Sultan of Atjeh, the immediate sequel to the destruction of Aroe.
Significance
The year 1589 is, in the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s survey, the chronological anchor of the long Atjehnese overlordship of the East Coast. The destruction of Aroe and the Atjehnese seizure of Tamiang and northern Langkat together mark the moment at which the Atjehnese presence on the East Coast shifts from military incursion to formal administration — the moment that inaugurates the long century of Atjehnese East Coast dominance that would be consolidated under Sultan Iskander Moeda and only shaken off — briefly — in 1769.
The Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s attribution of the events of 1589 to “saga” (sage) and its qualifier “probably” (waarschijnlijk) on the year itself signal that the date rests on traditional Batak memory rather than on a dated contemporary chronicle. The year 1589 is, in the Bureau’s framing, the chronological approximation of a traditional Batak memory of the cataclysm — the date around which the destruction of Aroe and the Atjehnese seizure of Tamiang and northern Langkat are best placed.
See Also
- atjehsche-vernietiging-van-het-batakrijk-aroe-(c-1589)
- atjehsche-invasie-in-tamiang-en-noordelijk-langkat-(c-1589)
- atjehsche-overheersing-der-noordelijke-kuststaatjes
- Acheh
- rijk Aroe
- Tamiang
- Langkat
- Sultan Iskander Muda
- 1769
- Timeline of Aceh History
Source
De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Afl. 3: Oostkust van Sumatra. Eerste Stuk, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1918), p. 116. Universiteitsbibliotheek Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, shelfmark LS.08781.