Teuku Umar (1854 – February 11, 1899) was a leader of a guerrilla campaign against the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

during the

Aceh War The Aceh War ( id, Perang Aceh), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1913), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between represen ...

. He fell when Dutch troops launched a surprise attack in Meulaboh. His body was buried in the Mugo area. After Teuku Umar's death, his wife

Cut Nyak Dhien Cut Nyak Dhien or Tjoet Nja' Dhien (1848 in Aceh Besar Regency, Lampadang – November 6, 1908 in Sumedang) was a leader of the Acehnese people, Acehnese guerrilla forces during the Aceh War. Following the death of her husband Teuku Umar, she led ...

continued to lead the guerrillas against the Dutch. He was later made a ''Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia'' (

National Hero of Indonesia National Hero of Indonesia ( id, Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia) is the highest-level title awarded in Indonesia. It is posthumously given by the Government of Indonesia for actions which are deemed to be heroic, defined as "actual deeds which can b ...

Biography

Umar joined the guerrilla forces in 1873 at the age of 19. At first, he fought in Meulaboh; he later expanded his operations to different parts of West Aceh. At the age of 20, Umar married Nyak Sofia; not long after, he took Nyak Malighai as his second wife. In 1880, Umar married his cousin

; Dhien later joined him in the guerrilla campaign. In 1883, the Dutch colonial government signed a peace treaty with the Acehnese guerrillas. That same year Umar joined them as an

undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

operative over Dhien's complaints, working his way up through the colonial military's ranks. After war broke out again in 1884, Umar worked to stop the

Acehnese people The Acehnese (also written as Atjehnese and Achinese) 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 p ...

's struggle. For his service, on January 1, 1894 Umar was given the title ''Johan Pahlawan'' and control of a legion of 250 fully armed soldiers. Eventually, Umar was given control of 120 more troops as well as 17 lieutenants. On March 30, 1896, Umar and his troops deserted, taking including 800 weapons, 25,000 bullets, of ammunition, and 18,000 dollars. Together with 400 soldiers under the command of Teuku Panglima Polem Muhammad Daud, Umar attacked the Dutch forces, killing 25 and injuring 190. In retaliation, the Dutch governor sent soldiers ''en masse'' to capture or kill Umar. Umar was killed in an

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactics, military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbru ...

on February 10, 1899 in Meulaboh.

Legacy

In the 1930s,

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

described Teuku Umar as being one of the ''pahlawan tiga-sekawan'' (''three heroic friends'') along with

Diponegoro Prince Diponegoro ( jv, ꦢꦶꦥꦤꦼꦒꦫ; born Bendara Raden Mas Mustahar, ; later Bendara Raden Mas Antawirya ; 11 November 1785 – 8 January 1855), also known as Dipanegara, was a Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch colonial rule. The e ...

and

Imam Bonjol Tuanku Imam Bonjol (1772 – 6 November 1864), also known as Muhammad Syahab, Peto Syarif, and Malim Basa, was one of the most popular leaders of the Padri War, Padri movement in Central Sumatra. He was declared a National Hero of Indonesia ...

. Teuku has been officially designated as national hero of Indonesia. There are many streets named after him throughout Indonesia, including a main thoroughfare in the well-known suburb of

Menteng Menteng is the south-central district of Central Jakarta, one of the administrative municipalities in the capital city Jakarta, Indonesia. The nexus of its heritage is the Menteng neighbourhood (Project), a new urban design developed mainly in t ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, as well as a field in Meulaboh.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Umar, Teuku National Heroes of Indonesia 1854 births 1899 deaths Indonesian Muslims Acehnese people History of Aceh