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The Acehnese (, ), also written as Atjehnese and Achinese, are an indigenous ethnic group native to Aceh, a province on the northernmost tip of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The area has a history of political struggle against the Dutch colonial rule. The vast majority of Acehnese people are Muslims. The Acehnese people are also referred to by other names such as Lam Muri, Lambri, Akhir, Achin, Asji, A-tse and Atse. Their language, Acehnese, belongs to the Aceh–Chamic group of Malayo-Polynesian of the Austronesian language family.
The Acehnese were, for a time, partially , as evident from their traditions and the many Sanskrit words in their language. Trade with the Islamic world resulted in the Islamization of the population and gradually displaced older religions practiced by the Acehnese. As a result, the Acehnese have been Muslims for many centuries. The estimated number of Acehnese ranges between 3,526,000 people to 4.2 million people.
Traditionally, Acehnese are agriculturists, metal-workers and weavers. Traditionally matrilocal, their social organisation is communal. They live in kampung, which combine to form districts known as . The golden era of Acehnese culture began in the 16th century, along with the rise of the Islamic Aceh Sultanate and later reaching its peak in the 17th century. Generally, the Acehnese people are regarded as conservative adherents to the faith and also as militant fighters against the colonial conquest of the Portuguese Empire and the Dutch Empire.
Aceh came to international attention as being the hardest-hit region of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake with 120,000 people dead.
The migration of the modern-day indigenous tribes, such as the Mantr peopleA. Hamish Ion & Elizabeth Jane Errington (1993). 9780275939656, Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780275939656 and the Lhan people (Proto-Malay), as well as the Chams, Malays and Minangkabau people (Deutero-Malay) who arrived later, formed the pribumi dwellers of Aceh. Foreign ethnic groups, especially Indian people, as well as a small amount of Arabs, Persians, Turkish people, and Portuguese also compromise the ancestry of the Acehnese people. The strategic position of Aceh in the northern tip of the Sumatra island for thousands of years has allowed the region to become a haven for trade and inter-marriage of various people groups, namely those involved in the sea trade route from the Middle East to China.
Chinese and Indian sources from 500 CE and onward mention that there was a settlement in northernmost Sumatra (Aceh) which was called P'o-lu. Many scholars believe that P'o-lu was close to the what is now Banda Aceh. (2025). 9781579584689, Routledge. ISBN 9781579584689 These sources also state that the average person wore cotton clothing while the ruling elite wore silk. The Chinese annals also claim that the local people were Buddhist. (2025). 9781579584689, Routledge. ISBN 9781579584689
Acehnese folklore states that the earliest people of Aceh came from indigenous tribes such as the Mante people and the Lhan people. (1997). 9783447039581, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447039581Alamsyah (2025). 9789793457888, Pejabat Pembuat Komitmen Bidang Budaya, Satker BRR NAD-Nias Pemulihan dan Pengembangan Bidang Agama, Sosial, dan Budaya. ISBN 9789793457888 The Mante people were a local native group believed to be related to the Batak, Gayonese and Alas people, while the Lhan people are allegedly still related to the Semang people group who had migrated from the Malay Peninsula or Indochina (specifically Champa and Burma). Initially, the Mante people settled in Aceh Besar Regency and later began to spread to other regions.
Around the ninth and tenth century there was an influx of Arabian and Persians merchants to the Aceh region. When Marco Polo visited the area in 1292, he mentions that some of the port cities and towns had already converted to Islam. It is commonly thought that when the Samudera Pasai Sultanate was founded, Islam was fully established in the region. Nonetheless, it is clear that Islam was a major religion in and around Aceh by the thirteenth century.
During the decline of the Srivijaya kingdom, it is estimated that a number of Malay people began to migrate to Aceh. They then settled down in the valleys of Tamiang River and later became known as the Tamiang people. After they were conquered by the Samudera Pasai Sultanate kingdom (1330), only then did they begin to integrate into Acehnese society; although in terms of cultural and linguistic, there are still similarities with the Malay culture. By the sixteenth century, Aceh was an important cultural and scholastic Islamic center influential throughout much of Southeast Asia.
Most of the Minangkabau people who migrated to Aceh settled around Meulaboh and Krueng Seunagan valley. Generally in these fertile areas they manage wet paddy fields and pepper farming, as well as some trading. The mixed population of Acehnese-Minangkabau people is also found in the southern region, namely in the areas around Susoh, Tapaktuan and Labuhan Haji. There are many who converse daily in both Acehnese language and their own native dialect, the Aneuk Jamee language.
As a result of the political expansion and diplomatic relations of the Aceh Sultanate with their surrounding region, the Acehnese people were also mixed with the Alas people, Gayonese, Karo people, Nias people and Kluet people. The unification of the Acehnese culture that stemmed from various ancestry are primarily in the Acehnese language, religion of Islam and the local customs, as how it was formulated by Sultan Iskandar Muda in the Adat Makuta Alamlaws, which is well known as "Kanun Mahkota Alam".
" The tribe of the Three Hundred is (insignificant) as the seeds of the drang (a bush which grows like a weed along fences);
The people of the clan Ja Sandang are even as anise and cummin (thus a little more valuable).
Those of the Ja Batèë (count) for something;
The Imeum Peuët it is which makes the world to tremble."— Oral poem ( hadih maja) from
Snouck Hurgronje's De Atjeher''.
Most of the Arabs that migrated to Aceh came from Hadhramaut, Yemen. Among the immigrants are those of the Ba Alawi including al-Aydrus (Aidrus Mosque, Aydarus), al-Ali Alatas, al-Kathiri, Badjubier, Sungkar, Bawazier & al-Habsyi and other clans; all of which are Arabic clans that originated from Yemen. They came as to spread Islam and as traders. Seunagan district for an instance, is well known to this today for numerous of of the Sayyid descent, of which the local community would address them with the title Teungku Jet or Habib as a form of respect. Similarly, some of the Sultan of Aceh are also descendants of Sayyid. Many of their descendants today have intermarried with the natives Acehnese people and do no longer bear their clan names.
There are also those of Persian people that generally came to spread religion and to trade, while those of Turkish people generally were invited as , weapon merchants, military trainers and soldiers of war for the Aceh Sultanate. At present, people of Persian people and Turkish people in Indonesia are mostly scattered in Aceh Besar Regency. Names of Persian and Turkish heritage are still being used by Acehnese people to name their children. In fact, the word Banda in the name of Banda Aceh city is also a word of Persian language in origin ( Banda means "port").
Initially, a group of Chamic languages migrant speakers controlled a small region only, namely Banda Aceh in Aceh Besar Regency. Marco Polo (1292) states that Aceh at that time consists of 8 smaller kingdoms, with each of them possessing their own language. The expansion of power on other coastal kingdoms, especially Pidie, Pasai and Daya, and absorption of their population over time in a period of 400 years, eventually made the language of the Banda Aceh population became dominant in the coastal region of Aceh. Other native languages speakers were then forced into the interior by the expansion of land for farming by the Acehnese language speakers. Dialects of the Acehnese language that are found in the Aceh Besar Regency valley are divided into two major groups, namely the Tunong dialect for dialects in the highlands and Baroh dialect for dialects in the lowlands. Most of the dialects that are used in Aceh Besar Regency and Daya, shows that settlements in that region have existed longer than any other regions. There are also many dialects in Pidie Regency, although not as much as in Aceh Besar Regency and Daya. Dialects on the east coast of Pidie Regency and in southern Daya tend to be more homogeneous, so much so that it is co-related with the migration that came along with the expansion of power of the Aceh Sultanate after the 1500s.
Local government of Aceh, among others through Governor's Decree No. 430/543/1986 and Perda No. 2 of 1990 established the Institute of Acehnese Customary and Culture (Lembaga Adat dan Kebudayaan Aceh, LAKA), with the mandate to develop the customs and norms of the communities and customary institutions in Aceh. Indirectly, this institution protects the preservation of the Acehnese language because in every cultural and customary activity, the delivery of such activities is carried out in the Acehnese language. Likewise, the Acehnese language is also commonly used in everyday affairs that are organized by government agencies in Aceh.
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