1. The History

The Benua Tamiang Sultanate is the oldest Islamic Kingdom in Aceh, Indonesia, after the Perlak Kingdom. It is still uncertain when exactly Islam came to this area. The process of the development of the Sultanate turned to an officially established kingdom is also uncertain. However, it is obvious that the Sultanate experienced influences from Islam. The beginning process of forming a Negeri Tamiang as the future Benua Tamiang is as follow:

a. The beginning of establishing Tamiang

Many of the historical evidences of the existence of the Negeri Tamiang are documented in the Prasasti Sriwijaya (prasasti literally means: stone tablet), the book Wee Pei Shih which recorded a Negeri Kan Pei Chiang (Tamiang), and the Book of Nagarakretagama that mentions “Tumiang” and also the many cultural heritage at the Tamiang site.

There was a King, Tan Ganda, who ruled Tamiang in 960. This country centered on Bandar Serangjaya. The Bandar was once attacked by King Indra Cola I and killed King Tan Ganda. His son successfully escaped from the battle though. He later came back to Bandar as the situation got better and he moved the center of the government to hinterlands, the Bandar Bukit Karang which was close to the Simpang Kanan River. The removal of the government also marked the start of the Bukit Karang Kingdom to develop. The Kings who once ruled the kingdom are: Tan Penuh (1023-1044); Tan Kelat (1044-1088); Tan Indah (1088-1122); Tan Banda (1122-1150); and Tan Penok (1150-1190).

Tan Penok died childless that his foster son, Pucook Sulooh, was enthroned as the next ruler. The Bukit Karang Kingdom was under the Sulooh Dynasty since that moment on. The Kings from the Dynasty were: King Pucook Sulooh (1190-1256); King Po Pala (1256-1278); and King Po Dinok (1300-1330).

A group of da`i (da`i means: Islamic preachers) arrived at Tamiang at the end of King Po Dinok administration. These preachers were sent by Sultan Ahmad Bahaian Syah bin Muhammad Malikul Tahir (1326-1349) from Samudra Pasai. However, King Po Dinok didn`t support the coming of these preachers to his kingdom. For this reason, the King attacked the group which caused the loss of his life. This is the start of Islam spreading widely in Tamiang.

b. The period of the Benua Tamiang Sultanate

The process of Islamization ran relatively short in Tamiang. The coming of the da`i stimulated many of the people to embrace Islam as their belief. Sultan Ahmad Bahian Syah agreed with the aristocrats and all of the people to elect Sultan Muda Setia as the first Sultan in Benua Tamiang (1330-1352). Thus, the sultanate existed since 1330 which centered on the city of Kualasimpang.

Tamiang was attacked by Majapahit when Sultan Muda Setia was approaching his final period as the King (1352). However, Mangkubumi Muda Sedinu successfully handled the attack even though the sultanate was in chaotic situation. As he successfully saved the kingdom, Mangkubumi Muda Sedinu was trusted to replace Sultan Muda Sedinu in 1352. He was not crowned as a sultan though, but the administrator of the kingdom. The center of the government was removed to Pagar Alam (locates on around Simpang Jenih) during the administration of Muda Sedinu. This was for sake of security matters. Sultan Muda Sedinu ended his period as a ruler in 1369.

The crown was later handed on to Sultan Po Malat who would rule as the second Sultan (1369-1412). Majapahit was still attacking Tamiang that the spread of Islam didn`t run very well. The next Sultan, Sultan Po Tunggal (1412-1454) also failed to do any attempts to handle this attack. Nevertheless, the Sultan did regain new strength and rearranged the government.

The Sultanate entered a better situation during the Sultan Po Kandis as the fourth ruler (1454-1490). He later removed the center of the government to the Menanggani City at Pagar Alam. This city is now known as Karang Baru. Islam started to spread again during this time. The Sultan`s priorities during his ruling period were Islamic Education and fostering Islamic culture and arts.

Sultan Po Kandis was later replaced by his own son, Sultan Po Garang, who ruled as the fifth Sultan (1490-1528). Later on, Po Garang was replaced by his brother in law, Pendekar Sri Mengkuta (1528-1558) for being childless. The sixth Sultan administration was marked by an important event took place in the Sultanate: Tamiang was united with the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate. The Aceh Darussalam was under Sultan Mughayat Syah (1514-1530) when Tamiang became a part of it. Sultan Mughayat Syah was in his mission to unite the small kingdoms in Aceh to be a powerful federation. This was a strategy to fight against the Portuguese. The period of the Sultan VI was the end of Benua Tamiang.

2. The Sultans of the Sultanate

Below is the list of the rulers of the Sultanate in order:

1. Sultan Muda Setia (1330-1352)
2. Mangkubumi Muda Sedinu (1352-1369)
3. Sultan Po Malat (1369-1412)
4. Sultan Po Kandis (1454-1490)
5. Sultan Po Garang (1490-1528)
6. Pendekar Sri Mengkuta (1528-1558)

3. The Sultanate Period

The Benua Tamiang Sultanate existed for more than 2 centuries (1320-1558), and it underwent vicissitudes during that period. It now embraces a modern governmental system as it turns to the Aceh Tamiang regency. That it turns to regency is according to the law No. 4 of 2002 dated on April 10^th, 2002. This regency officially becomes autonomy in July 2^nd, 2002, so it is separated from the Aceh Timur regency.

4. The Sultanate Territory

The territory of the Benua Tamiang Sultanate includes the present locations which are under the Aceh Tamiang regency: Bendahara, Karangbaru, Kejuruan Muda, Kuala Simpang, Manyak Payed, Rantau, Seruway, and Tamiang Hulu.

5. The Sultanate Structure

The Sultanate was ruled by a Sultan who was assisted by a mangkubumi (the same as prime minister). The mangkubumi was to supervise the government and fully responsible to the Sultan. For the matter of the law, the government and also the law officials elected a Qadhi Besar to watch over the law.

Three systems of leadership were formed to assist the Sultan at the provincial level, they were: (1) The Datuk-Datuk Besar who led the regions of Kedatuan (kedatuan also refers to kingdom), (2) The Datuk-Datuk Delapan Suku who led the tribal areas, (3) The Raja-raja Imam who led the local imams (the Islamic priests) who were also the local law enforcers.

Irregular troops were formed to fulfill the need for defense and security. These troops were wholly under the leadership of a commander. There were 7 local commanders who assisted the chief commander namely: Commander Birin, Commander Gempal Alam, Commander Nayan, Commander Kuntum Menda, Commander Ranggas, Commander Megah Burai, and Commander Nakuta Banding (to watch over the oceanic area). The bottom level of these troops is the Pang which existed at every villages of the territory of the Benua Tamiang Sultanate. 

6. The Social-cultural Life

The below data on social-cultural life of the people is based on the modern time when Tamiang was already an Aceh Tamiang regency. This regency is the sole location in Aceh which is dominated by the Malayans. However, some other ethnicities are also present such as the Acehness, Gayo, Javanese, Karo, etc.

There are an approximately 7,093 of 29,201 of the farmers are at the Kejuruan Muda subs district. The people mostly plant rice, crops, vegetables, and fruits. They also cultivate the horticultural plants such as rubber trees, oil palms, coffee, coconuts, cocoa, and oranges. The farming has been contributing more than 40% to the PDRB (domestic regional bruto) in recent years, and most of it is from the food crops (more or less around 20%).

There are 2 big rivers running through Aceh Tamiang; the Tamiang River (which is divided into the Simpang Kiri and Simpang Kanan), and the Krueng Kaloy. These rivers are very essential to the people of Tamiang since they are beneficial for irrigation as well as for transportation. The rivers are important to transport the harvests of the agriculture and horticulture, the needs for the people, the trades, and the materials for building construction.

References:

• “Kabupaten Aceh Tamiang”, taken from http://www.kompas.com/kompas-Cetak/0403/02/otonomi/883110.htm, accessed on 4 December 2007.
• Sufi, Rusdi and Agus Budi Wibowo. 2006. Kerajaan-Kerajaan Islam di Aceh. Banda Aceh: The Library of Naggroe Aceh Darussalam.

TL/MA/ter/30/02-08

Translated from the Indonesian version by (MA)

---

Comment of "the benua tamiang sultanate"

17 May 2011. adam ismail Ada sedikit hal yang ingin saya ketahui, menurut kabar yang ada,bahwasanya gajahmada yang menyerang aceh,tidak ditemukan makamnya,nah di cerita tamiang ada kabar tersiar bahwa ada sebuah makam di daerah sarang jaya, yang diyakini adalah makamnya gaah mada.mohon pencerahannya......adam

Insert your comment here :