Old Trees and Ancient Cannons

You also know that every object in this world has its own story. Regarding the feelings in it, it depends on the person experiencing it, or depending on the person telling it, or depending on the person listening to it.

Likewise, cannons left over from the war between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam were scattered throughout Aceh. That indicates that there has been a massive and deadly war here, using the most advanced weapons at the time.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands declared war on the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam on March 26, 1873.

I don't want to talk about that war here, I'm not a historian. If you want to know more about that war, please just read --->>> Dutch War in Aceh <<<--

There are several large and small cannons in the courtyard of the Aceh Museum. I don't know where the cannon got there and who took it.

This museum is actually still a courtyard of the palace during the sultanate. In front of him there is a river, its name is Krueng Daroi, which flows under the palace of the sultan of Aceh. This is dug river, from Mata Ie, to Krueng Aceh.

On this side of the museum there is a tomb complex called Kandang Meuh. There is the tomb of Sultan Iskandar Muda, one of those who led the war against the Portuguese. There is also the tomb of Sultan Mansur Syah, who around 1870 prepared for war to expel the Dutch from Sumatra and all the Malay lands they occupied, which was called the Dutch East Indies.

In front of this museum there is the former palace of the Sultan of Aceh Darussalam. But now what is visible is the Dutch governor's house. They destroyed the palace of the sultan of Aceh and built their governor's house on its ruins.

The Aceh Museum, the Kandang Meuh tomb complex, and the former palace are actually part of the Aceh sultan's palace. At the bottom of the Krueng Daroi river wall, you can still see the bricks of Sultan Sikandar Muda. There are some old style brick and mortar nearby too.

Cannons

The cannons here are large and rather bulky. It had a single gun shaft that was over 5 meters long. I don't know how old he is. The small cannon isn't here, but I've seen it in a few other places.

It is not stated whether the cannons here belong to the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam or the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam

Kingdom of the Netherlands, or belonging to the Empire of Japan during the second World War. No one knows.

However, there were a number of cannons which turned out to belong to Aceh Darussalam because they were similar to cannons elsewhere which were confirmed to belong to the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate. It was probably a cannon before XIX century AD. After that the cannon became more sophisticated.

One of the reasons Aceh lost to the Dutch was because we, Aceh, did not renew our weapons.

In addition, we lost in espionage, so we were pitted against it from within, and provoked by other countries, such as the United States, so that --- a country that at that time already had signs of becoming a superpower --- would not support Aceh.

It was then, in 1832, that we were provoked to anger the United States. Finally, the land of Kuala Batu, which is the territory of the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam, was burned by the United States in 1832. Weapons and espionage.

How Did That Ancient Cannons Get Here?

Because everything has a story, what about cannons and trees.

How the cannon was made, for example in Amsterdam or in London, by several engineers. Then pulled by horse-drawn carriage to the port, loaded into the ship. After several months, the cannon arrived in Aceh. Needless to say, cannons were also fired at the Acehnese homes. Many people were hit by cannons and died.

And now, the cannon is stored in the yard, as a historical object. Bloody and deadly history.

Heroism

There is something unique about the history of war. After the war was over, people told tales of heroism. That's weird. For example, in the war between us, Aceh as a form of self-defense with the Netherlands as an attacker. We tell about the heroism of some of our people, as well as the Dutch, they tell about their heroism in attacking. It's weird and funny.

We tell about the heroism of Teungku Chik Di Tiro, Cut Nyak Dhien and others. The Netherlands tells about the heroism of Jan van Swieten, Van Daalen and others.

As a real example and the closest now is what happened in Ukraine. The Russian people call their warriors heroes. The Ukrainian side described its soldiers as heroes.

Heroism is always proud, wherever, whenever. The victors of war boasted of their heroes. So did the people who lost the war.

We Acehnese are quite experienced with war throughout our existence, we quite understand the meaning of heroism. Experienced does not mean we are experts, but we have felt enough of the impact of that war, our ancestors. Instead of winning, we often lose.

Against the Aceh War

As I recall, around 1000 AD, we were at war with the people of Tamil Nadu, the army of Raja Rajendra Cola, during the time of the Lamuri Kingdom. After that, during the Sultanate of Sumatra and Aceh, we fought against the Portuguese, then the Dutch.

So, our war opponents are people from mainland India and from Southern Europe (Portuguese) and from Northern Europe (Dutch). Then, when the ASNLF (Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front) war was heard by RI (Republic of Indonesia) since December 4, 1976, we signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) in Northern Europe (Helsinki, Finland) on August 15, 2005.

How Did Those Big Trees Get There?

In historical records, there are thousands of trees of various types planted by the Sultan of Aceh in the city of Banda Aceh. When the Dutch troops arrived, they cut down trees to facilitate the attack and so that there would be no hiding place for the Acehnese troops.

After the Dutch troops occupied the town and palace, they planted some new trees. That's what's left now and we can still see. The trees that appeared after the war.

This museum is now one of the tourist attractions provided by the Aceh government. There are many collections in it. However, I don't want to mention it here. For me, the ancient cannons and trees that are more than a hundred years old are still a mystery, and have forgotten the story.

I just want to tell about him, about grief, pain. About our people who died because of the cannons, the Dutch soldiers and their supporting soldiers also died. Everything in that era was long dead. What they once defended, no longer belongs to them. Also, not ours here. Don't know whose.

An Inheritance An Inheritance

Many of the things we use today were the work of other people in other places at other times. There are times when the lives of those who have passed something down to us suffer. Those of us who use them cannot repay their kindness. We all know that, I don't need to mention it here.

Thank you

February 1, 2023

Kind Regards
Thayeb Loh Angen

Captions for All Photos: Old trees and ancient cannons at the Aceh Museum, Banda Aceh, Tuesday, January 31, 2023. By me @thayeblohangen