Indonesian women played prominent role in history
Indonesian women played prominent role in history
Prominent Women in the Glimpse of History Ibrahim Alfian, Editor Published by Bank Exim Jakarta, 1994 155 pages
JAKARTA (JP): The woman's role has always been a hot topic in developing countries and will apparently continue to be so into the next century. Like the condition in many other countries, the woman's role in Indonesia has somewhat improved although it is still far way from matching those of men.
Indonesian women still have to move to the center of the nation's political elite while their colleagues in other developing countries have become presidents or prime ministers.
However, history has given them something to be proud of. Five centuries ago Indonesia had woman rulers and the beginning of this century saw many women leading guerrilla warfare against the advancing Dutch colonial troops. Both historical realities took place in the kingdoms of Samudra Pasai and Aceh Darussalam, in today's province of Aceh.
This is the topic discussed in this book, the publication of which is related to the Year of Women in Development, Youth and Sports, 1994.
Since a book of such kind is really rare here, after reading this one the readers may feel to have been taken to a terra incognita, an alien country which they have heard of only by name but have never been extensively informed about its past grandeur.
Had it not been based on serious research and edited by Dr. Ibrahim Alfian, a professor of history of the prestigious University of Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, the book might be mistaken for mythology.
Two centuries before Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England, Samudra Pasai was ruled by Malikah (Arabic word for Queen) Nur Ilah. She died in 1380.
And Aceh did not only produced queens but also a female naval chief. A trade delegation, the English queen sent to Aceh Darussalam kingdom during the rule of Sultan Alaiddin Riayatsyah al Mukammil (1589-1604), was received by Admiral Keumalahayati and held talks in Arabic.
An Englishman, who was captain of a Dutch ship and arrived in Aceh at that time, reported that under her command the kingdom had an extensive navy consisting of 100 galleys, some of them with a capacity of 400-500 men.
The appointment of a queen in the first Islamic kingdom in Southeast Asia seemed to have caused no problem then. But centuries later between 1641 and 1699, when Aceh Darussalam's political power was ruled by four successive sultanah (female sultans) controversy arose. But only around one of them, Sultanah Tajul Alam Safiatuddin Syah (1641-1699).
Although most historians agree that Aceh Darussalam declined after Sultan Iskandar Muda, the female rulers did many sound things, such as conducting administrative reforms, religious campaigns and sponsoring serious scholarship.
Pillaged
Although Pasai was a strong kingdom which also ruled some part of today's Malaysian peninsula, this book notes that it was too weak to face off Majapahit, the empire which dominated almost the whole archipelago.
Pasai Queen Nur Ilah was replaced by Ahmad (1346-1383). It was at this time that Majapahit's forces attacked and plundered his palace causing the monarch and his people to flee to safety. The troops returned to Java with prisoners and loot.
After the pillage the relation between Majapahit and Pasai is likened to the one between the a rapist and his helpless victim. When a later Majapahit king asked for a Pasai princess' hand in marriage the sultan did not have the courage to say no although he understood that the suitor was not a Moslem.
The monarch was overshadowed by fear of being attacked again by the super power. The princess was taken to Java and forced to forget her religion. But after her husband died she returned to Islam and repented. She moved to Ampel, East Java, to join her brother, who came later to accompany her. There the two started an Islamic mission which was very successful.
The woman, who the king took by force, ironically became a time bomb for the Majapahit empire because the advance of the new religion in Java contributed to the collapse of the empire in the 16th century.
Heroes
The leading political role of Acehnese women ended after the fourth sultanah in 1699. Only at the end of last century did female figures rise again in history amidst the turbulent years of war to defend the country from the Dutch colonial troops, who came to seize the last piece of the archipelago.
Writers of this book used Dutch colonial documents and books written by European writers as their bibliography. The Dutch had high respect for the patriotism of the Acehnese female commanders.
The war the Dutch started in 1873, was the hardest they had to fight in this archipelago. Although they managed to conquer a large part of Aceh by 1904 guerrilla warfare against the advancing "infidels" did not abated until the 1930s.
When men were killed in the battle fields or surrendered to the Dutch, their wives took over the leadership of the holy war.
In the words of H.C. Zentgraaff, a Dutch war correspondent who has written several books about the Aceh War, "The women of Aceh surpassed the women of all other races in their courage and did not fear death. Even more so, they surpassed the men who were not known for their weakness in defending the ideals of their religion and nation. They received their basic rights in the battle fields and bore children in between attacks."
Cut Nyak Dien is the most popular among them. She took over the leadership of the war after her husband, Teuku Umar, was shot dead by the Dutch troops in 1899. She was caught by the Dutch in her jungle headquarters in West Aceh 1906 and was later exiled to West Java.
At the same time in northern Aceh, Cut Meutia was also leading an armed struggle to press the Dutch to leave the area. She might be less popular than Cut Nyak Dien but she managed to ambush the enemy's Merachausee (elite mobile troops) causing a lot of deaths among the Dutch, before she was shot dead by them in a battle in 1910.
Another guerrilla female leader, who was exiled to Java after her detention was Pocut Meurah Intan. She was caught in 1904 after she was seriously wounded by a Dutch bullet. She was exiled to Blora in Central Java, where she died in 1937.
The only female guerrilla leader, who was neither exiled or shot dead by the Dutch, is Pocut Baren. She fought the war from 1903 to 1910. She lost her leg after being shot by the Dutch and was allowed to return to her birthplace in West Aceh afterwards.
The government sponsorship of the book publication looks like an effort to implant a sense of patriotism in the hearts of the current generation -- especially its women -- who have been in the dark about their own history because some historians have been too subjective and chauvinistic.
This book also tells Indonesians --- especially its women -- not only about their role but also that many parts of national history need to be rewritten to give an objective picture of it. And Aceh is not the only victim of the Majapahit "unification" campaign, which some members of the older generation is very proud of.
Historians need to distinguish between myth and historical reality and clarify objectively which aspects of Indonesian history justify national pride.
Exactly eight years ago, Dr. Harsja Bachtiar, a well-known social scientist who died last week, saw the need to revise modern Indonesian history since the collection of many figures proclaimed as "national heroes" was based on incomplete and inaccurate facts. His statement did not please the authorities but scientifically it should be a workable idea.
In this case we need to contemplate that Arnold Toynbee is right when he said in an interview that "history is the footpaths of God."
-- Thayeb I. Sabil