Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah Sayyid Al-Mukammal
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sultan Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah Sayyid al-Mukammal (died 1605) was the tenth
Sultan of Aceh The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam (; Jawi alphabet, Jawoë: ), was a List of Muslim states and dynasties, sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a major regional power in the 16th ...
in northern
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
, 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 Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pac ...
: the
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
and
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
.


Rise to power

Sultan Alauddin was reportedly a descendant of the old rajas who governed in Aceh in the fifteenth century. His father was Almalik Firman Syah, a son of Muzaffar Syah (d. 1497). This branch seems to have been entirely obscured by the lineage of
Ali Mughayat Syah Ali Mughayat Syah (died 7 August 1530) was the first Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal no ...
. In his youth he was a fisherman but rose in the ranks of the kingdom due to his valour and military prowess, becoming a military commander. He allegedly murdered Sultan Alauddin Mansur Syah in 1585/86 but acted as the protector of the sultan's young grandson Raja Asyem. Whether he was also responsible for the murder of Sultan Buyung in 1589 is not clear. At any rate he was enthroned under the name Sultan Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah and also known as Sayyid al-Mukammal. In order to eliminate a possible future rival he murdered Raja Asyem. He therefore provoked the hostility of
Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...
on the
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
, since the boy's father was the sultan of that place. In spite of the murky circumstances of his rise, the chronicle ''Hikayat Aceh'' praises Sultan Alauddin as righteous and pious, and characterizes his reign as prosperous. A
Frenchman French people () are a nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the native speakers of langues d'oïl from nort ...
who visited Aceh in 1601–03 noted the dynamic international flavour of his reign: "In the streets are a large number of ships belonging to merchants dressed in the
Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...
style who come from the great lands of
Negapatnam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam district. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...
,
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
,
Cape Comorin Kanyakumari (Tamil; / kəɳjɑkʊmɑɾiː/; referring to Devi Kanya Kumari, officially known as Kanniyakumari, formerly known as Cape Comorin) is a town and a municipality in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the ...
,
Calicut Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...
, the island of
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
,
Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
,
Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
and various other places. They live in this place for some six months in order to sell their merchandise that consists of very fine
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
cloth from Gujarat, sturdy silk bolts and other textiles of cotton thread, various types of
porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...
, a large number of drugs, spices, and precious stones."


Affairs with the Malay states

However, Aru on the east coast, precursor of the later Deli sultanate, rebelled after a while, supported by Johor. According to the chronicles Sultan Alauddin ordered the Arunese to build a ship for him. Their tardiness to fulfill this triggered a conflict, and Aru offered the sultan of Johor to become their lord (before 1599). When Sultan Alauddin was informed of this, he dispatched a fleet to chastise Aru, but it was beaten back. The sultan now led a second armada in person. This time Aru was conquered and the Johor sultan expelled, but at the cost of his son-in-law Mansur (father of the later sultan
Iskandar Muda Iskandar Muda (1583? – 27 December 1636Yusra Habib Abdul Gani, accessed on 4 January 2007) was the twelfth Sultan of Acèh Darussalam, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, holding sway as the strongest power ...
) who was killed in the battle. He then crossed the Straits with his ships and besieged Johor. Since many of his men fell in the enterprise he eventually gave up the attempt and returned Aceh.


The arrival of the Dutch

Dutch, English and French ships began to arrive in the area during Sultan Alauddin's reign. This created a new strategic situation since these seafaring nations were rivals to the Portuguese with whom Aceh momentarily lived in an uneasy state of peace. The Dutch commander
Cornelis de Houtman Cornelis de Houtman (2 April 1565 – 11 September 1599) was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the ...
arrived to Aceh in June 1599. The communication between the Dutch and the court were initially friendly, but Portuguese intrigues caused the Acehnese to attack the ships. Although they were eventually pushed back, De Houtman was killed and his brother Frederik de Houtman was captured. In November 1600 the commander Van Caerden arrived with two ships and was friendly received by Sultan Alauddin. Some of the Dutch prisoners were released while others escaped and reached Van Caerden's ships. However, Van Caerden suspected that the Acehnese planned something, and confiscated all the pepper in the harbour. The Acehnese opened fire and Van Caerden left the port after having burnt a Portuguese and some other vessels. The sultan's friendship with the Portuguese cooled when they asked for permission to build a fort at the estuary of the
Aceh River The Aceh River on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia flows from mountains that include the 2,780-metre high Mount Peuët Sagoë for some 200 kilometres northeastward to reach the junction of the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea at Banda Aceh, the ...
. This was refused. In the next year 1601, an acute dispute arose. One of the Portuguese ships chased an
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
craft and was therefore in turn attacked and taken by Acehnese vessels. This incident may explain the good reception accorded to a new Dutch fleet that reached Aceh in August 1601. Being enemies of the Portuguese they were probably seen as a useful counterweight. Sultan Alauddin gave permit to the strangers to establish a trading post. Two envoys were dispatched for the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. One of them died in
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
but the other negotiated with Prince Maurits of Nassau. He was eventually brought back to Aceh with a Dutch craft in December 1604. At that time Sultan Alauddin was no longer on the throne. English and French ships visited Aceh in 1602. The naval prowess of the new Europeans was demonstrated when a large Portuguese galleon was captured by a Dutch-English fleet. They joyful sultan reportedly showed his gratitude by singing a psalm of
David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
.


End of the reign

The reign of Sultan Alauddin marked the beginning of an era of centralization of the kingdom. The sultan suppressed the mercantile elite, the ''orang kayas'', who had gained undue influence in succession affairs in the period 1579–89, killing many of them and preventing them from asserting power. In this he was strongly supported by the local
qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...
. His use of power symbols is seen from his ''cap'' (seal) from 1601, which reads: "Sultan Alauddin ibn Firman Syah; he who puts faith in God, who has chosen him to hold kingdoms and is pleased with him, Allah makes his glory endure and helps all his followers". Dissent rather came from within the sultan's family. Alauddin was deposed in April 1604 at an advanced age. Alternatively he is said to have abdicated of free will since he became ill. He died a year later. He was succeeded by his second son Sultan Muda alias
Ali Ri'ayat Syah III Sultan Ali Ri'ayat Syah III (died 4 April 1607) was the eleventh Sultan, Sulṭān of Aceh Sultanate, Acèh Darussalam in northern Sumatra. He had a brief and turbulent reign from 1604 to 1607 before being succeeded by his more famous nephew Iskan ...
, although there was reportedly an opinion to enthrone his strong-willed grandson
Iskandar Muda Iskandar Muda (1583? – 27 December 1636Yusra Habib Abdul Gani, accessed on 4 January 2007) was the twelfth Sultan of Acèh Darussalam, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, holding sway as the strongest power ...
. He had four sons and two daughters:Djajadidingrat (1911), pp. 172-3. * Maharaja Diraja, d. before his father *
Ali Ri'ayat Syah III Sultan Ali Ri'ayat Syah III (died 4 April 1607) was the eleventh Sultan, Sulṭān of Aceh Sultanate, Acèh Darussalam in northern Sumatra. He had a brief and turbulent reign from 1604 to 1607 before being succeeded by his more famous nephew Iskan ...
* Sultan Husain, vassal ruler of Pidië * Sultan Abangta Merah Upah, d. before his father * Raja Puteri (daughter) * Puteri Raja Inderabangsa (daughter), married Mansur Syah, mother of
Iskandar Muda Iskandar Muda (1583? – 27 December 1636Yusra Habib Abdul Gani, accessed on 4 January 2007) was the twelfth Sultan of Acèh Darussalam, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, holding sway as the strongest power ...


See also

* Acehnese-Portuguese conflicts


References


Literature

* Andaya, Leonard Y. (2010) ''Leaves of the Same Tree: Trade and Ethnicity in the Straits of Melaka''. Singapore: NUS Press. * Djajadiningrat, Raden Hoesein (1911) 'Critisch overzicht van de in Maleische werken vervatte gegevens over de geschiedenis van het soeltanaat van Atjeh', ''Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde'' 65, pp. 135–265. * ''Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch Indië'', Vol. 1 (1917). 's Gravenhage & Leiden: Nijhoff & Brill. * Hadi, Amirul (2004) ''Islam and State in Sumatra: A Study of Seventeenth-Century Aceh''. Leiden: Brill. * Iskandar, Teuku (1958) ''De Hikajat Atjeh''. 's Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff.


External links


Letter from 1604 by Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah to Sir Henry Middleton, authorizing him to trade with the people of Aceh – Digital Bodleian
{{s-end Sultans of Aceh 15th-century births 1605 deaths 17th-century Indonesian people 16th-century Indonesian people Year of birth unknown