HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM OF ACHIN, FROM THE PERIOD OF ITS BEING VISITED BY
EUROPEANS.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE PORTUGUESE.
The Portuguese, under the conduct of Vasco de Gama, doubled the Cape of
Good Hope in the year 1497, and arrived on the coast of Malabar in the
following year. These people, whom the spirit of glory, commerce, and
plunder led to the most magnanimous undertakings, were not so entirely
engaged by their conquests on the continent of India as to prevent them
from extending their views to the discovery of regions yet more distant.
They learned from the merchants of Guzerat some account of the riches and
importance of Malacca, a great trading city in the farther peninsula of
India, supposed by them the Golden Chersonnese of Ptolemy. Intelligence
of this was transmitted to their enterprising sovereign Emanuel, who
became impressed with a strong desire to avail himself of the flattering
advantages which this celebrated country held out to his ambition.
1508.
He equipped a fleet of four ships under the command of Diogo Lopez de
Sequeira, which sailed from Lisbon on the eighth day of April 1508 with
orders to explore and establish connexions in those eastern parts of
Asia.
1509.
After touching at Madagascar Sequeira proceeded to Cochin, where a ship
was added to his fleet, and, departing from thence on the eighth of
September 1509, he made sail towards Malacca; but having doubled the
extreme promontory of Sumatra (then supposed to be the Taprobane of the
ancients) he anchored at Pidir, a principal port of that island, in which
he found vessels from Pegu, Bengal, and other countries. The king of the
place, who, like other Mahometan princes, was styled sultan, sent off a
deputation to him, accompanied with refreshments, excusing himself, on
account of illness, from paying his compliments in person, but assuring
him at the same time that he should derive much pleasure from the
friendship and alliance of the Portuguese, whose fame had reached his
ears. Sequeira answered this message in such terms that, by consent of
the sultan, a monument of their amity was erected on the shore; or, more
properly, as the token of discovery and possession usually employed by
the European nations. He was received in the same manner at a place
called Pase, lying about twenty leagues farther to the eastward on the
same coast, and there also erected a monument or cross. Having procured
at each of these ports as much pepper as could be collected in a short
time he hastened to Malacca, where the news of his appearance in these
seas had anticipated his arrival. Here he was near falling a sacrifice to
the insidious policy of Mahmud, the reigning king, to whom the Portuguese
had been represented by the Arabian and Persian merchants (and not very
unjustly) as lawless pirates, who, under the pretext of establishing
commercial treaties, had, at first by encroachments, and afterwards with
insolent rapacity, ruined and enslaved the princes who were weak enough
to put a confidence in them, or to allow them a footing in their
dominions. He escaped the snares that were laid for him but lost many of
his people, and, leaving others in captivity, he returned to Europe, and
gave an account of his proceedings to the king.
1510.
A fleet was sent out in the year 1510 under Diogo Mendez to establish the
Portuguese interests at Malacca; but Affonso d'Alboquerque, the governor
of their affairs in India, thought proper to detain this squadron on the
coast of Malabar until he could proceed thither himself with a greater
force.
1511.
And accordingly on the second of May 1511 he set sail from Cochin with
nineteen ships and fourteen hundred men. He touched at Pidir, where he
found some of his countrymen who had made their escape from Malacca in a
boat and sought protection on the Sumatran shore. They represented that,
arriving off Pase, they had been ill-treated by the natives, who killed
one of their party and obliged them to fly to Pidir, where they met with
hospitality and kindness from the prince, who seemed desirous to
conciliate the regard of their nation. Alboquerque expressed himself
sensible of this instance of friendship, and renewed with the sultan the
alliance that had been formed by Sequeira. He then proceeded to Pase,
whose monarch endeavoured to exculpate himself from the outrage committed
against the Portuguese fugitives, and as he could not tarry to take
redress he concealed his resentment. In crossing over to Malacca he fell
in with a large junk, or country vessel, which he engaged and attempted
to board, but the enemy, setting fire to a quantity of inflammable
oleaginous matter, he was deterred from his design, with a narrow escape
of the destruction of his own ship. The junk was then battered from a
distance until forty of her men were killed, when Alboquerque, admiring
the bravery of the crew, proposed to them that, if they would strike and
acknowledge themselves vassals of Portugal, he would treat them as
friends and take them under his protection. This offer was accepted, and
the valiant defender of the vessel informed the governor that his name
was Jeinal, the lawful heir of the kingdom of Pase; he by whom it was
then ruled being a usurper, who, taking advantage of his minority and his
own situation as regent, had seized the crown: that he had made attempts
to assert his rights, but had been defeated in two battles, and was now
proceeding with his adherents to Java, some of the princes of which were
his relations, and would, he hoped, enable him to obtain possession of
his throne.
1511.
Alboquerque promised to effect it for him, and desired the prince to
accompany him to Malacca, where they arrived the first of July 1511. In
order to save the lives of the Portuguese prisoners, and if possible to
effect their recovery, he negotiated with the king of Malacca before he
proceeded to an attack on the place; which conduct of his Jeinal
construed into fear, and, forsaking his new friend, passed over in the
night to the Malayan monarch, whose protection he thought of more
consequence to him. When Alboquerque had subdued the place, which made a
vigorous resistance, the prince of Pase, seeing the error of his policy,
returned, and threw himself at the governor's feet, acknowledged his
injurious mistrust, and implored his pardon, which was not denied him. He
doubted however it seems of a sincere reconciliation and forgiveness,
and, perceiving that no measures were taking for restoring him to his
kingdom, but on the contrary that Alboquerque was preparing to leave
Malacca with a small force, and talked of performing his promise when he
should return from Goa, he took the resolution of again attaching himself
to the fortunes of the conquered monarch, and secretly collecting his
dependants fled once more from the protection of the Portuguese. He
probably was not insensible that the reigning king of Pase, his
adversary, had for some time taken abundant pains to procure the favour
of Alboquerque, and found an occasion of demonstrating his zeal. The
governor, on his return from Malacca, met with a violent storm on the
coast of Sumatra near the point of Timiang, where his ship was wrecked.
Part of the crew making a raft were driven to Pase, where the king
treated them with kindness and sent them to the coast of Coromandel by a
merchant ship. Some years after these events Jeinal was enabled by his
friends to carry a force to Pase, and obtained the ascendency there, but
did not long enjoy his power.
Upon the reduction of Malacca the governor received messages from several
of the Sumatran princes, and amongst the rest from the king of a place
called Kampar, on the eastern coast, who had married a daughter of the
king of Malacca, but was on ill terms with his father-in-law. He desired
to become a vassal of the Portuguese crown, and to have leave to reside
under their jurisdiction. His view was to obtain the important office of
bandhara, or chief magistrate of the Malays, lately vacant by the
execution of him who possessed it. He sent before him a present of
lignum-aloes and gum-lac, the produce of his country, but Alboquerque,
suspecting the honesty of his intentions, and fearing that he either
aspired to the crown of Malacca or designed to entice the merchants to
resort to his own kingdom, refused to permit his coming, and gave the
superintendence of the natives to a person named Nina Chetuan.
1514.
After some years had elapsed, at the time when Jorge Alboquerque was
governor of Malacca, this king (Abdallah by name) persisting in his
views, paid him a visit, and was honourably received. At his departure he
had assurances given him of liberty to establish himself at Malacca, if
he should think proper, and Nina Chetuan was shortly afterwards removed
from his office, though no fault was alleged against him. He took the
disgrace so much to heart that, causing a pile to be erected before his
door, and setting fire to it, he threw himself into the flames.*
(*Footnote. This man was not a Mahometan but one of the unconverted
natives of the peninsula who are always distinguished from the Moors by
the Portuguese writers.)
The intention of appointing Abdallah to the office of bandhara was
quickly rumoured abroad, and, coming to the knowledge of the king of
Bintang, who was driven from Malacca and now carried on a vigorous war
against the Portuguese, under the command of the famous Laksamana, he
resolved to prevent his arrival there. For this purpose he leagued
himself with the king of Lingga, a neighbouring island, and sent out a
fleet of seventy armed boats to block up the port of Kampar. By the
valour of a small Portuguese armament this force was overcome in the
river of that name, and the king conducted in triumph to Malacca, where
he was invested in form with the important post he aspired to. But this
sacrifice of his independence proved an unfortunate measure to him; for
although he conducted himself in such a manner as should have given the
amplest satisfaction, and appears to have been irreproachable in the
execution of his trust, yet in the following year the king of Bintang
found means to inspire the governor with diffidence of his fidelity, and
jealousy of his power.
1515.
He was cruelly sentenced to death without the simplest forms of justice
and perished in the presence of an indignant multitude, whilst he called
heaven to witness his innocence and direct its vengeance against his
interested accusers. This iniquitous and impolitic proceeding had such an
effect upon the minds of the people that all of any property or repute
forsook the place, execrating the government of the Portuguese. The
consequences of this general odium reduced them to extreme difficulties
for provisions, which the neighbouring countries refused to supply them
with, and but for some grain at length procured from Siak with much
trouble the event had proved fatal to the garrison.
1516.
Fernando Perez d'Andrade, in his way to China, touched at Pase in order
to take in pepper. He found the people of the place, as well as the
merchants from Bengal, Cambay, and other parts of India, much
discontented with the measures then pursuing by the government of
Malacca, which had stationed an armed force to oblige all vessels to
resort thither with their merchandise and take in at that place, as an
emporium, the cargoes they were used to collect in the straits. The king
notwithstanding received Andrade well, and consented that the Portuguese
should have liberty to erect a fortress in his kingdom.
1520.
Extraordinary accounts having been related of certain islands abounding
in gold, which were reported by the general fame of India to lie off the
southern coast of Sumatra, a ship and small brigantine, under the command
of Diogo Pacheco, an experienced seaman, were sent in order to make the
discovery of them. Having proceeded as far as Daya the brigantine was
lost in a gale of wind. Pacheco stood on to Barus, a place renowned for
its gold trade, and for gum benzoin of a peculiar scent, which the
country produced. It was much frequented by vessels, both from the
neighbouring ports in the island, and from those in the West of India,
whence it was supplied with cotton cloths. The merchants, terrified at
the approach of the Portuguese, forsook their ships and fled
precipitately to the shore. The chiefs of the country sent to inquire the
motives of his visit, which he informed them were to establish friendly
connexions and to give them assurances of unmolested freedom of trade at
the city of Malacca. Refreshments were then ordered for his fleet, and
upon landing he was treated with respect by the inhabitants, who brought
the articles of their country to exchange with him for merchandise. His
chief view was to obtain information respecting the situation and other
circumstances of the ilhas d'Ouro, but they seemed jealous of imparting
any. At length, after giving him a laboured detail of the dangers
attending the navigation of the seas where they were said to lie, they
represented their situation to be distant a hundred leagues to the
south-east of Barus, amidst labyrinths of shoals and reefs through which
it was impossible to steer with any but the smallest boats. If these
islands, so celebrated about this time, existed anywhere but in the
regions of fancy,* they were probably those of Tiku, to which it is
possible that much gold might be brought from the neighbouring country of
Menangkabau. Pacheco, leaving Barus, proceeded to the southward, but did
not make the wished-for discovery. He reached the channel that divides
Sumatra from Java, which he called the strait of Polimban, from a city he
erroneously supposed to lie on the Javan shore, and passing through this
returned to Malacca by the east; being the first European who sailed
round the island of Sumatra. In the following year he sailed once more in
search of these islands, which were afterwards the object of many
fruitless voyages; but touching again at Barus he met with resistance
there and perished with all his companions.
(*Footnote. Linschoten makes particular mention of having seen them, and
gives practical directions for the navigation, but the golden dreams of
the Portuguese were never realized in them.)
A little before this time a ship under the command of Gaspar d'Acosta was
lost on the island of Gamispola (Pulo Gomez) near Achin Head, when the
people from Achin attacked and plundered the crew, killing many and
taking the rest prisoners. A ship also which belonged to Joano de Lima
was plundered in the road, and the Portuguese which belonged to her put
to death. These insults and others committed at Pase induced the governor
of Malacca, Garcia de Sa, to dispatch a vessel under Manuel Pacheco to
take satisfaction; which he endeavoured to effect by blocking up the
ports, and depriving the towns of all sources of provision, particularly
their fisheries. As he cruised between Achin and Pase a boat with five
men, going to take in fresh water at a river nigh to the latter, would
have been cut off had not the people, by wonderful efforts of valour,
overcome the numerous party which attacked them. The sultan, alarmed for
the consequences of this affray, sent immediately to sue for
reconciliation, offering to make atonement for the loss of property the
merchants had sustained by the licentiousness of his people, from a
participation in whose crimes he sought to vindicate himself. The
advantage derived from the connexion with this place induced the
government of Malacca to be satisfied with his apology, and cargoes of
pepper and raw silk were shortly after procured there; the former being
much wanted for the ships bound to China.
Jeinal, who had fled to the king of Malacca, as before mentioned,
followed that monarch to the island of Bintang, and received one of his
daughters in marriage. Six or seven years elapsed before the situation of
affairs enabled the king to lend him any effectual assistance, but at
length some advantages gained over the Portuguese afforded a proper
opportunity, and accordingly a fleet was fitted out, with which Jeinal
sailed for Pase. In order to form a judgment of the transactions of this
kingdom it must be understood that the people, having an idea of
predestination, always conceived present possession to constitute right,
however that possession might have been acquired; but yet they made no
scruple of deposing and murdering their sovereigns, and justified their
acts by this argument; that the fate of concerns so important as the
lives of kings was in the hands of God, whose vicegerents they were, and
that if it was not agreeable to him and the consequence of his will that
they should perish by the daggers of their subjects it could not so
happen. Thus it appears that their religious ideas were just strong
enough to banish from their minds every moral sentiment. The natural
consequence of these maxims was that their kings were merely the tyrants
of the day; and it is said that whilst a certain ship remained in the
port no less than two were murdered, and a third set up: but allowance
should perhaps be made for the medium through which these accounts have
been transmitted to us.
The maternal uncle of Jeinal, who, on account of his father's
infirmities, had been some time regent, and had deprived him of the
succession to the throne, was also king of Aru or Rou, a country not far
distant, and thus became monarch of both places. The caprices of the Pase
people, who submitted quietly to his usurpation, rendered them ere long
discontented with his government, and being a stranger they had the less
compunction in putting him to death. Another king was set up in his room,
who soon fell by the hands of some natives of Aru who resided at Pase, in
revenge for the assassination of their countryman.
1519.
A fresh monarch was elected by the people, and in his reign it was that
Jeinal appeared with a force from Bintang, who, carrying everything
before him, put his rival to death, and took possession of the throne.
The son of the deceased, a youth of about twelve years of age, made his
escape, accompanied by the Mulana or chief priest of the city, and
procured a conveyance to the west of India. There they threw themselves
at the feet of the Portuguese governor, Lopez Sequeira, then engaged in
an expedition to the Red Sea, imploring his aid to drive the invader from
their country, and to establish the young prince in his rights, who would
thenceforth consider himself as a vassal of the crown of Portugal. It was
urged that Jeinal, as being nearly allied to the king of Bintang, was an
avowed enemy to that nation, which he had manifested in some recent
outrages committed against the merchants from Malacca who traded at Pase.
Sequeira, partly from compassion, and partly from political motives,
resolved to succour this prince, and by placing him on the throne
establish a firm interest in the affairs of his kingdom. He accordingly
gave orders to Jorge Alboquerque, who was then proceeding with a strong
fleet towards Malacca, to take the youth with him, whose name was
Orfacam,* and after having expelled Jeinal to put him in possession of
the sovereignty.
(*Footnote. Evidently corrupted, as are most of the country names and
titles, which shows that the Portuguese were not at this period much
conversant in the Malayan language.)
When Jeinal entered upon the administration of the political concerns of
the kingdom, although he had promised his father-in-law to carry on the
war in concert with him, yet, being apprehensive of the effects of the
Portuguese power, he judged it more for his interest to seek a
reconciliation with them than to provoke their resentment, and in
pursuance of that system had so far recommended himself to Garcia de Sa,
the governor of Malacca, that he formed a treaty of alliance with him.
This was however soon interrupted, and chiefly by the imprudence of a man
named Diogo Vaz, who made use of such insulting language to the king,
because he delayed payment of a sum of money he owed him, that the
courtiers, seized with indignation, immediately stabbed him with their
krises, and, the alarm running through the city, others of the Portuguese
were likewise murdered. The news of this affair, reaching Goa, was an
additional motive for the resolution taken of dethroning him.
1521.
Jorge d'Alboquerque arrived at Pase in 1521 with Prince Orfacam, and the
inhabitants came off in great numbers to welcome his return. The king of
Aru had brought thither a considerable force the preceding day, designing
to take satisfaction for the murder of his relation, the uncle of Jeinal,
and now proposed to Alboquerque that they should make the attack in
conjunction, who thought proper to decline it. Jeinal, although he well
knew the intention of the enemy, yet sent a friendly message to
Alboquerque, who in answer required him to relinquish his crown in favour
of him whom he styled the lawful prince. He then represented to him the
injustice of attempting to force him from the possession of what was his,
not only by right of conquest but of hereditary descent, as was well
known to the governor himself; that he was willing to consider himself as
the vassal of the king of Portugal, and to grant every advantage in point
of trade that they could expect from the administration of his rival; and
that since his obtaining the crown he had manifested the utmost
friendship to the Portuguese, for which he appealed to the treaty formed
with him by the government of Malacca, which was not disturbed by any
fault that could in justice be imputed to himself. These arguments, like
all others that pass between states which harbour inimical designs, had
no effect upon Alboquerque, who, after reconnoitring the ground, gave
orders for the attack. The king was now sensible that there was nothing
left for him but to conquer or die, and resolved to defend himself to
extremity in an entrenchment he had formed at some distance from the town
of Pase, where he had never yet ventured to reside as the people were in
general incensed against him on account of the destruction of the late
king of their choice; for though they were ever ready to demolish those
whom they disliked, yet were they equally zealous to sacrifice their own
lives in the cause of those to whom they were attached. The Portuguese
force consisted but of three hundred men, yet such was the superiority
they possessed in war over the inhabitants of these countries that they
entirely routed Jeinal's army, which amounted to three thousand, with
many elephants, although they fought bravely. When he fell they became
dispirited, and, the people of Aru joining in the pursuit, a dreadful
slaughter succeeded, and upwards of two thousand Sumatrans lay dead, with
the loss of only five or six Europeans; but several were wounded, among
whom was Alboquerque himself.
The next measure was to place the young prince upon the throne, which was
performed with much ceremony. The mulana was appointed his governor, and
Nina Cunapan, who in several instances had shown a friendship for the
Portuguese, was continued in the office of Shabandar. It was stipulated
that the prince should do homage to the crown of Portugal, give a grant
of the whole produce of pepper of his country at a certain price, and
defray the charges of a fortress which they then prepared to erect in his
kingdom, and of which Miranda d'Azeuedo was appointed captain, with a
garrison of a hundred soldiers. The materials were mostly timber, with
which the ruins of Jeinal's entrenchment supplied them. After
Alboquerque's departure the works had nearly fallen into the hands of an
enemy, named Melek-el-adil, who called himself sultan of Pase and made
several desultory attacks upon them; but he was at length totally routed,
and the fortifications were completed without further molestation.
1521.
A fleet which sailed from the west of India a short time after that of
Alboquerque, under the command of Jorge de Brito, anchored in the road of
Achin, in their way to the Molucca Islands. There was at this time at
that place a man of the name of Joano Borba, who spoke the language of
the country, having formerly fled thither from Pase when Diogo Vaz was
assassinated. Being afterwards intrusted with the command of a trading
vessel from Goa, which foundered at sea, he again reached Achin, with
nine men in a small boat, and was hospitably received by the king, when
he learned that the ship had been destined to his port. Borba came off to
the fleet along with a messenger sent by the king to welcome the
commander and offer him refreshments for his fleet, and, being a man of
extraordinary loquacity, he gave a pompous description to Brito of a
temple in the country in which was deposited a large quantity of gold: he
mentioned likewise that the king was in possession of the artillery and
merchandise of Gaspar d'Acosta's vessel, some time since wrecked there;
and also of the goods saved from a brigantine driven on shore at Daya, in
Pacheco's expedition; as well as of Joano de Lima's ship, which he had
caused to be cut off. Brito, being tempted by the golden prize, which he
conceived already in his power, and inflamed by Borba's representation of
the king's iniquities, sent a message in return to demand the restitution
of the artillery, ship, and goods, which had been unlawfully seized. The
king replied that, if he wanted those articles to be refunded, he must
make his demand to the sea which had swallowed them up. Brito and his
captains now resolved to proceed to an attack upon the place, and so
secure did they make themselves of their prey that they refused
permission to a ship lately arrived, and which did not belong to their
squadron, to join them or participate in the profits of their adventure.
They prepared to land two hundred men in small boats; a larger, with a
more considerable detachment and their artillery, being ordered to
follow. About daybreak they had proceeded halfway up the river, and came
near to a little fort designed to defend the passage, where Brito thought
it advisable to stop till the remainder of their force should join them;
but, being importuned by his people, he advanced to make himself master
of the fort, which was readily effected. Here he again resolved to make
his stand, but by the imprudence of his ensign, who had drawn some of the
party into a skirmish with the Achinese, he was forced to quit that post
in order to save his colours, which were in danger. At this juncture the
king appeared at the head of eight hundred or a thousand men, and six
elephants. A desperate conflict ensued, in which the Portuguese received
considerable injury. Brito sent orders for the party he had left to come
up, and endeavoured to retreat to the fort, but he found himself so
situated that it could not be executed without much loss, and presently
after he received a wound from an arrow through the cheeks. No assistance
arriving, it was proposed that they should retire in the best manner they
could to their boats; but this Brito would not consent to, preferring
death to flight, and immediately a lance pierced his thighs, and he fell
to the ground. The Portuguese, rendered desperate, renewed the combat
with redoubled vigour, all crowding to the spot where their commander
lay, but their exertions availed them nothing against such unequal force,
and they only rushed on to sacrifice. Almost every man was killed, and
among these were near fifty persons of family who had embarked as
volunteers. Those who escaped belonged chiefly to the corps-de-reserve,
who did not, or could not, come up in time to succour their unfortunate
companions. Upon this merited defeat the squadron immediately weighed
anchor, and, after falling in with two vessels bound on the discovery of
the Ilhas d'Ouro, arrived at Pase, where they found Alboquerque employed
in the construction of his fortress, and went with him to make an attack
on Bintang.
STATE OF ACHIN IN 1511.
At the period when Malacca fell into the hands of the Portuguese Achin
and Daya are said by the historians of that nation to have been provinces
subject to Pidir, and governed by two slaves belonging to the sultan of
that place, to each of whom he had given a niece in marriage. Slaves, it
must be understood, are in that country on a different footing from those
in most other parts of the world, and usually treated as children of the
family. Some of them are natives of the continent of India, whom their
masters employ to trade for them; allowing them a certain proportion of
the profits and permission to reside in a separate quarter of the city.
It frequently happened also that men of good birth, finding it necessary
to obtain the protection of some person in power, became voluntary slaves
for this purpose, and the nobles, being proud of such dependants,
encouraged the practice by treating them with a degree of respect, and in
many instances they made them their heirs. The slave of this description
who held the government of Achin had two sons, the elder of whom was
named Raja Ibrahim, and the younger Raja Lella, and were brought up in
the house of their master. The father being old was recalled from his
post; but on account of his faithful services the sultan gave the
succession to his eldest son, who appears to have been a youth of an
ambitious and very sanguinary temper. A jealousy had taken place between
him and the chief of Daya whilst they were together at Pidir, and as soon
as he came into power he resolved to seek revenge, and with that view
entered in a hostile manner the district of his rival. When the sultan
interposed it not only added fuel to his resentment but inspired him with
hatred towards his master, and he showed his disrespect by refusing to
deliver up, on the requisition of the sultan, certain Portuguese
prisoners taken from a vessel lost at Pulo Gomez, and which he afterwards
complied with at the intercession of the Shabandar of Pase. This conduct
manifesting an intention of entirely throwing off his allegiance, his
father endeavoured to recall him to a sense of his duty by representing
the obligations in which the family were indebted to the sultan, and the
relationship which so nearly connected them. But so far was this
admonition from producing any good effect that he took offence at his
father's presumption, and ordered him to be confined in a cage, where he
died.
1521.
Irritated by these acts, the sultan resolved to proceed to extremities
against him; but by means of the plunder of some Portuguese vessels, as
before related, and the recent defeat of Brito's party, he became so
strong in artillery and ammunition, and so much elated with success, that
he set his master at defiance and prepared to defend himself. His force
proved superior to that of Pidir, and in the end he obliged the sultan to
fly for refuge and assistance to the European fortress at Pase,
accompanied by his nephew, the chief of Daya, who was also forced from
his possessions.
1522.
Ibrahim had for some time infested the Portuguese by sending out parties
against them, both by sea and land; but these being always baffled in
their attempts with much loss, he began to conceive a violent antipathy
against that nation, which he ever after indulged to excess. He got
possession of the city of Pidir by bribing the principal officers, a mode
of warfare that he often found successful and seldom neglected to
attempt. These he prevailed upon to write a letter to their master,
couched in artful terms, in which they besought him to come to their
assistance with a body of Portuguese, as the only chance of repelling the
enemy by whom they pretended to be invested. The sultan showed this
letter to Andre Henriquez, then governor of the fort, who, thinking it a
good opportunity to chastise the Achinese, sent by sea a detachment of
eighty Europeans and two hundred Malays under the command of his brother
Manuel, whilst the sultan marched overland with a thousand men and
fifteen elephants to the relief of the place. They arrived at Pidir in
the night, but, being secretly informed that the king of Achin was master
of the city, and that the demand for succour was a stratagem, they
endeavoured to make their retreat; which the land troops effected, but
before the tide could enable the Portuguese to get their boats afloat
they were attacked by the Achinese, who killed Manuel and thirty-five of
his men.
Henriquez, perceiving his situation at Pase was becoming critical, not
only from the force of the enemy but the sickly state of his garrison,
and the want of provisions, which the country people now withheld from
him, discontinuing the fairs that they were used to keep three times in
the week, dispatched advices to the governor of India, demanding
immediate succours, and also sent to request assistance of the king of
Aru, who had always proved the steadfast friend of Malacca, and who,
though not wealthy, because his country was not a place of trade, was yet
one of the most powerful princes in those parts. The king expressed his
joy in having an opportunity of serving his allies, and promised his
utmost aid; not only from friendship to them, but indignation against
Ibrahim, whom he regarded as a rebellious slave.
1523.
A supply of stores at length arrived from India under the charge of Lopo
d'Azuedo, who had orders to relieve Henriquez in the command; but,
disputes having arisen between them, and chiefly on the subject of
certain works which the shabandar of Pase had been permitted to erect
adjoining to the fortress, d'Azuedo, to avoid coming to an open rupture,
departed for Malacca. Ibrahim, having found means to corrupt the honesty
of this shabandar, who had received his office from Alboquerque, gained
intelligence through him of all that passed. This treason, it is
supposed, he would not have yielded to but for the desperate situation of
affairs. The country of Pase was now entirely in subjection to the
Achinese, and nothing remained unconquered but the capital, whilst the
garrison was distracted with internal divisions.
After the acquisition of Pidir the king thought it necessary to remain
there some time in order to confirm his authority, and sent his brother
Raja Lella with a large army to reduce the territories of Pase, which he
effected in the course of three months, and with the more facility
because all the principal nobility had fallen in the action with Jeinal.
He fixed his camp within half a league of the city, and gave notice to
Ibrahim of the state in which matters were, who speedily joined him,
being anxious to render himself master of the place before the promised
succours from the king of Aru could arrive. His first step was to issue a
proclamation, giving notice to the people of the town that whoever should
submit to his authority within six days should have their lives,
families, and properties secured to them, but that all others must expect
to feel the punishment due to their obstinacy. This had the effect he
looked for, the greater part of the inhabitants coming over to his camp.
He then commenced his military operations, and in the third attack got
possession of the town after much slaughter; those who escaped his fury
taking shelter in the neighbouring mountains and thick woods. He sent a
message to the commander of the fortress, requiring him to abandon it and
to deliver into his hands the kings of Pidir and Daya, to whom he had
given protection. Henriquez returned a spirited answer to this summons,
but, being sickly at the time, at best of an unsteady disposition, and
too much attached to his trading concerns for a soldier, he resolved to
relinquish the command to his relation Aires Coelho, and take passage for
the West of India.
1523.
He had not advanced farther on his voyage than the point of Pidir, when
he fell in with two Portuguese ships bound to the Moluccas, the captains
of which he made acquainted with the situation of the garrison, and they
immediately proceeded to its relief. Arriving in the night they heard
great firing of cannon, and learned next morning that the Achinese had
made a furious assault in hopes of carrying the fortress before the
ships, which were descried at a distance, could throw succours into it.
They had mastered some of the outworks, and the garrison represented that
it was impossible for them to support such another shock without aid from
the vessels. The captains, with as much force as could be spared, entered
the fort, and a sally was shortly afterwards resolved on and executed, in
which the besiegers sustained considerable damage. Every effort was
likewise employed to repair the breaches and stop up the mines that had
been made by the enemy in order to effect a passage into the place.
Ibrahim now attempted to draw them into a snare by removing his camp to a
distance and making a feint of abandoning his enterprise; but this
stratagem proved ineffectual. Reflecting then with indignation that his
own force consisted of fifteen thousand men whilst that of the Europeans
did not exceed three hundred and fifty, many of whom were sick and
wounded, and others worn out with the fatigue of continual duty
(intelligence whereof was conveyed to him), he resolved once more to
return to the siege, and make a general assault upon all parts of the
fortification at once. Two hours before daybreak he caused the place to
be surrounded with eight thousand men, who approached in perfect silence.
The nighttime was preferred by these people for making their attacks as
being then most secure from the effect of firearms, and they also
generally chose a time of rain, when the powder would not burn. As soon
as they found themselves perceived they set up a hideous shout, and,
fixing their scaling ladders, made of bamboo and wonderfully light, to
the number of six hundred, they attempted to force their way through the
embrasures for the guns; but after a strenuous contest they were at
length repulsed. Seven elephants were driven with violence against the
paling of one of the bastions, which gave way before them like a hedge,
and overset all the men who were on it. Javelins and pikes these enormous
beasts made no account of, but upon setting fire to powder under their
trunks they drew back with precipitation in spite of all the efforts of
their drivers, overthrew their own people, and, flying to the distance of
several miles, could not again be brought into the lines. The Achinese
upon receiving this check thought to take revenge by setting fire to some
vessels that were in the dockyard; but this proved an unfortunate measure
to them, for by the light which it occasioned the garrison were enabled
to point their guns, and did abundant execution.
1524.
Henriquez, after beating sometime against a contrary wind, put back to
Pase, and, coming on shore the day after this conflict, resumed his
command. A council was soon after held to determine what measures were
fittest to be pursued in the present situation of affairs, and, taking
into their consideration that no further assistance could be expected
from the west of India in less than six months, that the garrison was
sickly and provisions short, it was resolved by a majority of votes to
abandon the place, and measures were taken accordingly. In order to
conceal their intentions from the enemy they ordered such of the
artillery and stores as could be removed conveniently to be packed up in
the form of merchandise and then shipped off. A party was left to set
fire to the buildings, and trains of powder were so disposed as to lead
to the larger cannon, which they overcharged that they might burst as
soon as heated. But this was not effectually executed, and the pieces
mostly fell into the hands of the Achinese, who upon the first alarm of
the evacuation rushed in, extinguished the flames, and turned upon the
Portuguese their own artillery, many of whom were killed in the water as
they hurried to get into their boats. They now lost as much credit by
this ill conducted retreat as they had acquired by their gallant defence,
and were insulted by the reproachful shouts of the enemy, whose power was
greatly increased by this acquisition of military stores, and of which
they often severely experienced the effects. To render their disgrace
more striking it happened that as they sailed out of the harbour they met
thirty boats laden with provisions for their use from the king of Aru,
who was himself on his march overland with four thousand men: and when
they arrived at Malacca they found troops and stores embarked there for
their relief. The unfortunate princes who had sought an asylum with them
now joined in their flight; the sultan of Pase proceeded to Malacca, and
the sultan of Pidir and chief of Daya took refuge with the king of Aru.
1525.
Raja Nara, king of Indragiri, in conjunction with a force from Bintang,
attacked the king of a neighbouring island called Lingga, who was in
friendship with the Portuguese. A message which passed on this occasion
gives a just idea of the style and manners of this people. Upon their
acquainting the king of Lingga, in their summons of surrender, that they
had lately overcome the fleet of Malacca, he replied that his
intelligence informed him of the contrary; that he had just made a
festival and killed fifty goats to celebrate one defeat which they had
received, and hoped soon to kill a hundred in order to celebrate a
second. His expectations were fulfilled, or rather anticipated, for the
Portuguese, having a knowledge of the king of Indragiri's design, sent
out a small fleet which routed the combined force before the king of
Lingga was acquainted with their arrival, his capital being situated high
up on the river.
1526.
In the next year, at the conquest of Bintang, this king unsolicited sent
assistance to his European allies.
1527.
However well founded the accounts may have been which the Portuguese have
given us of the cruelties committed against their people by the king of
Achin, the barbarity does not appear to have been only on one side.
Francisco de Mello, being sent in an armed vessel with dispatches to Goa,
met near Achin Head with a ship of that nation just arrived from Mecca
and supposed to be richly laden. As she had on board three hundred
Achinese and forty Arabs he dared not venture to board her, but battered
her at a distance, when suddenly she filled and sunk, to the extreme
disappointment of the Portuguese, who thereby lost their prize; but they
wreaked their vengeance on the unfortunate crew as they endeavoured to
save themselves by swimming, and boast that they did not suffer a man to
escape. Opportunities of retaliation soon offered.
1528.
Simano de Sousa, going with a reinforcement to the Moluccas from Cochin,
was overtaken in the bay by a violent storm, which forced him to stow
many of his guns in the hold; and, having lost several of his men through
fatigue, he made for the nearest port he could take shelter in, which
proved to be Achin. The king, having the destruction of the Portuguese at
heart, and resolving if possible to seize their vessel, sent off a
message to De Sousa recommending his standing in closer to the shore,
where he would have more shelter from the gale which still continued, and
lie more conveniently for getting off water and provisions, at the same
time inviting him to land. This artifice not succeeding, he ordered out
the next morning a thousand men in twenty boats, who at first pretended
they were come to assist in mooring the ship; but the captain, aware of
their hostile design, fired amongst them, when a fierce engagement took
place in which the Achinese were repulsed with great slaughter, but not
until they had destroyed forty of the Portuguese. The king, enraged at
this disappointment, ordered a second attack, threatening to have his
admiral trampled to death by elephants if he failed of success. A boat
was sent ahead of this fleet with a signal of peace, and assurances to De
Sousa that the king, as soon as he was made acquainted with the injury
that had been committed, had caused the perpetrators of it to be
punished, and now once more requested him to come on shore and trust to
his honour. This proposal some of the crew were inclined that he should
accept, but being animated by a speech that he made to them it was
resolved that they should die with arms in their hands in preference to a
disgraceful and hazardous submission. The combat was therefore renewed,
with extreme fury on the one side, and uncommon efforts of courage on the
other, and the assailants were a second time repulsed; but one of those
who had boarded the vessel and afterwards made his escape represented to
the Achinese the reduced and helpless situation of their enemy, and,
fresh supplies coming off, they were encouraged to return to the attack.
De Sousa and his people were at length almost all cut to pieces, and
those who survived, being desperately wounded, were overpowered, and led
prisoners to the king, who unexpectedly treated them with extraordinary
kindness, in order to cover the designs he harboured, and pretended to
lament the fate of their brave commander. He directed them to fix upon
one of their companions, who should go in his name to the governor of
Malacca, to desire he would immediately send to take possession of the
ship, which he meant to restore, as well as to liberate them. He hoped by
this artifice to draw more of the Portuguese into his power, and at the
same time to effect a purpose of a political nature. A war had recently
broken out between him and the king of Aru, the latter of whom had
deputed ambassadors to Malacca, to solicit assistance, in return for his
former services, and which was readily promised to him. It was highly the
interest of the king of Achin to prevent this junction, and therefore,
though determined to relax nothing in his plans of revenge, he hastened
to dispatch Antonio Caldeira, one of the captives, with proposals of
accommodation and alliance, offering to restore not only this vessel, but
also the artillery which he had taken at Pase. These terms appeared to
the governor too advantageous to be rejected. Conceiving a favourable
idea of the king's intentions, from the confidence which Caldeira, who
was deceived by the humanity shown to the wounded captives, appeared to
place in his sincerity, he became deaf to the representations that were
made to him by more experienced persons of his insidious character. A
message was sent back, agreeing to accept his friendship on the proposed
conditions, and engaging to withhold the promised succours from the king
of Aru. Caldeira, in his way to Achin, touched at an island, where he was
cut off with those who accompanied him. The ambassadors from Aru being
acquainted with this breach of faith, retired in great disgust, and the
king, incensed at the ingratitude shown him, concluded a peace with
Achin; but not till after an engagement between their fleets had taken
place, in which the victory remained undecided.
In order that he might learn the causes of the obscurity in which his
negotiations with Malacca rested, Ibrahim dispatched a secret messenger
to Senaia Raja, bandhara of that city, with whom he held a
correspondence; desiring also to be informed of the strength of the
garrison. Hearing in answer that the governor newly arrived was inclined
to think favourably of him, he immediately sent an ambassador to wait on
him with assurances of his pacific and friendly disposition, who returned
in company with persons empowered, on the governor's part, to negotiate a
treaty of commerce. These, upon their arrival at Achin, were loaded with
favours and costly presents, the news of which quickly flew to Malacca,
and, the business they came on being adjusted, they were suffered to
depart; but they had not sailed far before they were overtaken by boats
sent after them, and were stripped and murdered. The governor, who had
heard of their setting out, concluded they were lost by accident.
Intelligence of this mistaken opinion was transmitted to the king, who
thereupon had the audacity to request that he might be honoured with the
presence of some Portuguese of rank and consequence in his capital, to
ratify in a becoming manner the articles that had been drawn up; as he
ardently wished to see that nation trafficking freely in his dominions.
1529.
The deluded governor, in compliance with this request, adopted the
resolution of sending thither a large ship under the command of Manuel
Pacheco, with a rich cargo, the property of himself and several merchants
of Malacca, who themselves embarked with the idea of making extraordinary
profits. Senaia conveyed notice of this preparation to Achin, informing
the king at the same time that, if he could make himself master of this
vessel, Malacca must fall an easy prey to him, as the place was weakened
of half its force for the equipment. When Pacheco approached the harbour
he was surrounded by a great number of boats, and some of the people
began to suspect treachery, but so strongly did the spirit of delusion
prevail in this business that they could not persuade the captain to put
himself on his guard. He soon had reason to repent his credulity.
Perceiving an arrow pass close by him, he hastened to put on his coat of
mail, when a second pierced his neck, and he soon expired. The vessel
then became an easy prey, and the people, being made prisoners, were
shortly afterwards massacred by the king's order, along with the
unfortunate remnant of De Sousa's crew, so long flattered with the hopes
of release. By this capture the king was supposed to have remained in
possession of more artillery than was left in Malacca, and he immediately
fitted out a fleet to take advantage of its exposed state. The pride of
success causing him to imagine it already in his power, he sent a
taunting message to the governor in which he thanked him for the late
instances of his liberality, and let him know he should trouble him for
the remainder of his naval force.
Senaia had promised to put the citadel into his hands, and this had
certainly been executed but for an accident that discovered his
treasonable designs. The crews of some vessels of the Achinese fleet
landed on a part of the coast not far from the city, where they were well
entertained by the natives, and in the openness of conviviality related
the transactions which had lately passed at Achin, the correspondence of
Senaia, and the scheme that was laid for rising on the Portuguese when
they should be at church, murdering them, and seizing the fortress.
Intelligence of this was reported with speed to the governor, who had
Senaia instantly apprehended and executed. This punishment served to
intimidate those among the inhabitants who were engaged in the
conspiracy, and disconcerted the plans of the king of Achin.
This appears to be the last transaction of Ibrahim's reign recorded by
the Portuguese historians. His death is stated by De Barros to have taken
place in the year 1528 in consequence of poison administered to him by
one of his wives, to revenge the injuries her brother, the chief of Daya,
had suffered at his hand. In a Malayan work (lately come into my
possession) containing the annals of the kingdom of Achin, it is said
that a king, whose title was sultan Saleh-eddin-shah, obtained the
sovereignty in a year answering to 1511 of our era, and who, after
reigning about eighteen years, was dethroned by a brother in 1529.
Notwithstanding some apparent discordance between the two accounts there
can be little doubt of the circumstances applying to the same individual,
as it may well be presumed that, according to the usual practice in the
East, he adopted upon ascending the throne a title different from the
name which he had originally borne, although that might continue to be
his more familiar appellation, especially in the mouths of his enemies.
The want of precise coincidence in the dates cannot be thought an
objection, as the event not falling under the immediate observation of
the Portuguese they cannot pretend to accuracy within a few months, and
even their account of the subsequent transactions renders it more
probable that it happened in 1529; nor are the facts of his being
dethroned by the brother, or put to death by the sister, materially at
variance with each other; and the latter circumstance, whether true or
false, might naturally enough be reported at Malacca.
1529.
His successor took the name of Ala-eddin-shah, and afterwards, from his
great enterprises, acquired the additional epithet of keher or the
powerful. By the Portuguese he is said to have styled himself king of
Achin, Barus, Pidir, Pase, Daya, and Batta, prince of the land of the two
seas, and of the mines of Menangkabau.
1537.
Nothing is recorded of his reign until the year 1537, in which he twice
attacked Malacca. The first time he sent an army of three thousand men
who landed near the city by night, unperceived by the garrison, and,
having committed some ravages in the suburbs, were advancing to the
bridge, when the governor, Estavano de Gama, sallied out with a party and
obliged them to retreat for shelter to the woods. Here they defended
themselves during the next day, but on the following night they
re-embarked, with the loss of five hundred men. A few months afterwards
the king had the place invested with a larger force; but in the interval
the works had been repaired and strengthened, and after three days
ineffectual attempt the Achinese were again constrained to retire.
1547.
In the year 1547 he once more fitted out a fleet against Malacca, where a
descent was made; but, contented with some trifling plunder, the army
re-embarked, and the vessels proceeded to the river of Parles on the
Malayan coast. Hither they were followed by a Portuguese squadron, which
attacked and defeated a division of the fleet at the mouth of the river.
This victory was rendered famous, not so much by the valour of the
combatants, as by a revelation opportunely made from heaven to the
celebrated missionary Francisco Xavier of the time and circumstances of
it, and which he announced to the garrison at a moment when the approach
of a powerful invader from another quarter had caused much alarm and
apprehension among them.
Many transactions of the reign of this prince, particularly with the
neighbouring states of Batta and Aru (about the years 1539 and 1541) are
mentioned by Ferdinand Mendez Pinto; but his writings are too apocryphal
to allow of the facts being recorded upon his authority. Yet there is the
strongest internal evidence of his having been more intimately acquainted
with the countries of which we are now speaking, the character of the
inhabitants, and the political transactions of the period, than any of
his contemporaries; and it appears highly probable that what he has
related is substantially true: but there is also reason to believe that
he composed his work from recollection after his return to Europe, and he
may not have been scrupulous in supplying from a fertile imagination the
unavoidable failures of a memory, however richly stored.
1556.
The death of Ala-eddin took place, according to the Annals, in 1556,
after a reign of twenty-eight years.
1565.
He was succeeded by sultan Husseinshah, who reigned about eight, and
dying in 1565 was succeeded by his son, an infant. This child survived
only seven months; and in the same year the throne was occupied by Raja
Firman-shah, who was murdered soon after.
1567.
His successor, Raja Janil, experienced a similar fate when he had reigned
ten months. This event is placed in 1567. Sultan Mansur-shah, from the
kingdom of Perak in the peninsula, was the next who ascended the throne.
1567.
The western powers of India having formed a league for the purpose of
extirpating the Portuguese, the king of Achin was invited to accede to
it, and, in conformity with the engagements by which the respective
parties were bound, he prepared to attack them in Malacca, and carried
thither a numerous fleet, in which were fifteen thousand people of his
own subjects, and four hundred Turks, with two hundred pieces of
artillery of different sizes. In order to amuse the enemy he gave out
that his force was destined against Java, and sent a letter, accompanied
with a present of a kris, to the governor, professing strong sentiments
of friendship. A person whom he turned on shore with marks of ignominy,
being suspected for a spy, was taken up, and being put to the torture
confessed that he was employed by the Ottoman emperor and king of Achin
to poison the principal officers of the place, and to set fire to their
magazine. He was put to death, and his mutilated carcase was sent off to
the king. This was the signal for hostilities. He immediately landed with
all his men and commenced a regular siege. Sallies were made with various
success and very unequal numbers. In one of these the chief of Aru, the
king's eldest son, was killed. In another the Portuguese were defeated
and lost many officers. A variety of stratagems were employed to work
upon the fears and shake the fidelity of the inhabitants of the town. A
general assault was given in which, after prodigious efforts of courage,
and imminent risk of destruction, the besieged remained victorious. The
king, seeing all his attempts fruitless, at length departed, having lost
three thousand men before the walls, beside about five hundred who were
said to have died of their wounds on the passage. The king of Ujong-tanah
or Johor, who arrived with a fleet to the assistance of the place, found
the sea for a long distance covered with dead bodies. This was esteemed
one of the most desperate and honourable sieges the Portuguese
experienced in India, their whole force consisting of but fifteen hundred
men, of whom no more than two hundred were Europeans.
1568.
In the following year a vessel from Achin bound to Java, with ambassadors
on board to the queen of Japara, in whom the king wished to raise up a
new enemy against the Portuguese, was met in the straits by a vessel from
Malacca, who took her and put all the people to the sword. It appears to
have been a maxim in these wars never to give quarter to an enemy,
whether resisting or submitting.
1569.
In 1569 a single ship, commanded by Lopez Carrasco, passing near Achin,
fell in with a fleet coming out of that port, consisting of twenty large
galleys and a hundred and eighty other vessels, commanded by the king in
person, and supposed to be designed against Malacca. The situation of the
Portuguese was desperate. They could not expect to escape, and therefore
resolved to die like men. During three days they sustained a continual
attack, when, after having by incredible exertions destroyed forty of the
enemy's vessels, and being themselves reduced to the state of a wreck, a
second ship appeared in sight. The king perceiving this retired into the
harbour with his shattered forces.
It is difficult to determine which of the two is the more astonishing,
the vigorous stand made by such a handful of men as the whole strength of
Malacca consisted of, or the prodigious resources and perseverance of the
Achinese monarch.
1573.
In 1573, after forming an alliance with the queen of Japara, the object
of which was the destruction of the European power, he appeared again
before Malacca with ninety vessels, twenty-five of them large galleys,
with seven thousand men and great store of artillery. He began his
operations by sending a party to set fire to the suburbs of the town, but
a timely shower of rain prevented its taking effect. He then resolved on
a different mode of warfare, and tried to starve the place to a surrender
by blocking up the harbour and cutting off all supplies of provisions.
The Portuguese, to prevent the fatal consequences of this measure,
collected those few vessels which they were masters of, and, a merchant
ship of some force arriving opportunely, they put to sea, attacked the
enemy's fleet, killed the principal captain, and obtained a complete
victory.
1574.
In the year following Malacca was invested by an armada from the queen of
Japara, of three hundred sail, eighty of which were junks of four hundred
tons burden. After besieging the place for three months, till the very
air became corrupted by their stay, the fleet retired with little more
than five thousand men, of fifteen that embarked on the expedition.
1575.
Scarcely was the Javanese force departed when the king of Achin once more
appeared with a fleet that is described as covering the straits. He
ordered an attack upon three Portuguese frigates that were in the road
protecting some provision vessels, which was executed with such a furious
discharge of artillery that they were presently destroyed with all their
crews. This was a dreadful blow to Malacca, and lamented, as the
historian relates, with tears of blood by the little garrison, who were
not now above a hundred and fifty men, and of those a great part
noneffective. The king, elated with his success, landed his troops, and
laid siege to the fort, which he battered at intervals during seventeen
days. The fire of the Portuguese became very slack, and after some time
totally ceased, as the governor judged it prudent to reserve his small
stock of ammunition for an effort at the last extremity. The king,
alarmed at this silence, which he construed into a preparation for some
dangerous stratagem, was seized with a panic, and, suddenly raising the
siege, embarked with the utmost precipitation; unexpectedly relieving the
garrison from the ruin that hung over it, and which seemed inevitable in
the ordinary course of events.
1582.
In 1582 we find the king appearing again before Malacca with a hundred
and fifty sail of vessels. After some skirmishes with the Portuguese
ships, in which the success was nearly equal on both sides, the Achinese
proceeded to attack Johor, the king of which was then in alliance with
Malacca. Twelve ships followed them thither, and, having burned some of
their galleys, defeated the rest and obliged them to fly to Achin. The
operations of these campaigns, and particularly the valour of the
commander, named Raja Makuta, are alluded to in Queen Elizabeth's letter
to the king, delivered in 1602 by Sir James Lancaster.
About three or four years after this misfortune Mansur-shah prepared a
fleet of no less than three hundred sail of vessels, and was ready to
embark once more upon his favourite enterprise, when he was murdered,
together with his queen and many of the principal nobility, by the
general of the forces, who had long formed designs upon the crown.
1585.
This was perpetrated in May 1585, when he had reigned nearly eighteen
years. In his time the consequence of the kingdom of Achin is represented
to have arrived at a considerable height, and its friendship to have been
courted by the most powerful states. No city in India possessed a more
flourishing trade, the port being crowded with merchant vessels which
were encouraged to resort thither by the moderate rates of the customs
levied; and although the Portuguese and their ships were continually
plundered, those belonging to every Asiatic power, from Mecca in the West
to Japan in the East, appear to have enjoyed protection and security. The
despotic authority of the monarch was counterpoised by the influence of
the orang-kayas or nobility, who are described as being possessed of
great wealth, living in fortified houses, surrounded by numerous
dependants, and feeling themselves above control, often giving a
licentious range to their proud and impatient tempers.
The late monarch's daughter and only child was married to the king of
Johor,* by whom she had a son, who, being regarded as heir to the crown
of Achin, had been brought to the latter place to be educated under the
eye of his grandfather. When the general (whose name is corruptly written
Moratiza) assumed the powers of government, he declared himself the
protector of this child, and we find him mentioned in the Annals by the
title of Sultan Buyong (or the Boy).
(*Footnote. The king of Achin sent on this occasion to Johor a piece of
ordnance, such as for greatness, length, and workmanship (says
Linschoten), could hardly be matched in all Christendom. It was
afterwards taken by the Portuguese, who shipped it for Europe, but the
vessel was lost in her passage.)
1588.
But before he had completed the third year of his nominal reign he also
was dispatched, and the usurper took formal possession of the throne in
the year 1588, by the name of Ala-eddin Rayet-shah,* being then at an
advanced period of life.
(*Footnote. Valentyn, by an obvious corruption, names him Sulthan Alciden
Ryetza, and this coincidence is strongly in favour of the authenticity
and correctness of the Annals. John Davis, who will be hereafter
mentioned, calls him, with sufficient accuracy, Sultan Aladin.)
The Annals say he was the grandson of Sultan Firman-shah; but the
Europeans who visited Achin during his reign report him to have been
originally a fisherman, who, having afterwards served in the wars against
Malacca, showed so much courage, prudence, and skill in maritime affairs
that the late king made him at length the chief commander of his forces,
and gave him one of his nearest kinswomen to wife, in right of whom he is
said to have laid claim to the throne.
The French Commodore Beaulieu relates the circumstances of this
revolution in a very different manner.*
(*Footnote. The commodore had great opportunity of information, was a man
of very superior ability, and indefatigable in his inquiries upon all
subjects, as appears by the excellent account of his voyage, and of Achin
in particular, written by himself, and published in Thevenot's
collection, of which there is an English translation in Harris; but it is
possible he may, in this instance, have been amused by a plausible tale
from the grandson of this monarch, with whom he had much intercourse.
John Davis, an intelligent English navigator whose account I have
followed, might have been more likely to hear the truth as he was at
Achin (though not a frequenter of the court) during Ala-eddin's reign,
whereas Beaulieu did not arrive till twenty' years after, and the report
of his having been originally a fisherman is also mentioned by the Dutch
writers.)
He says that, upon the extinction of the ancient royal line, which
happened about forty years before the period at which he wrote, the
orang-kayas met in order to choose a king, but, every one affecting the
dignity for himself, they could not agree and resolved to decide it by
force. In this ferment the cadi or chief judge by his authority and
remonstrances persuaded them to offer the crown to a certain noble who in
all these divisions had taken no part, but had lived in the reputation of
a wise, experienced man, being then seventy years of age, and descended
from one of the most respectable families of the country. After several
excuses on his side, and entreaties and even threats on theirs, he at
length consented to accept the dignity thus imposed upon him, provided
they should regard him as a father, and receive correction from him as
his children; but no sooner was he in possession of the sovereign power
than (like Pope Sixtus the Fifth) he showed a different face, and the
first step after his accession was to invite the orang-kayas to a feast,
where, as they were separately introduced, he caused them to be seized
and murdered in a court behind the palace. He then proceeded to demolish
their fortified houses, and lodged their cannon, arms, and goods in the
castle, taking measures to prevent in future the erection of any
buildings of substantial materials that could afford him grounds of
jealousy. He raised his own adherents from the lower class of people to
the first dignities of the state, and of those who presumed to express
any disapprobation of his conduct he made great slaughter, being supposed
to have executed not less than twenty thousand persons in the first year
of his reign.
From the silence of the Portuguese writers with respect to the actions of
this king we have reason to conclude that he did not make any attempts to
disturb their settlement of Malacca; and it even appears that some
persons in the character of ambassadors or agents from that power resided
at Achin, the principal object of whose policy appears to have been that
of inspiring him with jealousy and hatred of the Hollanders, who in their
turn were actively exerting themselves to supplant the conquerors of
India.
1600.
Towards the close of the sixteenth century they began to navigate these
seas; and in June 1600 visited Achin with two ships, but had no cause to
boast of the hospitality of their reception. An attempt was made to cut
them off, and evidently by the orders or connivance of the king, who had
prevailed upon the Dutch admiral to take on board troops and military
stores for an expedition meditated, or pretended, against the city of
Johor, which these ships were to bombard. Several of the crews were
murdered, but after a desperate conflict in both ships the treacherous
assailants were overcome and driven into the water, "and it was some
pleasure (says John Davis, an Englishman, who was the principal pilot of
the squadron) to see how the base Indians did fly, how they were killed,
and how well they were drowned."* This barbarous and apparently
unprovoked attack was attributed, but perhaps without any just grounds,
to the instigation of the Portuguese.
(*Footnote. All the Dutchmen on shore at the time were made prisoners,
and many of them continued in that state for several years. Among these
was Captain Frederick Houtman, whose Vocabulary of the Malayan language
was printed at Amsterdam in 1604, being the first that was published in
Europe. My copy has the writer's autograph.)
1600.
In November 1600 Paulus van Caarden, having also the command of two Dutch
ships, was received upon his landing with much ceremony; but at his first
audience the king refused to read a letter from the Prince of Orange,
upon its being suggested to him that instead of paper it was written on
the skin of an unclean animal; and the subsequent treatment experienced
by this officer was uniformly bad. It appears however that in December
1601 the king was so far reconciled to this new power as to send two
ambassadors to Holland, one of whom died there in August 1602, and the
other returned to Achin subsequently to the death of his master.