Iskandar Muda

Conquests of Iskandar Muda

Iskandar Muda (* 1590 ; † December 27, 1636 ) was the 12th Sultan of Aceh in Sumatra .

background

Iskandar Muda translates as "Alexander the Younger". This comparison with Alexander the Great refers to his numerous campaigns, primarily against the Portuguese who controlled the Strait of Malacca .

During the time of Muda's reign, the Aceh region experienced its greatest territorial gain and gained an international reputation as a trading center and center of Islamic knowledge. Muda assumed his rule in 1607 and began his naval campaigns to conquer the neighboring areas. In doing so, he wanted to gain control of the northwestern part of the Indonesian archipelago. He extends his sphere of influence to the large port cities on the coast of Sumatra, but also to the ports of Kedah , Perak and Pahang on the Malay Peninsula. In a sea battle in 1629, an alliance of smaller states that merged their fleets prevented him from taking Malacca , which was occupied by the Portuguese . The basis for the elevated position of Aceh was the spice trade, so that the Sultan sought a monopoly over the pepper trade.

Aceh was also a center of learning during this period from which eminent writers such as Hamza Fansuri , Sjamsuddin Dari Pasai or Nūr ud-Dīn ibn Ali al-Rānīri emerged. The legal and administrative system established by Muda ( Adat Meukuta Alam or Kanun Meukuta Alam ) became the model for later models for other Islamic states in the archipelago. After the defeat in 1629 and the death of the Sultan in 1636, the Sultanate of Aceh became less and less important, especially as the Dutch increased their presence in the region and took Malacca in 1641.

literature

• Keat Gin Ooi: Southeast Asia. A historical encyclopedia from Angkor Wat to East Timor. Volume 1: A-G. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara 2004, ISBN 1-57607-770-5 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Iskandar Muda - sultan of Aceh. In: britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed February 22, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Keat Gin Ooi: Southeast Asia. A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor. P. 120, ( books.google.de ).