1904

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tagsyear, timeline, colonial, dutch, gayo, alas, military, achehnese, decade-of-progress, tramway, aceh, war, pacification, 20th-century, aceh-war, bataklanden, acheh
aliasesYear 1904, 1904 Van Heutsz Governor-General, 1904 Brewer family in Atjeh, 1904 Atjeh, 1904 AD, 1904 CE, the year 1904, 1904 (year)

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Figures, places, and events in Acehnese history associated with the year 1904.

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Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — 1904

1904 was the year of the zegetocht — the victorious campaign — of Gotfried Coenraad Ernst van Daalen’s colonne through the Gajoland and Alaslanden, which brought the last great interior strongholds of the Atjeh-krijg “ineens geheel onder onze macht” — at once entirely under Dutch power — and so marked the military completion of the subjugation of the Gouvernement Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden. The Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s De Buitenbezittingen treats 1904 as a turning point second in importance only to 1898, the year of van Heutsz’s accession to the governorship. 1904 is the opening year of the 1904–1914 decade surveyed by the Encyclopaedisch Bureau in its volume De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914 — the decade that the Bureau frames as the “period, so important for those territories,” during which the pacification of Atjeh was completed and the wider post-1902 extension of Dutch “effective authority” across the Outer Possessions was carried out. The Bureau’s statistical tables for the Atjeh-tram begin in 1904: in that year the Atjeh-tramway had a route length of 322 K.M. and an aanlegkapitaal (construction capital) of f 9,000,000, with 1,434,000 passengers and 110,000 tons of freight carried.

The Gayo-Alas campaign

Before 1904, De Buitenbezittingen records, the Dutch “wisten goed als niets” — knew effectively nothing — of the inhabitants of the Alas valley. The expedition van Daalen led in June 1904 brought the entire region under Dutch control, though not without subsequent resistance, particularly in the early years, before a toestand van orde en rust was established. The same campaign traversed the Gayo lands, where van Daalen installed the minor Kédjoerön Bédén — a child taken from Tamiang by his father, a previously deposed Kédjoerön, and paraded through Koeta Radja to sign the Korte Verklaring without the required consultation of the other rédjë’s of Gayo Loeës — as the legitimate territorial chief of the Gayo Loeës.

The Alas settlement

In the Alaslanden, the colonne encountered the roi fainéant Radja Tjèq — the Sultan of Atjeh-recognised overlord of the valley — in a paradoxical position. The Dutch, “onbekend met de werkelijke verhoudingen” — unfamiliar with the actual relations — initially treated the two Kédjoeröns of Batoe Mboelan and Bambél as wholly independent landschapshoofden and the Radja Tjèq as a mere councillor. The political consequences of this misgreep — this misstep — were, however, not damaging; the Radja Tjèq remained loyal, and a subsequent reorganisation regularised his position. The Alaslanden would, in the years that followed, prove more amenable to territorial reorganisation than the Gayo lands, the instelling der Si-émpats having already carried the territorial principle further there than in the more strictly genealogical Gayo polities.

Toponymic legacy

The van Daalengebergte — the mountain range of the central Barisan that forms the eastern wall of the Gayo high plateau, separating the basin of the upper Djamboe Aje from the high plateau of Serbëdjadi — commemorates van Daalen’s 1904 campaign in the physical geography of northern Sumatra.

Significance

1904 is, in the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account, the opening year of the 1904–1914 “decade of progress” of the Buitenbezittingen — the decade during which the pacification of Atjeh was completed, the Atjeh-tramway was extended from 322 to 465 K.M., the landschapskassen were centralised, and the Korte Verklaring regime was codified by the Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie. The year 1904 thus marks the beginning of the principal Dutch colonial project of the early twentieth century.

Economic Baseline (from De Buitenbezittingen, 1915)

1904 also serves as the benchmark year for the colonial statistical overview in the source text De Buitenbezittingen, providing a baseline against which dramatic changes over the following decade were measured. The data from 1904 captures the region on the cusp of profound economic transformation.

  • Economic Baseline: Atjeh’s economy in 1904 was still heavily reliant on traditional exports of pepper and other local commodities. The post-war plantation boom in rubber and other crops had not yet begun.
  • Early Concessions: In 1904, only 6 concessions existed in all of Atjeh and Dependencies, covering about 1,000 bouws — contrasting starkly with the 148 concessions covering nearly 300,000 bouws by 1913. 1904 was the quiet before the storm.
  • No Opium Regie: The exploitative pacht system for opium was still in place. The reformist regie would not be introduced until 1913.
  • Shipping: Sabang, the deep-water port on Weh Island, had already begun to grow in importance, with 588 ships and nearly 1.9 million M³ of tonnage calling at its port.
  • Labor Force: In 1904, the number of Javanese contract laborers in Atjeh was 3,341, already representing a significant demographic shift.

Account from Van Son genealogy (1951) — 1904

The Van Son genealogy fixes the year 1904 as the year of the Brewer–Van Son household’s residence at Indrapoera in Groot-Atjeh: Yvonne Caroline Brewer was born at Indrapoera on 1 August 1904 to the K.N.I.L. artillery officer Otto Louis Brewer and his wife Leonie van Son. The household’s stay in Atjeh ended the same year in tragedy: Leonie van Son died at Koeta Radja on 17 November 1904. The genealogy is the principal documentary source for the family’s Atjeh residence in 1904.

Account from Na 1795 (1924) — 1904

The *Na 1795* school-history textbook of F. Roorda records the 1904 promotion of Van Heutsz to Governor-General and the contemporaneous extension of Dutch conquest to the Bataklanden south of Atjeh under the chronological entry:

“1904-‘09. Van Heutz gouverneur-general. … De Bataklanden onderworpen.”

The entry fixes two facts: (1) that Van Heutsz’s Governor-Generalship began in 1904; and (2) that the subjugation of the Bataklanden was carried out under his administration, beginning in the same year. The textbook’s placement of the entry in immediate sequence after the closing of the Atjeh campaign underlines the chronological continuity between the completion of the Atjeh-oorlog and the opening of the next Dutch colonial war of conquest in northern Sumatra.

Account from Schets eener parlementaire geschiedenis (1955)

The following account is drawn from the parliamentary history of the Dutch Second Chamber as narrated by Vermeulen in the colonial section of the 1955 fourth revised edition of Rengers’s *Schets*.

1904 is the year of the expedition of lieutenant-colonel G. C. E. Van Daalen to the Gajoe-, Alas- and Bataklanden, the bloodiest single episode in the post-Oemar phase of the Atjeh-oorlog. In a few days, according to official figures, 2,922 inlanders — among them 1,149 women and children — lost their lives. The same year also saw the Van Heutsz-Van Daalen pacificatie extended to Borneo, and the Rengers-era Mijnwet of Cremer enacted.

The expedition of Van Daalen

After the recovery of Groot-Atjeh following the defection of Toekoe Oemar the principal resistance leaders did not submit but withdrew to Pedir. They were pursued — first to Pedir, then to the coasts, and finally in 1904 also to the Gajoland and Alasland interior. The expedition of Van Daalen to the Gajoe-, Alas- and Bataklanden was, formally, intended to begin “bespreking van wederzijdse belangen” — discussion of mutual interests. In practice it became a campaign of annihilation. According to the official figures cited by Vermeulen, 2,922 inlanders — among them 1,149 women and children — were killed “in weinige dagen” — in a few days.

Parliamentary reactions

Van Kol (s.d.), who had only two years earlier certified that the pacificatie was further advanced than he had supposed, declared the expedition “erger dan de dagen van Alva’s schrikbewind” — worse than the days of Alva’s reign of terror. The Catholic MP De Stuers went further back into history and compared the expedition to the campaigns of Timur Lenk and Djengis Khan: “Het is of men op de inlanders een bende bloedhonden heeft losgelaten, het is beulenwerk” — it is as if a pack of bloodhounds had been set loose on the natives, it is the work of executioners. The conclusion of De Stuers did not differ from that which Fransen van de Putte had formulated years earlier: “Laten wij beschaving brengen, maar niet door middel van bloedbaden!” — let us bring civilisation, but not by means of massacres.

Ministerial defence

Idenburg (a.r.), then minister of Colonies, defended the expedition in the Tweede Kamer. Patience had been tried in Atjeh during the concentratie period with the result that the resistance had only grown stronger; patience had been tried in Djambi until “absolute anarchie” had set in and a bloody expedition had become necessary; patience had been tried for years on Lombok, and the Netherlands had had to pay for it with hundreds of lives. Following the argument of Snouck Hurgronje, Idenburg maintained that Islam forbade the faithful to submit to any authority that had not proven its unshakeable superiority. The women and children who sacrificed themselves had done so under the influence of religious fanaticism: Van Daalen, it was argued, had made the futility of the struggle clear in advance.

The De Stuers–Kolkman incident

De Stuers’ comparison of Van Daalen to Timur Lenk went so far beyond the bounds of criticism customary for a member of a governing party that he was openly and solemnly gedesavoueerd — disavowed — by his fractieleider Kolkman. At the next begrotingsdebat, after the elections, De Stuers called Kolkman’s statement the product of an “electorale nachtmerrie” — electoral nightmare. The members of the Van Daalen expedition, meanwhile, had received their decorations: 148 onderscheidingen — including 44 military Willemsorden — had been awarded “terzake van 180 bajonetten” (it was actually some 230), a generosity that De Stuers found “wat overdadig” — rather excessive.

Significance

1904 is the military and political hinge of the Atjehnese war. The expedition of Van Daalen broke the back of organised Atjehnese resistance; the colonial authority could thereafter begin, in earnest, the pacificatie that would extend over the next four years and culminate in the Van Heutsz report of 1908.

Account from Schets eener parlementaire geschiedenis (1955)

The following account is drawn from the parliamentary history of the Dutch Second Chamber as narrated by Vermeulen in the colonial section of the 1955 fourth revised edition of Rengers’s *Schets*.

1904 is the year that, in the source’s narrative, marks the formal end of the Atjehoorlog of 1873-1904 and the beginning of the post-pacificatie period of effective Dutch authority throughout the archipelago. The pacificatie was, in the source’s verdict, the work of Van Heutsz as civil and military governor of Atjeh en Onderhorigheden and, from 1904 onwards, as governor-general of the Nederlandsch-Indië.

The end of the Atjehoorlog

The Atjehoorlog of 1873-1904 is dated in the source as ending in 1904. The pacificatie that concluded it was the work of Van Heutsz, who had been charged in 1896 with the direction of military operations in Groot-Atjeh and who, from 1904 onwards, served as governor-general of the Nederlandsch-Indië.

The post-1904 consolidation

The source’s verdict on the post-1904 period is direct: “Na beëindiging van de Atjeh-oorlog werd het daadwerkelijk gezag in de gehele archipel zonder veel moeite gevestigd en gehandhaafd” (After the end of the Atjeh war, effective authority in the entire archipelago was established and maintained without much difficulty). The archipelago — with the exception of “de nog ondoorzochte wildernissen van Nieuw Guinea” (the still-unsurveyed wildernesses of New Guinea) — could now be traversed safely without special protection. The post-1904 period thus opened with a security situation fundamentally different from that of the preceding half-century.

The Van Heutsz governor-generalship

Van Heutsz’s appointment as governor-general (1904-1908) is, in the source’s narrative, the institutional locus of the post-1904 consolidation. His successors — Rooseboom, Idenburg — are credited with completing the work he had begun: “Zijn opvolgers, Rooseboom, Van Heutsz en Idenburg, hebben dit werk voltooid” (His successors, Rooseboom, Van Heutsz and Idenburg, completed this work).

The korte verklaring

Van Heutsz had, “in samenwerking met Snouck Hurgronje” (in cooperation with Snouck Hurgronje), drawn up the so-called korte verklaring — the short declaration required of submitted chiefs in the buitengewesten (outer territories). The declaration, whose three points bound the signatory to recognise his territory as part of Nederlandsch-Indië, to be loyal to the Queen and the governor-general, and to comply with all regulations and orders, was eventually signed by 261 chiefs of self-governing territories in the buitengewesten. The korte verklaring was, in the source’s narrative, the principal administrative instrument of the post-1904 consolidation.

Significance

1904 is the year in which the Atjehoorlog formally ended and the post-pacificatie consolidation of Dutch authority in the archipelago began. The transition from the Van Heutsz governor-generalship of Atjeh to the Van Heutsz governor-generalship of the Indies is the institutional hinge of the post-1904 period.

Account from Atjeh by H.C. Zentgraff (1938)

Zentgraff’s Atjeh gives the Gajoetocht its most detailed account. From 18 March to 3 June 1904 overste Van Daalen with approximately two hundred maréchaussée’s — a thin line of heroes — executed an omtrekkende beweging through wild oerwoud, breaking into the Gajoeland from a direction the Gajoes did not expect. Benteng after benteng fell: Pepareq (308 dead on 18 March), Penampakan (22 March), Koeto Lintang, Koeto Reh (561 dead on 14 June), Koeto Lintang, Bambel, Reket-Goip — at least four thousand Gajoes killed in 75 days. The gedenkzuil at Blang Kedjeren reads: Ter herinnering aan onze gevallen helden tijdens den tocht van overste Van Daalen in de Gajoe-Loeüs, van 18 Maart 1904 tot 3 Juni 1904. De oudere Gajoes laten hunne tijdrekening beginnen met de komst van Van Daalen’s colonne. Also in 1904: the largest klewangaanval of the entire war — the attaque op de colonne-Campioni near Djeuram in Seunagan — de grootste klewangaanval uit de historie van Atjeh. The zegelamulet of Tengkoe Sjech Saman di Tiro, inherited by Tengkoe Tjot Plieëng, was lost when the latter was surprised by luitenant Terwogt’s patrol in June 1904.

Atjeh, door H.C. Zentgraff. Gedrukt bij Drukkerij “De Unie”, 1938, Batavia.

Account from Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)

1904 was the year of Van Daalen’s expedition to the Gajo country, one of the two great expeditions of the post-1900 period (the other being that of 1901). It was the year in which Sri Tengkoe Abdoel Hamid Orangkaja Sri Maharadja Mangkoe Boemi of Lho’ Seumawé signed the Korte Verklaring. The Afdeeling Gajo- en Alaslanden was formed in 1905 in the aftermath of the Van Daalen expeditions of 1901 and 1904.

Account in du Croo’s Generaal Swart (1943)

In October 1904 Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz was appointed Governor-General and provisionally handed the Atjeh government to General Van der Wijck; the opening of the Buitengewesten was thereafter accelerated with the support of minister Idenburg. Van Heutsz had already determined that only Van Daalen could succeed him in Atjeh. On 4 June 1904 H. N. A. Swart’s transfer to the 12th Battalion was approved.

See Also

Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu

May: Teukoe Panglima Polem became Sagi chief and submitted to then-captain Colijn (held the dignity nearly 35 years at time of writing). Dutch briefly surveyed the conquered work; but time not ripefor complete rest.Majoor Van Daalen’s famous march through Gajo, Alas and Batak lands; fall of the fortified kampong Koetö Leugat Baroe ended armed resistance, and most Alasser chiefs came to submit.

Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 41, 57, 108.

Source

The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.

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.

De Buitenbezittingen, Deel II, Aflevering 2: Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 4, 7, 33, 107, 114–115.

De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, Deel I, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), Voorwoord, p. 9 (Landschapskassen), p. 69 (section “De Atjeh-tram”), Bijlage X (Atjeh-tram exploitation figures).

De Buitenbezittingen 1904. In: Mededeelingen van het Encyclopaedisch Bureau. Batavia: G.C.T. van Dorp & Co., [ca. 1915].

Na 1795: Repetitie-boekje voor de Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis, by F. Roorda (Groningen: P. Noordhoff, 1924), p. 47.

Geschiedenis en genealogie van het geslacht Van Son, eertijds geheeten Van Broechoven, by H. J. A. van Son, Deel III (Dordrecht: Schefferdrukkerij, 1951), p. 37.

Schets eener parlementaire geschiedenis van Nederland van 1849 tot 1901, by Mr W. J. van Welderen baron Rengers, 4th rev. ed., Vol. IV: Oost-Indië 1891-1918 by Dr W. H. Vermeulen (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1955), pp. 271-272.

Nederlanders over de Zeeën: 350 Jaar geschiedenis van Nederland buitengaats, onder redactie van Dr. H. J. de Graaf, met medewerking van Prof. G. Gonggrijp, W. R. Menkman en Prof. Jhr Dr P. J. van Winter, 2e geheel herziene druk (Utrecht: W. de Haan N.V., MCMLV), pp. 209, 218-219, 238.

Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923); Atjeh Patchouli-Olie, by Ir. W. Spoon (1932), where applicable.

Generaal Swart, Pacificator van Atjeh (“General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh”), by M. H. du Croo, Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with the collaboration of H. J. Schmidt, Titular Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with a foreword by His Excellency Lieutenant-General K.N.I.L. (retired) G. K. Dijkstra (Maastricht: N.V. Leiter-Nypels, 1943), passim.

Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 41, 57, 108.

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