ofthe SAME TREE

the coast: Daya in 1520, Pidië in 1521, and Samudera/Pasai in 1524. Only
Aru and the interior Batak settlements succeeded in resisting Aceh, but under
Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah al-Kahar (1539–71), Aru too was conquered in
1564. 37 So extensive were his conquests on Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula
that he is said to have referred to himself in a letter as “King of Aceh, Barus,
Pidië, Pasai, and the vassal states of Daya and Batak, prince of all the land
bounded by the ocean and the inland sea, the mines of Minangkabau, and the
kingdom of Aru, recently conquered with just cause.” 38 Extravagant claims
by rulers were not uncommon, as is particularly evident in letters sent by the
Pagaruyung courts. 39 The Portuguese obviously regarded Sultan Alauddin as
the most powerful ruler in Sumatra, with the Portuguese chronicler Diogo do
Couto further dubbing him “Emperor of all the Malayu,” 40 a reference redolent
of the past glories of Sriwijaya Malayu. Sultan Alauddin was also attributed
with the establishment of the administration of the kingdom. He sent
envoys to Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent (1520–66), the reigning sultan of
Turkey (the famous Sultan “Rum” of Malay traditions), to obtain teachers to
strengthen Islam in his realm and military aid to fight the infidel Portuguese.
Aceh’s ability to besiege the Portuguese in Melaka and to obtain assistance
from the legendary Rum raised its prestige in the region and particularly in
the Malayu lands on both sides of the straits. 41
One of the most detailed descriptions of early Aceh is found in a Portuguese
account, Roteiro das cousas do Achem, based on reports by the Portuguese
Diogo Gil, who was a prisoner of the Acehnese for several years in the sixteenth
century. 42 Gil noted that one had to sail some three leagues (c. eighteen
miles) up the Aceh River before encountering forests, fallow land, and some
rice fields. On the right were a few villages of fisherfolk who, he remarked,
were “well-regarded in the society.” Though there were rice fields and gardens,
Aceh was not self-sufficient and had to import food for the city. Pasai, Pidië,
and Aru were major suppliers of food for Aceh, with additional rice, wine,
and butter from Pegu and rice, sugar, and conserves from Bengal. Merchants
from the city went to trade on Pulau Wai, a small island off the Acehnese
coast, because it was the principal market for food in Aceh. Acehnese exports
were camphor and benzoin from Barus, and pepper and gold from Pariaman,
Tiku, and Indrapura. Pepper also came from Pidië and Aru, as well as from
the Malay Peninsula and Java.
As with many contemporary observers, Gil’s population figures appear
inflated though they are useful in providing relative comparisons. He believed
that the city itself contained some 70,000 inhabitants, of whom 7,500 were
foreigners. The latter were housed in various quarters in the city: one for the
3,500 Pasai merchants; a trading village containing 3,000 foreign merchants
(origins left unmentioned) in houses with warehouses (gudang) below; and
From Malayu to Aceh 117