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ACHIN (Dutch At1eh)
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See also:ACHIN (Dutch At1eh) , a Dutch See also:government forming the See also:northern extremity of the See also:island of See also:Sumatra, having an estimated See also:area of 20,544 sq. m. The government is divided into three assistant-residencies—the See also:east See also:coast, the See also:west coast and See also:Great Achin. The See also:physical See also:geography (see SUMATRA) is imperfectly understood. Ranges of mountains, roughly parallel to the See also:long See also:axis of. the island, and characteristic of the whole of it, appear to occupy the interior, and reach an extreme height of about 12,000 ft. in the See also:south-west of the government. The coasts are See also:low and the See also:rivers insignificant, rising in the coast ranges and flowing through the coast states (the See also:chief of which are Pedir, Gighen and Samalanga on the N.; Edi, Perlak and Langsar on the E.; Kluwah, Rigas and Melabuh on the W.). The chief ports are Olehleh, the See also:port of Kotaraja or Achin (formerly Kraton, now the seat of the Dutch government), Segli on the N., Edi on the E., and Analabu or Melabuh on the W. Kotaraja lies near the northern extremity of the island, and consists of detached houses of See also:timber and See also:thatch, clustered in enclosed See also:groups called kampongs, and buried in a See also:forest of See also:fruit-trees. It is situated nearly 3 M. from the See also:sea, in the valley of the Achin See also:river, which in its upper See also:part, near Selimun, is 3 M. broad, the river having a breadth of 99 ft. and a See also:depth of 11 ft.; but in its See also:lower course, See also:north of its junction with the Krung Darn, the valley broadens to 121 m. The marshy See also:soil is covered by See also:rice-See also:fields, and on higher ground by kampongs full of trees. The river at its mouth is 327 ft. broad and 20-33 ft. deep, but before it lies a sandbank covered at low See also:water by a depth of only 4 ft. The Dutch See also:garrison in Kotaraja occupies the old Achinese citadel. The See also:town is connected by See also:rail with Olehleh, and the See also:line also extends up the valley. The construction of another railway has been undertaken along the east coast. The following See also:industries are of some importance —gold-working, weapon-making, See also:silk-See also:weaving, the making of pottery, fishing and See also:coasting See also:trade. The See also:annual value of the exports (chiefly See also:pepper) is about £58,000; of the imports, from £165,000 to £250,000. The See also:population of Achin in 1898 was estimated at 535,432, of whom 328 were Europeans, 3933 See also:Chinese, 30 See also:Arabs, and 372 other See also:foreign Asiatics. The Achinese, a See also:people of Malayan stock but darker, some-what taller and not so pleasant-featured as the true See also:Malays, regard themselves as distinct from the other Sumatrans. Their nobles claim Arab descent. They were at one See also:time Hinduized, as is evident from their traditions, the many Sarlekrit words in their See also:language, and their See also:general See also:appearance, which suggests See also:Hindu as well as Arab See also:blood. They are Mahommedans, and although Arab See also:influence has declined, their nobles still See also:wear the Moslem flowing robe and See also:turban (though the See also:women go unveiled), and they use Arabic script. The chief characteristic is their love of fighting; every See also:man is a soldier and every See also:village has its See also:army. They are industrious and skilful agriculturists, See also:metal-workers and weavers. They build excellent See also:ships. Their chief amusements are gambling and See also:opium-smoking, Their social organization is communal. They live in kampongs, which combine to See also:form mukims, districts or hundreds (to use the nearest See also:English See also:term), which again combine to form sagis, of which
there are three. Achin literature, unlike the language, is entirely See also:Malay; it includes See also:poetry, a See also:good See also:deal of See also:theology and several See also:chronicles. Northern Sumatra was visited by several See also:European travellers in the See also:middle ages, such as Marco See also:Polo, See also:Friar Odorico and Nicolo See also:Conti. Some of these as well as See also:Asiatic writers mention Lambri, a See also:state which must have nearly occupied the position of Achin. But the first voyager to visit Achin, by that name, was Alvaro Tellez, a See also:captain of See also:Tristan d'Acunha's See also:fleet, in 1506. It was then a See also:mere dependency of the adjoining state of Pedir; and the latter, with Pasei, formed the only states on the coast whose chiefs claimed the See also:title of See also:sultan. Yet before twenty years had passed Achin had not only gained See also:independence, but had swallowed up all other states of northern Sumatra. It attained its See also:climax of See also:power in the time of Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607–1636), under whom the subject coast extended from Aru opposite Malacca See also:round by the north to Benkulen on the west coast, a sea-See also:board of not less than 'Too See also:miles; and besides this, the See also: 
Another See also:exchange of letters took place between King James I. and Iskandar Muda in 1613. But native caprice and See also:jealousy of the growing force of the European nations in these seas, and the rivalries between those nations themselves, were destructive of See also:sound trade; and the English factory, though several times set up, was never long maintained. The See also:French made one great effort (1621) to establish relations with Achin, but nothing came of it. Still the foreign trade of Achin, though subject to interruptions, was important. See also: It consisted of 500 sail, of which 250 were galleys, and among these a See also:hundred were greater than any then used in See also:Europe. Sixty thousand men were embarked.
On the See also:death of Iskandar's successor in 1641, the widow was placed on the See also:throne; and as a See also:female reign favoured the oligarchical tendencies of the Malay chiefs, three more queens were allowed to reign successively. In 1699 the Arab or fanatical party suppressed female government, and put a chief of Arab blood on the throne. The remaining See also:history of Achin was one of rapid decay.
After the restoration of See also:Java to the See also:Netherlands in 1816, a good deal of See also:weight was attached by the neighbouring See also:British colonies to the See also:maintenance of influence in Achin; and in 1819 a treaty of friendship was concluded with the See also:Calcutta government which excluded other European nationalities from fixed See also:residence in Achin. When the British government, in 1824, made a treaty with the Netherlands, surrendering the remaining British settlements in Sumatra in exchange for certain posses-sions on the See also:continent of See also:Asia, no reference was made in the articles to the See also:Indian treaty of 1819; but an understanding was exchanged that it should be modified, while no proceedings hostile to .Achin should be attempted by the Dutch.
This See also:reservation was formally abandoned by the British government in a See also:convention signed at the See also:Hague on the 2nd of See also:November 1871; and in See also: The natives, however, maintained themselves in the interior, inaccessible to the Dutch troops, and carried on a guerilla warfare. General See also:van der See also:Heyden appeared to have subdued them in 1878–81, but they See also:broke out again in 1896 under the traitor Taku See also:Umar, who had been in See also:alliance with the Dutch. He died shortly afterwards, but the trouble was not ended. General van Hentsz carried on a successful See also:campaign in 1898 seq., but. in 1901, the See also:principal Achinese chiefs on the north coast having surrendered, the pretender-sultan fled to the Gajoes, a neighbouring inland people. Several expeditions involving heavy fighting were necessary against these in 1901–4, and a certain amount of success was achieved, but the pretender escaped, revolt still smouldered and hostilities were continued. See P. J. Veth, Atchin en zijne betrekkingen tot Nederland (See also:Leyden, 1873) ; J. A. Kruijt, Atjeh en de Atjehers (Leyden, 1877) ; Kielstra, Beschrijving van den Atjeh-oorlog (The Hague, 1885) ; Van See also:Langen, Atjeh's Wesskust, Tijdschrift Aardrijko, Genotktsch. (See also:Amsterdam, 1888), p. 226; Renaud, Jaarboek van het Mynwezen (1882); J. See also:Jacobs, Het famille-en Kampongleven op See also:Groot Atjeh (Leyden, 1894); C. Snouck Hurgronje, De Atjehers (Batavia, 1894). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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