1909

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tagsyear, timeline, colonial, dutch, statistics, coal, mining-leases, aceh, 20th-century
aliases1909 in Acheh, 1909 in Aceh, 1909 (year), the year 1909, 1909 AD, Year 1909

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Account from Atjeh up to date (c. 1914) — 1909

1909 was a year of continued administrative recording and logistical tracking in Acheh, situated within the Dutch East Indies. Following the major military campaigns of the preceding years, the colonial authorities focused on quantifying the economic output and the ongoing costs of garrisoning the region during the latter stages of the Aceh War.

Statistical and Administrative Record

According to the Atjeh up to date compilation, 1909 is heavily documented in colonial financial and logistical ledgers. The surviving data from this year highlights the scale of Dutch operations in northern Sumatra:

  • Financial Expenditures: Aggregate colonial financial lines for 1909 record massive outlays, with total figures reaching 6,077,025 guilders across various administrative and military departments. Specific departmental ledgers show distinct allocations, such as 1,283,439 and 767,017 in separate accounting categories.
  • Trade and Logistics: Registries of vessel arrivals and tonnage indicate a steady flow of colonial supplies and export commodities. Monthly and annual tracking shows figures such as 96,093 and 48,240 in primary logistical categories, alongside 102,402 and 123,325 in secondary trade metrics.
  • Military Overhead: The financial burden of maintaining the KNIL garrisons and conducting localized patrols is reflected in the high baseline expenditures, a trend that would continue to fluctuate in the years leading up to 1914.

People

Account from Atjeh up to date (c. 1914) — 1909

1909 was a year of continued administrative recording and logistical tracking in Acheh, situated within the Dutch East Indies. Following the major military campaigns of the preceding years, the colonial authorities focused on quantifying the economic output and the ongoing costs of garrisoning the region during the latter stages of the Aceh War.

Statistical and Administrative Record

According to the Atjeh up to date compilation, 1909 is heavily documented in colonial financial and logistical ledgers. The surviving data from this year highlights the scale of Dutch operations in northern Sumatra:

  • Financial Expenditures: Aggregate colonial financial lines for 1909 record massive outlays, with total figures reaching 6,077,025 guilders across various administrative and military departments. Specific departmental ledgers show distinct allocations, such as 1,283,439 and 767,017 in separate accounting categories.
  • Trade and Logistics: Registries of vessel arrivals and tonnage indicate a steady flow of colonial supplies and export commodities. Monthly and annual tracking shows figures such as 96,093 and 48,240 in primary logistical categories, alongside 102,402 and 123,325 in secondary trade metrics.
  • Military Overhead: The financial burden of maintaining the KNIL garrisons and conducting localized patrols is reflected in the high baseline expenditures, a trend that would continue to fluctuate in the years leading up to 1914.

Account from The Geology of Indonesia (1949) — 1909

The Kinandam-Sumatra mining leases

For the full account of the 1909 Kinandam-Sumatra mining leases see the entries on Kinandam-Sumatra Mijnbouw Mij. and Coal in Atjeh. In summary: in 1909 mining leases were granted to the Kinandam-Sumatra Mijnbouw Mij. for the coal concessions Bukit Durian, Bukit Pulai, and Sarik in the Painan district of the Westkust van Sumatra. The three concessions are located in the Painan district of the Westkust van Sumatra (the residency immediately to the south of Atjeh), and the coal occurrences are described by Van Bemmelen as “all of minor importance as the coal seams, occurring in sandstone and clay shale, and ranging from a few centimeters up to 2 m in thickness, generally contain impure coal of a poor quality (soft with a tendency to crumble). Moreover, the extension of the seams is not sufficient to justify a detailed exploration.”

The only recorded production from the Kinandam-Sumatra concessions was in the years 1917–1927, when “a total quantity of 2000 tons has been produced for use at the Salida gold mine of the same company.” The mining rights for the Bukit Durian and Bukit Pulai concessions were returned to the Government in 1934, with the Sarik concession following in 1941.

Significance

1909 is significant for the encyclopedia of Acheh history because it is the year in which the only documented colonial-era coal-mining concessions on Atjeh-relevant territory were granted — the 1909 Kinandam-Sumatra mining leases at Bukit Durian, Bukit Pulai and Sarik in the Painan district of the Westkust van Sumatra (immediately to the south of the Atjeh border). The 1909 leases accordingly mark the beginning of the colonial coal-mining industry in the West-Atjeh/Painan region — an industry that would produce only 2,000 tons over the decade 1917–1927 (all for use at the company’s own Salida gold mine) before being wound down in 1934 and 1941.

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

Zentgraff records 1909 as the year of the Duivel op de Blang crisis at Blang Kedjeren, when the arrival of women in the isolated bivak of the 1e Divisie Maréchaussée triggered a series of bloedige misdrijven — murders of superiors, insubordination, suicides. The Journaal van Blang Kedjeren recorded four ernstige gevallen. Mosselman arrived at Lho Soekon in July 1910, beginning his famous pursuit of Pang Nanggroë and Tjoet Meuthia. In June 1909 Pang Nanggroë was nearly caught — three of his voornaamste volgelingen were killed in the near-miss.

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

Account in du Croo’s Generaal Swart (1943)

1909 saw continued heavy fighting in Keureutòë — 269 opponents killed, including seventeen band-heads and seven Teungkoes, eleven prisoners including Tgk. di Reubèë, and seventy-two submissions — and in the Meergebied, where 132 resistance men fell and where on 24 December a group of infantry was surprised at Tjampoeron, the captured carbines forming the Telongbende. In February H. J. Schmidt found Keudjroeën Oebit in the Tangsé valley. On the west coast A. Geertsema Beckeringh at last obtained sufficient means of power. In December Swart gave Schmidt the special commission against the Tirò Teungkoes. On 31 March 1909 Swart was extraordinarily promoted Kolonel; on 2 September 1909 he was made Commander of the Militaire Willemsorde for Soembawa; in May 1909 Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He was authorised to dispose of 6,000 guilders in interest-free advances to needy persons who had submitted, and of compensations to the head of Peudada and to T. Radja Tjoet of Meuké’.

See Also

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.

Atjeh up to date (Statistical and Administrative Compilation, c. 1914). Archival reference DLP-10. Fragmentary OCR extraction containing financial ledgers, shipping registries, and colonial budget tables for 1909.

Figures, places, and events in Acehnese history associated with the year 1909.

The Geology of Indonesia, by R. W. van Bemmelen, Vol. II: Economic Geology (The Hague: Government Printing Office; Martinus Nijhoff, 1949), p. 56 (Painan district coal concessions, Kinandam-Sumatra Mijnbouw Mij.).

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.

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