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