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.
Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Shah was the first sultan of Johor. He ruled Johor from 1528 to 1564. He founded the Johor Sultanate following the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511. He was the second son of Mahmud Shah of Malacca. Thus, Johor was a successor state of Malacca and Johor's sultans follow the numbering system of Malacca. Throughout his reign, he faced constant threats from the Portuguese as well as the emerging Aceh Sultanate.
Ali Mughayat Syah was the first Sultan of Aceh Darussalam in Northern Sumatra, reigning from about 1514 until his death. His reign not only saw the foundation of the Aceh Sultanate, but also the conquest of neighboring Daya (1520), Pidie (1521), and Pasai (1524). Despite his accomplishments, Ali Mughayat's life is poorly documented and must be pieced together from various Acehnese, Malay and European accounts.
Salahuddin was the second Sultan of Aceh Darussalam, reigning from 1530 to either 1537 or 1539. He was the eldest son of Sultan Ali Mughayat Syah, the founder of the Aceh Sultanate. His reign was characterized by weakness, and he was deposed by his ambitious younger brother, Alauddin al-Kahar.
Iskandar Muda was the twelfth Sultan of Acèh Darussalam, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, holding sway as 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 who was a direct lineal male descendant of Ali Mughayat Syah, the founder of the Aceh Sultanate. Iskandar Muda's death meant that the founding dynasty of the Aceh Sultanate, the House of Meukuta Alam died out and was replaced by another dynasty.
The Ottoman expedition to Aceh started from around 1565 when the Ottoman Empire endeavoured to support the Aceh Sultanate in its fight against the Portuguese Empire in Malacca. The expedition followed an envoy sent by the Acehnese Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah al-Kahhar (1539–71) to Suleiman the Magnificent in 1564, and possibly as early as 1562, requesting Ottoman support against the Portuguese.
Sultan Ali Ri'ayat Syah I, also known as Sultan Husein, was the fourth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He reigned from 1571 to 1579 and continued his father's policy of fighting the Portuguese in Melaka.
Sultan Sri Alam, also known as Sultan Mughal was the sixth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He led a very brief reign in the year 1579 before being deposed and killed.
Sultan Zainul Abidin was the seventh sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. His reign was the last of three brief ones in the year 1579.
Sultan Alauddin Mansur Syah was the eighth Sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He ruled Aceh from 1579 to 1585 or 1586 and was known as a pious Muslim ruler with cultural interests. His reign also saw some military expansion on the Malay Peninsula. With his death ended a 65-year long period of warfare between Aceh and the Portuguese.
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 from 1589 to 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.
Jamal ul-Alam Badr ul-Munir was the twentieth Sulṭān of Acèh Darussalam in northern Sumatra and the third ruler of the Arab Jamal ul-Lail Dynasty. He ruled from 1703 to 1726 when he was deposed.
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 eighth ruler of the Bugis Dynasty and ruled de facto from 1838, formally from 1857 to 1870.
Sultan Alauddin Mahmud Syah II was the thirty-fourth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He reigned from 1870 to 1874 and was the last sultan to rule Aceh before the colonial invasion.
The Aceh Expedition was a military expedition launched by the Portuguese against the Acehnese to force them to build a Portuguese fortress near Aceh. However, the expedition ended in failure.
The Acehnese launched their invasion of Johor between 1613 and 1615 to subjugate and vassalize the Johor Sultanate, as part of the Acehenese expansion in the Malay peninsula under Iskandar Muda reign.
Acehnese–Portuguese conflicts were the military engagements between the forces of the Portuguese Empire, established at Malacca in the Malay Peninsula, and the Sultanate of Aceh, fought intermittently from 1519 to 1639 in Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula or the Strait of Malacca. The Portuguese supported, or were supported, by various Malay or Sumatran states who opposed Acehnese expansionism, while the Acehnese received support from the Ottoman Empire and the Dutch East India Company.
