DELI
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BRIEF HISTORY
Dutch intervention in 1861 resulted in a contract with the government of the NEI the following year. This recognised Deli as independent of both Aceh and Siak. Thereafter, the Sultan was left free to grant land rights and concessions to a variety of Dutch, British and American planting companies. As the rubber, tobacco, palm oil and coconut plantations expanded, so did the revenues of the Sultan. Rapid growth and development followed. The capital at Medan became the leading city of Sumatra, with modern hospitals, schools, commercial enterprises, a magnificent mosque and palace. Despite Dutch opposition, the Sultan, sent his sons to be educated at British schools in Singapore and Malaya, and made marriage alliances across the Malay world.
However, prosperity came with a cost. Large numbers of immigrants were brought to work on the plantations from India, China, other parts of the Indies and elsewhere in Asia. The traditional ethnic and economic balance of power were upset. These ethnic, economic, religious and cultural tensions were increased with the arrival of the Japanese in 1941. The confusion that followed the Japanese surrender in 1945 enabled a number of revolutionary groups to attempt a seizure of power before the allied forces arrived. The Japanese gave over much of their weaponry to their favorites and former allies, rather than, surrendering them to the returning allies. People who had collaborated with the Japanese usually headed these organizations. Some of them banded together and unleashed a brutal putsch, euphemistically labeled by them as the "social revolution". In effect nothing more than a bloody assassination campaign directed against foreigners, anyone linked to the administration or military, the Malay aristocracy and royalty. They invaded the palace at Medan and attacked or killed several members of the Sultan's family. A degree of peace was eventually restored by Indian Army troops, and the civil administration was turned over to the Dutch. However, no single authority ever exercised complete control. At one stage there were as many as five groups attempting to assert their authority : the British military, the Dutch civil administration, the Sultan's local government, the Javanese republican regime and the permuda revolutionaries. After Dutch attempts to establish military supremacy ended in stalemate, negotiations with the republican regime in Java eventually led to a transfer of power in 1949. The Sultan and his family, although no longer enjoying a political role, remained independently wealthy. They have retained considerable influence throughout the republican period.
STYLES & TITLES:
The ruling prince: Sri Paduka Tuanku Sultan (personal name) (reign title) ibni al-Marhum (father's title and name), Sultan of Deli, with the style of His Highness.
The principal consort of the ruling prince: Tengku Maha Suri Raja or Tengku Permaisuri.
The Heir Apparent: Tengku Mahkota.
The other sons of the ruling prince: Tengku (personal name) ibni al-Marhum (father's title and name).
The daughters of the ruling prince: Tengku (personal name) binti al-Marhum (father's title and name).
The other male descendants of the ruling prince, in the male line and down to the fifth generation: Tengku (personal name).
The other female descendants of the ruling prince, in the male line and down to the fifth generation: Tengku (personal name).
RULES OF SUCCESSION:
Male primogeniture, the sons of Royal wives taking precedence over those of commoners.
ORDERS & DECORATIONS:
None known.
SELECT GLOSSARY:
Laksamana Kuja Bintan: Admiral.
Sultan Panglima Mangedar 'Alam Shah: 'Warrior ruler, and King who Encircles the World'.
Tengku Mahkota: Crown Prince.
Wakil: representative, deputy, or lieutenant.
SOURCES:
John Anderson, Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra in 1823. Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1971.
William Patrick Cummings, Cultural Interaction in a Sumatran State: Deli 1814-1872, MA Thesis, Univ. of Hawaii, 1994.
Ensiklopedia Sejarah dan Kebudayaan Melayu, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 1995.
T. Luckman Sinar, SH, The History of Medan in the olden times. Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengembangan Seni Budaya Melayu, Medan, 1996.
T. Luckman Sinar, S.H., Teromba Silsilah Radja2 dan Bangsawan Serdang, Medan, 2001.
Dada Meuraxa, Sejarah Kebudayaan Suku-Suku di Sumatera Utara. Sasterawan, Medan, 1973.
Oostkust van Sumatra-Instituut : kroniek, 1925 to 1940, 1941-1946, & 1948 en 1949. Oostkust van Sumatra Instituut, Amsterdam, 1926-1950.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Theo Dirk Brouwer, Canada.
Stephen R. Bunford, UK.
The late Jeffrey Finestone, Thailand.
Tengku Kelana Jaya, Australia.
Tengku Mansoer Adil bin Tengku Aswani.
H.H. Tuanku Lukman Sinar Basarsyah II, Sultan of Serdang.
D. Tick, Pusat Dokumentasi Kerajaan-Kerajaan di Indonesia "Pusaka". pusaka.tick@tiscali.nl
Copyright© Christopher Buyers, October 2001 - July 2005