Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah

Last updated

Sultan Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah (1786 - 1 December 1823) was the twenty-ninth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He ruled in 1795-1815 and again in 1819-1823, the intervening period being filled by the usurper Syarif Saiful Alam Syah.

Contents

Enthronement and regency

When Sultan Alauddin Muhammad Syah died in February 1795 he left a 9-year-old son, Husain, who was born from his main wife Merah di Awan (daughter of a previous sultan, Badr ul-Alam Syah). After an interregnum of about one month Husain was proclaimed under the name Sultan Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah. [1] Merah di Awan made sure that her brother Raja Udahna Lela was appointed regent for the young sultan. [2] The first years of the regency were relatively tranquil. The sultan, who had spent time on a British ship as a boy, spoke English and was well acquainted with European customs. He took up the habit of drinking alcohol which did not endear him to the Muslim clergy. [3] The British were in possession of Penang off the coast of the Malay Peninsula since 1786 and there was a steady trade with the Acehnese who produced pepper and other local produce. The pepper ports of the west coast of Aceh continued to develop, some being dominated by the enterprising Lebai Dappa, father-in-law of Raja Udahna Lela. A serious incident occurred in 1803 when the ship Crescent was plundered by the inhabitants of Muki (north of Singkil). A British punitive expedition departed from Bengkulu in 1804 and captured the fort in Muki. [4]

First civil war

Sultan Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah began to reign in own name in 1802. However, his uncle Raja Udahna Lela was not willing to step down from his prerogatives as regent. He rebelled against the sultan, supported by the commercial strongman Lebai Dappah. At first Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah had too flee to Pidië. After some time he returned to the estuary of the Aceh River and asked the British in Penang for help to defeat the rebellion. No European help came, but the sultan managed to defeat Raja Udahna Lela after his mother, sister of the regent, had shifted her support from her brother to her son. Raja Udahna Lela fled in turn in 1805 but was caught and killed at Nesuk. [5] The authority of Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah nevertheless stood on a shaky ground and he had problems harvesting the duties on the west coast. In spite of the expanding pepper trade the sultan benefited little since he did not have the bureaucratic apparatus to control economic flows. When he nevertheless tried, he inevitably created discontent among his subjects. A brief revolt that involved Lebai Dappah occurred in 1808 but was suppressed. It might partly have been caused by the sultan's use of British, French and Portuguese adventurers as trusted men. [6]

Second civil war

After the British seizure of Dutch Java in 1811, relations between Aceh and the British became increasingly strained. British officials and merchants on Sumatra and Penang wanted free access to Acehnese ports and were dissatisfied with the sultan's attempts to control trade. Penang merchants as well as Acehnese traders wished to get rid of Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah. Falling pepper prices in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars added to the discontent. A wealthy Penang merchant, Sayyid Husain, claimed descent from Sultan Jamal ul-Alam Badr ul-Munir (1703-1726) and gained a key role in the movement against the sultan. [7] A revolt broke out in October 1814. The sultan was accused of un-Islamic behaviour and was declared deposed by the panglimas (leaders) of the three sagis (regions). Sayyid Husain was elected sultan in April 1815 but soon forwarded the dignity to his son Sayyid Abdullah who was enthroned in November under the name Syarif Saiful Alam Syah. [8] Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam fled to Penang and asked the British for assistance which was naturally not provided. However, the ex-sultan still had sympathies among some of the elite and was invited back by the lord of Pidië. In spite of two attempts by Sayyid Husain to have him murdered, he established a base in Pasai. [9] An inconclusive war was fought against the two sayyids during the next few years. A British mission to Aceh in 1818 found Syarif Saiful Alam Syah to be the most promising of the rival candidates. However, a new mission under Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1819 saw things differently. The British were anxious to negotiate a treaty with Aceh which was the only part of Sumatra that had not turned Dutch after Britain handed back the Dutch East Indies in 1816. It was vital to end the civil war, and the best way according to Raffles was to remove Syarif Saiful Alam Syah whose claims to the throne were spurious. He signed a formal treaty with Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah on 22 April 1819. It stipulated the appointment of a British agent, exclusion of other nations, and active British support to secure the throne. [10] With no prospects of British support Syarif Saiful Alam Syah could not maintain his position but left Aceh and subsequently lived in Penang where he enjoyed an allowance of 6,000 dollars per year.

Last years

The 1819 treaty effectively became a dead letter. Moreover, the restored sultan had difficulties making his authority heard. Most of the political players in Aceh were still opposed to his governance. Only in 1820 did he manage to establish himself in the outskirts of the capital Kutaraja. He built a fortified stockade at the mouth of the Aceh River from which he carried on some trade and collected revenues. [11] He asked the British for 500 sepoys and military supplies to use to fight the panglimas of the three sagis, but was disappointed. Eventually he died on 1 December 1823 without having managed to take full control of the capital. [12] He left six children of which Alauddin Muhammad Da'ud Syah I succeeded him. The succession brought an end to the long period of civil strife in Aceh.

Related Research Articles

Aceh Sultanate Historic sultanate state based on the northern island of Sumatra

The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam, was a Sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a major regional power in the 16th and 17th centuries, before experiencing a long period of decline. Its capital was Kutaraja, the present-day Banda Aceh.

Ali Mughayat Syah

Sultan Ali Mughayat Syah was the first sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra, reigning from about 1514 until his death. Although he was not the first ruler of the Aceh heartland, he is considered the founder of the greater Aceh empire. His time also saw the emergence of the long struggle with the Portuguese for the political and economic supremacy in the Melaka Straits. Sultan Ali's life and career are nevertheless ill-chronicled, and have to be pieced together from various Acehnese, Malay and European accounts.

Iskandar Muda Sultan of Aceh

Iskandar Muda was the twelfth Sulṭān of Acèh Darussalam, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, and was the strongest power and wealthiest state in the western Indonesian archipelago and the Strait of Malacca. "Iskandar Muda" literally means "young Alexander," and his conquests were often compared to those of Alexander the Great. In addition to his notable conquests, during his reign, Aceh became known as an international centre of Islamic learning and trade. He was the last Sultan of Aceh from male descendant of Ali Mughayat Syah as the founder and the first Sultan of Aceh Sultanate. Iskandar Muda's death meant that the founding dynasty of Aceh Sultanate, the House of Meukuta Alam died out and was replaced by other dynasty.

Acehnese people Ethnic group in Indonesia

The Acehnese are an ethnic group from Aceh, Indonesia on the northernmost tip of the island of Sumatra. The area has a history of political struggle against the Dutch. The vast majority of the Acehnese people are Muslims. The Acehnese people are also referred to by other names such as Lam Muri, Lambri, Akhir, Achin, Asji, A-tse and Atse. Their language, Acehnese, belongs to the Aceh–Chamic group of Malayo-Polynesian of the Austronesian language family.

Sultan Buyung or Ali Ri'ayat Syah II was the ninth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He had a short and contested reign from 1585/85 to 1589, ending with his violent demise.

Sultan Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah Sayyid al-Mukammal was the tenth Sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra, ruling in 1589-1604. His reign is important since it saw the arrival of three new European powers to the region of the Melaka Straits: the Dutch, English and French.

Sultan Ali Ri'ayat Syah III was the eleventh Sulṭān of Acèh Darussalam in northern Sumatra. He had a brief and turbulent reign from 1604 to 1607 before being succeeded by his more famous nephew Iskandar Muda.

Sultan Inayat Zakiatuddin Syah was the sixteenth monarch of the Acèh Darussalam and the third sulṭāna regnant to rule in succession. Her reign lasted from 1678 to 1688 and was generally peaceful.

Perkasa Alam Syarif Lamtui or Badr ul-Alam Syarif Lamtui ul-Mutaawi Jamal ul-Lail was the nineteenth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra and ruled briefly in 1702-1703.

Jamal ul-Alam Badr ul-Munir was the twentieth Sulṭān of Acèh Darussalam in northern Sumatra and the third ruler of the Arabic Jamal ul-Lail Dynasty. He ruled from 1703 to 1726 when he was deposed.


Sultan Jauhar ul-Alam Amauddin Syah was the twenty-first sultan of Aceh. He ruled very briefly in 1726. Some sources date his reign in 1723.

Sultan Alauddin Ahmad Syah was the twenty-third sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He ruled from 1727 to 1735 and inaugurated the Bugis Dynasty of Aceh which would remain on the throne until the end of the sultanate in 1903.

Sultan Alauddin Johan Syah was the twenty-fourth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He represented the second generation of the Bugis Dynasty of Aceh and ruled from 1735 to 1760.

Sultan Alauddin Mahmud Syah I was the twenty-fifth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He ruled from 1760 to 1781, although his reign was twice interrupted by usurpers.

Sultan Badr ul-Alam Syah was the twenty-sixth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He usurped the throne from the Bugis Dynasty and ruled from 1764 to 1765.

Sultan Sulaiman Syah was the twenty-seventh sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He usurped the throne from the reigning Bugis Dynasty and held power May–July 1773.

Sultan Alauddin Muhammad Syah was the twenty-eighth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He was the fourth ruler of the Bugis Dynasty and reigned between 1781 and 1795.

Sultan Syarif Saif Alam Syah was the thirtieth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He ruled 1815-1819 in opposition to the former sultan Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah.

Sultan Alauddin Muhammad Da'ud Syah I was the thirty-first sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He was the sixth ruler of the Bugis Dynasty and reigned from 1823 to 1838.

Sultan Alauddin Ibrahim Mansur Syah, also known as Ali Alauddin Mansur Syah was the thirty-third sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He was the eight ruler of the Bugis Dynasty and ruled de facto from 1838, formally from 1857 to 1870.

References

  1. ↑ Djajadiningrat (1911), p. 206.
  2. ↑ Lee (1995), p. 90.
  3. ↑ Lee (1995), pp. 93-4.
  4. ↑ Lee (1995), pp. 108-13.
  5. ↑ Djajadiningrat (1995), p. 207.
  6. ↑ Lee (1995), pp. 125-6.
  7. ↑ Lee (1995), pp. 194-202.
  8. ↑ Djajadiningrat (1911), p. 208.
  9. ↑ Lee (1995), p. 242.
  10. ↑ Encyclopaedie (1917), Vol. 1, p. 76.
  11. ↑ Lee (1995), p. 300.
  12. ↑ Lee (1995), pp. 301-6.

Literature

Preceded by Sultan of Aceh
1795-1815		Succeeded by
Preceded by Sultan of Aceh
1819-1823		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.