Battle of Aceh (1528) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Acehnese-Portuguese conflicts | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
![]() | ![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Simão de Sousa Galvão † | Ali Mughayat Syah | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1 Galley
| 20 Boats
| ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
All but 2 killed | Heavy |
The Battle of Aceh was a 1528 military engagement between a lone Portuguese galley and an Acehnese armada near the coast of Aceh, located in present-day Indonesia. The Acehnese captured the Portuguese galley.
In the early 16th century, Aceh rose from a vassal city into an independent kingdom, defeating the Portuguese and its allies in Aceh, Pedir, and Pasai. After the conquest of Pasai, neither side attempted major military expeditions.
However, in 1527, Francisco de Mello sailed in an armed vessel with dispatches to Goa. On his journey, he met a pilgrimage Acehnese ship coming from Mecca with a crew of three hundred Acehnese and forty Arabs. It was supposed to be a rich ship. They did not attempt to board it but bombarded and sank it from a distance, to their disappointment (losing their prize). The surviving crews attempted to swim, but the Portuguese massacred them, prompting the Acehnese to seek retaliation. [1] [2]
In April 1528, Lopo Vaz de Sampaio, the Governor of Goa, appointed Simão de Sousa Galvão as the governor of Maluku Islands. He gave him command of a galley with seventy men. During his journey, he faced a violent storm and was forced to take shelter in Aceh but could not proceed any further due to headwinds. [3] [4]
The Acehnese Sultan, Ali Mughayat Syah, with a disdain for the Portuguese, wanted to capture the galley. He sent a message to Simão de Sousa recommending that he stand closer to the shore, where he would have better shelter from the galley and supply the ship with more provisions. This did not succeed, so he ordered the next morning one thousand men and 20 ships into action. Simão, aware of their hostility, fired against them. A fierce engagement ensued in which the Acehnese were repulsed with losses, but this came at the cost of forty Portuguese being killed. [5]
The Sultan, disappointed by this setback, ordered a second attack, threatening to execute the admiral if he failed to capture it. A boat was sent ahead of the fleet with a signal of peace, informing him that the sultan would pay reparations to the Portuguese and punish the perpetrators and once again requesting him to come ashore.
Some of the crew wanted to accept the offer, but Simao preferred to die in combat rather than suffer humiliating submission. Both the Portuguese and Acehnese fought hard and bravely, and once again the Acehnese were repulsed. [6] [7] However, one of the Acehnese who boarded the ship and escaped later reported the dire situation the Portuguese were suffering. Encouraged by this report and knowing that fresh reinforcements had arrived, the Acehnese attacked for the third time and killed all of the crew, including Simao and his three brothers. [8] [9] Only two men survived and became prisoners. [10]
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.
Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah al-Kahar was the third Sultan of the Aceh Sultanate, reigning from either 1537 or 1539 until his death. He is considered to be one of the strongest rulers in the history of the sultanate and greatly strengthened Aceh. Alauddin's reign was marked by increased conflict with his Portuguese and Malay rivals and his dispatching of envoys to the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent in the 1560s.
Iskandar Muda was the twelfth Sulṭān 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.
Sultan Muda was a nominal sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. His brief tenure started a decade-long period of dynastic weakness and strife in the Aceh kingdom.
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 Inayat Zakiatudin 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.
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 Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah 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.
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.
Ghali, gali, or gale are a type of galley-like ships from the Nusantara archipelago. This type of ship only appeared after the 1530s. Before the appearance of this type of ship, several native galley-like ships already existed in the archipelago, some with outriggers. The design of ghali is the result of the impact made by Mediterranean shipbuilding techniques on native shipbuilding, introduced particularly by Arabs, Persians, Ottoman Turks, and Portuguese. The terms may also refer to Mediterranean vessels built by local people, or native vessels with Mediterranean influence.
The Battle of Aceh was a military engagement between the rising Sultanate of Aceh and the expeditionary Portuguese force in the northern Sumatra city of Aceh, the Portuguese were soundly defeated alongside its leader.
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 Pedir expedition was launched by the Portuguese in order to support the Sultanate of Pedir during the Acehnese invasion of the capital, the expedition ended in failure.
The Conquest of Pasai was a military campaign in 1523–1524 launched by the Sultanate of Aceh against the Samudera Pasai Sultanate and the Portuguese fortress there. The operation was a success for the Acehnese.
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.
Inderapura, also known as Ujung Pagaruyung, was a kingdom located in the Pesisir Selatan Regency, present-day West Sumatra, bordering Bengkulu Province and Jambi. Officially, the kingdom was a vassal of the Pagaruyung Kingdom, although in practice it was independent and free to manage its internal and external affairs. The kingdom in its heyday covered the west coast of Sumatra from Padang in the north to Sungai Hurai in the south. Inderapura's most important products were pepper and gold.