Sulṭāna Taj ul-Alam Safiatuddin Syah (1612 – 23 October 1675; born Putri Sri Alam) was the fourteenth
ruler of Aceh. She was the daughter of the 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 ...
and the wife of his successor,
Iskandar Thani. She became sulṭāna upon the death of her husband and ruled from 1641 to 1675, being the first of four women to hold the position in succession.
Marriage and accession
The future sultana was originally named Putri Sri Alam Permisuri. In 1617, her father Iskandar Muda conquered
Pahang
{{Infobox political division
, name = Pahang
, official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur
, native_name =
, settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State
, image_skyline =
, imagesize ...
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 ...
. A son of the defeated sultan, the future Iskandar Thani was brought as a prisoner to Aceh where he was raised as the foster son of Iskandar Muda. In 1619, when he was 9 years old, he was married to Putri Sri Alam Permisuri. The couple was provided with a palace next to that of the sultan, called Sri Warna. After the death of Iskandar Muda, Iskandar Thani succeeded to the throne but died after a short reign on 15 February 1641. The news of his demise created grave disturbances among the grandees of the kingdom and some people lost their lives. However, after three days it was agreed that the sultan's widow would be enthroned.
Female rule in Aceh
Putri Sri Alam ascended the throne and took the title Sultana Taj ul-Alam Safiatuddin Syah. Taj ul-Alam Safiatuddin literally meaning "world crown, purity of the faith". She became first of four queens regnant or sultanas who sat on the throne in succession from 1641 to 1699. Given the strongly Muslim profile of Aceh, this has evoked considerable debate among historians. The enthronement of Taj ul-Alam has been seen as an effort of the Acehnese nobility to weaken royal power following Iskandar Muda's administrative reforms aimed at undermining them. According to this view, these efforts were largely successful. From her reign onwards, the sultanate became a weak symbolic institution, whose authority was limited to the capital city itself. Meanwhile, real power was held by the hereditary rulers of outlying districts (the ''uleëbalang'' set up by Iskandar Muda) and the religious leaders (
imam
Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...
or
ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam.
"Ulama ...
).
It has also been suggested that old Southeast Asian tradition, which acknowledged inheritance on the female line, was more important here than orthodox Muslim principles. This would have been the reason for the enthronement of Taj ul-Alam, rather than a conscious strategy by the grandees to weaken the power of the court. Closer analysis of the age of queens has furthermore pointed out that the period should not necessarily be seen as one of societal decline, that it was ruled by softer and more flexible hands than before 1641, and that Aceh after all was able to withstand Western pressure to the extent that it preserved its independence. In the rest of the East Indies, once-powerful indigenous states such as
Mataram,
Ternate
Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the
List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...
,
Banten
Banten (, , Pegon alphabet, Pegon: بنتن) is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang and its largest city is Tangerang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capi ...
and
Makassar
Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...
lost their autonomy or became heavily dependent on the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
(VOC) in the late 17th century.
Dutch advances on Sumatra
The reign of Taj ul-Alam saw a contraction of the sultanate's power outside the Acehnese heartland. 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 ...
,
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 ...
's subordinated position vis-à-vis Aceh was abrogated.
Pahang
{{Infobox political division
, name = Pahang
, official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur
, native_name =
, settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State
, image_skyline =
, imagesize ...
was also given up; however, Aceh retained the tin-producing
Perak
Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...
. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) coveted the tin. After some preliminary problems, a number of Dutch staying in Perak were murdered in 1651. The VOC ships blockaded Aceh for periods before a treaty was made in 1659. Half of the tin of Perak would go to the VOC which also obtained the monopoly of trade on Acehnese ports. Furthermore, a trading post was permitted in
Padang
Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...
on Sumatra's west coast. The monopoly clause was not fulfilled, however. Meanwhile, the towns on the west coast began to seek association with the VOC. After secret negotiations the Painan treaty was signed in 1663 between the Dutch and a number of dissatisfied chiefs. In the next year 1664, Jacob Couw appeared with an armada of 300 men and expelled the Acehnese from the coastal area, from Indrapura in the south to Tiku in the north. Meanwhile, Aceh had to endure more Dutch blockades and was forced to sign new treaties. The west coast Malays nevertheless often preferred the rule of Aceh before the VOC "protection", so that Acehnese influence endured for a long time. On the east coast,
Deli fell away from Acehnese rule in 1669.
Achievements
In spite of these political setbacks, Taj ul-Alam was praised by both indigenous and European writers. The chronicle ''Bustanus Salatin'' characterized her as virtuous and pious, implying that her qualities made Aceh peaceful and prosperous. Likewise a Dutch witness asserted that she led a "good-natured but awe-inspiring" rule. She inherited a tradition of
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic scholarship in the court. She was not as favorable to
Nuruddin ar-Raniri as her predecessor, and he left the royal employ in 1644. The major writer in her reign was
Abdurrauf of
Singkil
Singkil is a Maranao people, Maranao royal dance from the Philippines.
The dance features a prince and a princess weaving in and out of crisscrossed bamboo poles clapped in syncopated rhythm. While the man manipulates a sword and shield, th ...
, who wrote on
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...
jurisprudence as well as mysticism. A proliferation of
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic literature and learning took place under the reign of Taj ul-Alam and the three queens who succeeded her. This cultural renaissance was, among other things, conditioned by an effective collaboration between the queens and the ulamas. Acehnese Muslims are known to have appeared in
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 ...
in 1668 with the intention to spread the faith.
Taj ul-Alam died on 23 October 1675. She did not leave any children. With her death, the
House of Meukuta Alam died out and was replaced by the other dynasty. Her successor was yet a queen, Sultan
Nurul Alam Naqiatuddin Syah, whose relationship with Taj ul-Alam is uncertain.
References
Literature
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Taj Ul-Alam
Sultans of Aceh
1612 births
1675 deaths
17th-century women monarchs
Year of birth unknown
17th-century Indonesian women
17th-century monarchs in Asia