Aceh
Aceh
Nanggroe Acèh Darussalam | |
|---|---|
| Government of Aceh Pemerintah Aceh | |
| Nickname(s): | |
| Motto: Pancacita (Sanskrit) "Five Ideals" | |
| Anthem: Acèh Mulia[1] "Noble Aceh" | |
 | |
 Interactive map of Aceh | |
| Coordinates: 05°33′25″N 95°19′34″E / 5.55694°N 95.32611°E | |
| Country |  Indonesia |
| Region | Sumatra (Western Indonesia) |
| Province status | 7 December 1956[2] |
| Capital and largest city | Banda Aceh |
| Government | |
| • Type | Special autonomous province |
| • Body | Aceh Provincial Government |
| • Wali Nanggroë[a] | Malik Mahmud |
| • Governor | Muzakir Manaf (PA) |
| • Vice Governor | Fadhlullah |
| • Legislature | Aceh House of Representatives (DPRA) |
| Area | |
• Total | 56,839.09 km2 (21,945.70 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 11th |
| Elevation | 125 m (410 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 3,466 m (11,371 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (mid 2024)[5] | |
• Total | 5,554,815 |
| • Rank | 14th |
| • Density | 97.72878/km2 (253.1164/sq mi) |
| • Rank | 20th |
| Demonyms | [6] |
| Demographics | |
| • Ethnic groups (2010)[7] |
|
| • Religion (2024)[8] | |
| • Languages and dialects |
|
| Time zone | UTC+7 (Indonesia Western Time) |
| ISO 3166 code | ID - AC |
| GDP (nominal) | 2022 |
| - Total[9] | Rp 211.8 trillion (20th) US$ 14.3 billion Int$ 44.5 billion (PPP) |
| - Per capita[10] | Rp 39.2 million (30th) US$ 2,637 Int$ 8,229 (PPP) |
| - Growth[11] |  0.009 |
| HDI (2024) | 0.7623[12] (11th) – high |
| Website | acehprov |
Aceh[b] is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west, Strait of Malacca to the northeast, as well bordering the province of North Sumatra to the east, its sole land border, and shares maritime borders with Malaysia and Thailand to the east, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India to the north. Granted special autonomous status, Aceh is a religiously conservative territory, with the majority of its population being Muslim; it is the only Indonesian province to officially integrate Islamic law (Sharia). There are ten indigenous ethnic groups in this region, the largest being the Acehnese people, accounting for approximately 70% of the region's population of about 5.55 million people in mid-2024. Its land area spans 56,839.09 km2.
Aceh is a provincial region that constitutes a unified legal community with a special status and is granted special authorities to regulate and manage its own governmental affairs and local interests in accordance with laws and regulations within the system and principles of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, based on the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, and is led by a governor.
Aceh is where the spread of Islam in Indonesia began. It was a key location for the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia more broadly. Islam reached Aceh (Kingdoms of Fansur and Lamuri) around 1250. In the early 17th century, the Aceh Sultanate was the wealthiest, most powerful, and most cultivated state in the Strait of Malacca. Aceh has a history of political independence and resistance to control by outsiders, including the former Dutch East Indies and later the Indonesian governments.
Aceh has substantial natural resources of oil and natural gas.[13] Aceh was the closest point of land to the epicenter of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which devastated much of the western coast of the province. Approximately 170,000 Indonesians were killed or went missing in the disaster.[14] The disaster helped precipitate the peace agreement between the government of Indonesia and the separatist group of Free Aceh Movement.[15]
Name
[edit]Aceh was first known as Aceh Darussalam (1511–1945). Upon its formation in 1956 it bore the name Aceh before being renamed to the Daerah Istimewa Aceh (Special Region of Aceh; 1959–2001), Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (2001–2009),[16] and back to Aceh (2009–present).[17] In the past it was also spelled as Acheh, Atjeh, and Achin.[18]
History
[edit]Prehistory
[edit]
According to several archaeological findings, the first evidence of human habitation in Aceh is from a site near the Tamiang River, where shell middens are present. Stone tools and faunal remains were also found on the site. Archeologists believe the site was first occupied around 10,000 BCE.[19]
Pre-Islamic Aceh
[edit]
The history of Aceh stretches back to the Lambri Kingdom. Several documented references indicate that Hindu-Buddhist culture existed in the area before its Islamization.[20][21]
The people of Lambri were described by Marco Polo as "idolaters", who had a maharaja as their ruler (a king in the Hindu political structure), likely meaning they were Hindus, Buddhists, or a combination thereof.[22]
The inscription at Tanjore of Rajendra I documents the conquest of a land called "llämuridesam", located at the northern tip of Sumatra. The Nagarakretagama documents the possessions of the Imperial Majapahit and states that it controls Barat (identified as the western coast of Aceh). Chinese records indicate that Aceh was under the control of the Sriwijaya.[23]
Though many temples were left abandoned or converted into mosques, such as the Indrapuri Old Mosque,[24] some evidence remains, such as the head of a stone sculpture of Avalokiteshvara Boddhisattva that was discovered in Aceh[when?]. Images of Amitabha Buddhas adorn his crown, facing forward and on each side. Srivijayan art estimated 9th-century CE collection of National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta. One of the few remaining structures is the Indra Patra fort, which houses several Hindu shrines.[25] Historic names such as Indrapurba, Indrapurwa, Indrapatra, and Indrapuri, which refer to the god Indra, also indicate that Hinduism had a lasting and significant presence in this land.
Beginnings of Islam in Southeast Asia
[edit]
Evidence concerning the arrival and subsequent establishment of Islam in Southeast Asia is thin and inconclusive. The historian Anthony Reid has argued that the region of the Cham people on the south-central coast of Vietnam was one of the earliest Islamic centers in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, as the Cham people fled the Vietnamese, one of the earliest locations where they established a relationship was with Aceh.[26] It is thought that one of the earliest centers of Islam was in the Aceh region. When Venetian traveler Marco Polo passed by Sumatra on his way home from China in 1292, he found that Peureulak was a Muslim town while nearby "Basma(n)" and "Samara" were not. "Basma(n)" and "Samara" are often said to be Pasai and Samudra, but evidence is inconclusive. The gravestone of Sultan Malikussaleh, the first Muslim ruler of Samudra, has been found and is dated AH 696 (1297 CE). This is the earliest clear evidence of a Muslim dynasty in the Indonesia-Malay area, and more 13th-century gravestones show that this region continued under Muslim rule. Ibn Batutah, a Moroccan traveller, passing through on his way to China in 1345 and 1346, found that the ruler of Samudra was a follower of the Shafi'i school of Islam.[27]
After Islam first appeared in Aceh, it spread into the coastal regions by the 15th century.[28] Aceh soon became a cultural and scholastic Islamic center throughout Southeast Asia. It also became wealthy because it was a center of extensive trade.[29]
The Portuguese apothecary Tome Pires reported in his early 16th-century book Suma Oriental that most of the kings of Sumatra, from Aceh to Palembang, were Muslim. At Pasai, in what is now the North Aceh Regency, there was a thriving international port. Pires attributed the establishment of Islam in Pasai to the 'cunning' of the Muslim merchants. The ruler of Pasai, however, had not been able to convert the people of the interior.[30]
Sultanate of Aceh
[edit]The Sultanate of Aceh was established by Sultan Ali Mughayat Syah in 1511. In 1584–88, the bishop of Malacca, D. João Ribeiro Gaio, based on information provided by a former captive called Diogo Gil, wrote the "Roteiro das Cousas do Achem" (Lisboa 1997)—a description of the sultanate.
Later, during its golden era, in the 17th century, its territory and political influence expanded as far as Satun in southern Thailand, Johor in Malay Peninsula, and Siak in what is today the province of Riau. As was the case with most non-Javan pre-colonial states, Acehnese power expanded outward by sea rather than inland. As it expanded down the Sumatran coast, its main competitors were Johor and Portuguese Malacca on the other side of the Straits of Malacca. It was this seaborne trade focus that led Aceh to rely on rice imports from north Java rather than develop self-sufficiency in rice production.[31]
After the Portuguese occupation of Malacca in 1511, many Islamic traders passing the Malacca Straits shifted their trade to Banda Aceh and increased the Acehnese rulers' wealth. During the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda in the 17th century, Aceh's influence extended to most of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. Aceh allied itself with the Ottoman Empire and the Dutch East India Company in their struggle against the Portuguese and the Johor Sultanate. Acehnese military power waned gradually thereafter, and Aceh ceded its territory of Pariaman in Sumatra to the Dutch in the 18th century.[32]
By the early 19th century, however, Aceh had become an increasingly influential power due to its strategic location for controlling regional trade. In the 1820s, it was the producer of over half the world's supply of black pepper. The pepper trade produced new wealth for the sultanate and for the rulers of many smaller nearby ports that had been under Aceh's control, but were now able to assert more independence. These changes initially threatened Aceh's integrity, but a new Sultan, Tuanku Ibrahim, who ruled from 1838 to 1870, reasserted control over nearby ports.[33]
Under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the British ceded their colonial possessions on Sumatra to the Dutch. In the treaty, the British described Aceh as one of their possessions, although they had no actual control over the sultanate. Initially, under the agreement, the Dutch agreed to respect Aceh's independence. In 1871, however, the British dropped previous opposition to a Dutch invasion of Aceh, possibly to prevent France or the United States from gaining a foothold in the region. Although neither the Dutch nor the British knew the specifics, there had been rumors since the 1850s that Aceh had been in communication with the rulers of France and of the Ottoman Empire.[33]
Aceh War
[edit]
Pirates operating from Aceh threatened commerce in the Strait of Malacca; the sultan was unable to control them. Britain was a protector of Aceh and permitted the Netherlands to eradicate the pirates. The campaign quickly drove out the sultan, but the local leaders mobilized and fought the Dutch in four decades of guerrilla war, with high levels of atrocities.[34] The Dutch colonial government declared war on Aceh on 26 March 1873. Aceh sought American help, but Washington rejected the request.[33]
The Dutch tried one strategy after another over the course of four decades. An expedition under Major General Johan Harmen Rudolf Köhler in 1873 occupied most of the coastal areas. Köhler's strategy was to attack and take the sultan's palace. It failed. The Dutch then tried a naval blockade, reconciliation, concentration within a line of forts, and lastly passive containment. They had scant success. Reaching 15 to 20 million guilders a year, the heavy spending for failed strategies nearly bankrupted the colonial government.[35] During the course of the war, the Dutch set up the Gouvernment of Atjeh and Dependencies under a governor, although it did not establish wider control of its territory until after 1908.
The Aceh army was rapidly modernized, and Aceh soldiers killed Köhler. Köhler made some grave tactical errors, and the reputation of the Dutch was severely harmed. In recent years, in line with expanding international attention to human rights issues and atrocities in war zones, there has been increasing discussion about some of the recorded acts of cruelty and slaughter committed by Dutch troops during the period of warfare in Aceh.[36]
Hasan Mustafa (1852–1930) was a chief penghulu (judge) for the colonial government, stationed in Aceh. He had to balance traditional Muslim justice with Dutch law. To stop the Aceh rebellion, Hasan Mustafa issued a fatwa, telling the Muslim population there in 1894, "It is Incumbent upon the Indonesian Muslim to be loyal to the Dutch East Indies Government".[37]
Japanese occupation
[edit]During World War II, Japanese troops occupied Aceh. The Acehnese ulama (Islamic clerics) fought against both the Dutch and the Japanese, revolting against the Dutch in February 1942 and against Japan in November 1942. The revolt was led by the All-Aceh Religious Scholars' Association (PUSA). The Japanese suffered 18 dead in the uprising while they slaughtered up to 100 or over 120 Acehnese.[38][39] The revolt happened in Bayu and was centered around Tjot Plieng village's religious school.[40][41][42][43] During the revolt, the Japanese troops armed with mortars and machine guns were charged by sword wielding Acehnese under Teungku Abduldjalil (Tengku Abdul Djalil) in Buloh Gampong Teungah and Tjot Plieng on 10 and 13 November.[44][45][46][47][48][49][50] In May 1945 the Acehnese rebelled again.[51] The religious ulama party gained ascendancy to replace district warlords (ulèebalang) party that formerly collaborated with the Dutch. Concrete bunkers still line the northernmost beaches.
Indonesian independence
[edit]
After World War II, civil war erupted in 1945 between the district warlords party, which supported the return of a Dutch government, and the Persatuan Ulama Seluruh Aceh (PUSA) party, which supported the newly proclaimed state of Indonesia. The ulama won, and the area remained free during the Indonesian War of Independence. The Dutch military itself never attempted to invade Aceh. The civil war raised the religious ulama party leader, Daud Bereu'eh, to the position of military governor of Aceh.[52][53][54][55]
Acehnese rebellion
[edit]The Acehnese revolted soon after their inclusion into an independent Indonesia, a situation created by a complex mix of what the Acehnese regarded as transgressions against and betrayals of their rights.[56]
Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, had reneged on his promise made on 16 June 1948 that Aceh would be allowed to rule itself in accordance with Islamic Law. Aceh was politically dismantled and incorporated into the province of North Sumatra in 1950. This resulted in the Acehnese Rebellion of 1953–59, which was led by Daud Beureu'eh, who on 20 September 1953 declared a free, independent Aceh under the leadership of Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosoewirjo. In 1959, the Indonesian government attempted to placate the Acehnese by offering broad freedom in matters of religion, education, and culture.[57][58]
Free Aceh Movement
[edit]
During the 1970s, under an agreement with the Indonesian central government, American oil and gas companies began the exploitation of Aceh's natural resources. Alleged unequal distribution of profits between the central government and the native people of Aceh induced Dr. Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, former ambassador of Darul Islam,[52] to call for an independent Aceh. He proclaimed independence in 1976.
The movement had a small number of followers initially, and di Tiro himself had to live in exile in Sweden. Meanwhile, the province followed Suharto's policy of economic development and industrialization. During the late 1980s, several security incidents prompted the Indonesian central government to take repressive measures and to send troops to Aceh. Human rights abuse was rampant for the next decade, resulting in many grievances on the part of the Acehnese toward the Indonesian central government. In 1990, the Indonesian government initiated military operations against GAM by deploying more than 12,000 Indonesian troops in the region.[citation needed]
During the late 1990s, chaos in Java and an ineffective central government gave an advantage to the Free Aceh Movement and resulted in the second phase of the rebellion, this time with large support from the Acehnese people. This support was demonstrated during the 1999 plebiscite in Banda Aceh, which was attended by nearly half a million people (out of the province's four million population). The Indonesian central government responded in 2001 by broadening Aceh's autonomy, giving its government the right to apply Sharia law more broadly and the right to receive direct foreign investment. This was again accompanied by repressive measures, however, and in 2003 an offensive began and a state of emergency was proclaimed in the province. The war was still ongoing when the tsunami disaster of 2004 struck the province.[citation needed]
In 2001, villagers from the North Aceh Regency sued ExxonMobil for human rights abuses at the hands of Indonesian military units hired by the company for security for its natural gas operations. ExxonMobil denied fault for the allegations. After a series of attacks against its operations, the company shut down its Arun natural gas operations in the province.[59]
Tsunami disaster
[edit]
The western coastal areas of Aceh, including the cities of Banda Aceh, Calang, and Meulaboh, were among the areas hardest hit by the tsunami resulting from the magnitude 9.2 Indian Ocean earthquake on 26 December 2004.[60] While estimates vary, over 170,000 people were killed by the tsunami in Aceh, and about 500,000 were left homeless. The tragedy of the tsunami was further compounded several months later, when the 2005 M8.6 Nias–Simeulue earthquake struck the seabed between the islands of Simeulue Island in Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra. This second quake killed a further 1346 people on Nias and Simeulue, displaced tens of thousands more, and caused the tsunami response to be expanded to include Nias. The World Health Organisation estimates a 100% increase in prevalence of mild and moderate mental disorders in Aceh's general population after the tsunami.[61]
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, misjudging the intensity of the Sumatra earthquake, issued a bulletin stating that no tsunami was expected following a magnitude 8.0 quake, based on historical data. Only when more accurate measurements of quakes of magnitude 9.0 or higher became available did scientists at the warning center realize they were dealing with a basin-wide tsunami across the Indian Ocean. When the tsunami hit, it was enormous, and the death toll in Aceh exceeded 100,000. There was no tsunami warning system in 2004. Tsunami warning systems have improved since the immense death toll drew international attention, but in rural areas where many lack internet access or cell phones, it remains a challenge to communicate warnings promptly.[62] A warning system was put in place at the request of Aceh residents, but it was disabled in 2007 after technical issues and a false alarm that caused a panic.[63]
The population of Aceh before the December 2004 tsunami was 4,271,000 (2004). The population as of 15 September 2005 was 4,031,589, and in January 2014 was 4,731,705.[64] The 2020 census produced a total population of 5,274,871, comprising 2,647,563 males and 2,627,308 females.[65]
As of February 2006, more than a year after the tsunami, a large number of people were still living in barrack-style temporary living centers (TLC) or tents. Reconstruction was visible everywhere, but due to the sheer scale of the disaster and logistic difficulties, progress was slow. A study in 2007 estimated that 83.6% of the population had a psychiatric illness, while 69.8% suffers from severe emotional distress.[66]
The ramifications of the tsunami went beyond the immediate impact on the lives and infrastructure of the Acehnese living on the coast. Since the disaster, the Acehnese rebel movement GAM, which had been fighting for independence against the Indonesian authorities for 29 years, has signed a peace deal (15 August 2005). The perception that the tsunami was punishment for insufficient piety in this proudly Muslim province is partly behind the increased emphasis on the importance of religion post-tsunami. This has been most evident in the increased implementation of Sharia law, including the introduction of the controversial Wilayatul Hisbah (Syariah police). As homes are being built and people's basic needs are met, the people are also looking to improve the quality of education, increase tourism, and develop a responsible, sustainable industry. Well-qualified educators are in high demand in Aceh.
While parts of the capital Banda Aceh were unscathed, the areas closest to the water, especially the areas of Kampung Jawa and Meuraxa, were completely destroyed. Most of the rest of the western coast of Aceh was severely damaged. Many towns completely disappeared. Other towns on Aceh's west coast hit by the disaster included Lhoknga, Leupung, Lamno, Patek, Calang, Teunom, and the island of Simeulue. Affected or destroyed towns on the region's north and east coasts were Pidie Regency, Samalanga, and Lhokseumawe.
The area was slowly rebuilt after the disaster. The government initially proposed the creation of a two-kilometer buffer zone along low-lying coastal areas within which permanent construction was not permitted. This proposal was unpopular among some local residents and proved impractical in most situations, especially among fishing families that depend on living near the sea.
The Indonesian government established a special agency for Aceh reconstruction, the Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi (BRR), headed by Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, a former Indonesian government minister. This agency had ministry-level authority and incorporated officials, professionals, and community leaders from all backgrounds. Most of the reconstruction work was performed by local people using a mix of traditional methods and partially prefabricated structures, with funding from many international organizations, governments, and individuals, as well as the people themselves.
The Government of Indonesia estimated in their Preliminary Damage and Losses Assessment[67] that damages amounted to US$4.5 billion (before inflation, and US$6.2 billion including inflation). Three years after the tsunami, reconstruction was still ongoing. The World Bank monitored funding for reconstruction in Aceh and reported that US$7.7 billion had been earmarked for the reconstruction, whilst in June 2007, US$5.8 billion had been allocated to specific reconstruction projects, of which US$3.4 billion had actually been spent (58%).
In 2009, the government opened a US$5.6 million museum to commemorate the tsunami with photographs, stories, and a simulation of the earthquake that triggered the tsunami.[68]
Peace agreement and contemporary history
[edit]
The 2004 tsunami helped trigger a peace agreement between the GAM and the Indonesian government. The mood in post-Suharto Indonesia during the liberal-democratic reform period, along with changes in the Indonesian military, helped create an environment more favorable to peace talks. The roles of newly elected president