Born in Meulaboh, West Aceh in 1854, Teuku Umar is one of Indonesia’s national heroes. It is noted that this man who is believed to have unique tactics against colonialists led a guerrilla war in Aceh from 1873 to 1899. Teuku Umar himself is of Minangkabau descent. His grandfather, Datuk Makdum Sati, was known for his services to the Sultan of Aceh.
Little Teuku Umar has the nature of a builder. In addition, he is also known to be smart and willing to give up, and has a hobby of fighting. When he was 19 years old and appointed as keuchik of Daya Meulaboh, the Aceh war broke out. Teuku Umar then joined the fighters in his village to West Aceh.
A year later Teuku Umar left his bachelor with Nyak Sofiah, daughter of Uleebalang Glumpang. And because he wanted to increase his rank, he then married again to the daughter of Panglima Sagi XXV Mukim named Nyak Malighai which made him receive the title of Teuku and was blessed with a daughter named Cut Gambang who was born in a refugee camp. It didn’t stop there, in 1880 Teuku Umar married again. This time with his uncle’s daughter, Teuku Ibrahim Lamnga’s widow named Cut Nyak Dien. The two of them then fought together to attack Dutch posts in Krueng.
Teuku Umar had made peace with the Dutch in 1883. However, one year later war re-ignited between the two. 9 years later in 1893 to be precise, Teuku Umar began to find ways to defeat the Dutch from ‘within’. He then pretended to be a Dutch stooge. This action made Cut Nyak Dien furious because he was confused and embarrassed.
For his services in bringing down several defense posts in Aceh, Teuku Umar won the trust of the Dutch. He was then given the title Johan Hero and given the freedom to form his own army of 250 fully armed soldiers from the Netherlands. The Dutch did not know that this was just a trick by Teuku Umar, who had collaborated with Acehnese warriors before. Not long after, Teuku Umar was even given an additional 120 soldiers and 17 commanders in chief including Pangleot as his right-hand man.
March 30, 1896, Teuku Umar left the Dutch military service. It was here that he then launched an attack based on his war tactics and strategy. Together with troops equipped with 800 guns, 25,000 bullets, 500 kg of ammunition and 18 thousand dollars in cash, Teuku Umar who was accompanied by Teuku Panglima Polem Muhammad Daud and 400 of his followers slaughtered the Dutch. It was recorded that 25 people died and 190 were injured from the Dutch.
Gubuernur Deykerhof as a substitute for Governor Ban Teijn, who had trusted Teuku Umar all this time, felt hurt because he had been betrayed by Teuku Umar. He then ordered Van Heutsz and his large army to arrest Teuku Umar. It was the sudden attack on the Meulaboh area that claimed the life of Teuku Umar. He was shot and died on the battlefield, in Kampung Mugo, on February 10, 1899.
More than 70 years later, the Indonesian government honored Teuku Umar as a national hero through Presidential Decree No. 087/TK/1973 dated 6 November 1973. The name of this reform hero was also used as the name of the streets in big cities.
