This is the peer reviewed author accepted manuscript (post print) version of a published work that appeared in final form in:

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1 Re-casting the wild: mapping "Islamic Cosmopolitanism" in urban Aceh This is the peer reviewed author accepted manuscript (post print) version of a published work that appeared in final form in: Nichols, Julie 2015 'Re-casting the wild: mapping "Islamic Cosmopolitanism" in urban Aceh' 2015 Proceedings Wild Spaces and Islamic Cosmopolitanism in Asia, unpublished, pp This un-copyedited output may not exactly replicate the final published authoritative version for which the publisher owns copyright. It is not the copy of record. This output may be used for noncommercial purposes. Persistent link to the Research Outputs Repository record: General Rights: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Outputs Repository are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognize and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Users may download and print one copy for the purpose of private study or research. You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain You may freely distribute the persistent link identifying the publication in the Research Outputs Repository If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

2 The Library Educating Professionals, Creating and Applying Knowledge, Engaging our Communities This is the author s (pre print) version of a published work was presented at Wild Spaces and Islamic Cosmopolitanism in Asia, Singapore, January Copyright 2015 The Author. This paper has been made available open access with permission from the author. Please contact the author for permission for reuse.

3 Re-casting the Wild: Mapping Islamic Cosmopolitanism in Urban Aceh JULIE NICHOLS School of Art, Architecture and Design The University of South Australia Introduction Aceh s premodern socio-cultural and urban histories have revealed narratives of war and conflict between different fiefdoms, in addition to the Europeans role of capitalising on disunity to exploit local resources. The notion of wild spaces suggests uncivilised, unchartered territories, non-bounded, beyond control, untamed, but on the other hand they may exist for the urban inhabitants as sites of exchange, of challenges, and of new knowledge acquisition. Historical accounts by Anthony Reid, Takeshi Ito, R. Michael Feener amongst others, of the seventeenth century Acehnese sultanate demonstrate a breadth of wild and Islamic cosmopolitanism which provides fascinating insight into the production of the urban realm at that time. This paper explores Islamic cosmopolitanism of Aceh, specifically as it was expressed in the built environment, and its evolution from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, in the history of the Baiturrahman Mosque. Adopting the theoretical framework presented by Françoise Chaoy in her account of the emergence of modern and conceptual thinking about the creation of architectural and urban space, the paper re-examines the history of the Baiturrahman Mosque, from its original creation to its rebuilding two centuries later and illustrates the change in a system of design processes. Forms of representation ranging from graphic examples such as maps to symbolism of cosmological and spiritual spaces of religious architecture, document and reflect the shift in thinking from the premodern to the modern of identity construction in the built environment. Choay attributes a sixteenth century treatise by Leon Battista Alberti s De re aedificatoria, as the first recorded writing on the theorising of built space. Although written accounts of built environments and spatial understandings date back to ancient Chinese texts, according to Choay, the theoretical discourse on urbanism originates in Western texts. In non-western societies of oral traditions, origins of spatial arrangement are the result of social practices and interconnected with representations as narratives of place and society. 1 Choay s analysis permits an alternative mode of understanding to explain the re-building of the Baiturrahman Mosque as an example of modern Islamic cosmopolitanism and utopianism. This new mode of conceiving urban and architectural space was intrinsically modern and international in thinking with, multiple influences, set against contentious and volatile socio-cultural conditions. New design thinking was implemented in Europe as a result of the Enlightenment s rationalised production of space to celebrate technology and science. These aspects of modern urbanism remain under reported in discursive Western urban histories of Aceh. Contributions of the locals in addition to foreigners in this shift of design process for the case of the Baiturrahman Mosque exhibit collaboration, acts of cosmopolitanism in parallel with instances of dominant conflict in the context of the emergence of modernity in Aceh. Two examples which illustrate the nature of collaborations include: the engineering technology adopted from 1 Choay, Françoise The Rule and The Model. Edited by Denise Bratton. English Translation ed. USA: The Massachussetts Institute of Technology. Original edition, Editions du Seuil. Reprint, 1997, 3. DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 1

4 European ship-building techniques in addition to the international team of workers and designers involved in the project. This re-telling and re-establishing of links between knowledge systems in the production of Islamic religious space across cultures as well as religions, is symptomatic of other cases, in the built environment such as the supplanting of the utopian colonial urban plan into many Southeast Asian cities. These cases highlight the complexities around the production of built space beyond conditions solely of power struggles. Also that premodern peoples of different cultural and religious persuasion shared certain objectives in the aspirations for modernity. However what types of modernity contributed to these imagined aspirations? How could cosmopolitanism be expressed in multiple ways in the production of urban space and how is it different to different peoples? In this respect the paper exposes the limitations of post-colonial language and preoccupations with oppositions such as East and West, premodern and modern, rational and irrational, coloniser and colonised, as curbing academic enquiry, understandings and complexities synonymous with cross-cultural urbanities. In an atypical account, the paper suggests the shift from the premodern to the modern in the realisation of the built space of the mosque tentatively recognises some positive interactions with Western thinking and dissemination of technologies in addition to reporting how Islamic cosmopolitanism reveals itself differently in different contexts, as a product of the emergence of modernity. Islamic Cosmopolitanism Aceh s premodern history has been characterised by cosmopolitanism stemming from trade and exploration. If cosmopolitanism is defined as the characteristic of being a citizen of the world, free from provincial and national bias, it is perhaps problematic to suggest there is Islamic cosmopolitanism? It is paradoxical in that the very basis of being a cosmopolite means there is an inherent connectedness across all categories of religion to ethnicity. Cosmopolitanism does not infer connection to a particular geographic context but rather akin to the global community. Therefore in this paper, Islamic cosmopolitanism suggests a focus on connections to other Islamic communities in different geographic contexts, and given these influences how did those connections and interactions play out in Aceh? Figure 1: Acehnese Sultanate from [Source: accessed ] DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 2

5 Islamic cosmopolitanism may be seen as occurring from the beginnings of the spread of Islam around the thirteenth century, although Muslim burial sites in archaeological studies suggest contact in Southeast Asia was much earlier. Islamic cosmopolitanism was expressed through the spread of ideas and technologies which contributed to the production of Aceh s urban environment, and specifically the Baiturrahman Mosque. The initial construction of the mosque in 1614 occurred due to the benefits of collective Islamic cosmopolitanism the prospering of trade initially prioritised through trade with other Muslim merchants and later through expanded international pepper markets. To what extent was Islamic cosmopolitanism expressed in seventeenth century Acehnese built spaces? To what extent were these expressions of Islamic cosmopolitanisms reflective of cross-cultural relations that may be seen as positive legacies of such interactions? Secondly, in the seventeenth century the Sultan Iskandar Muda given Aceh s financial viability with pepper and tin markets was able to further celebrate this economic success as well as to his belief and support of Islam in the building of the Baiturrahman Mosque. According to Anthony Reid, the pepper economy in both Sumatra and Java enabled the indigenous market to connect with global trading partners assisting the transitions into modernity. 2 Relations with the Ottomans on a political level, occurred in addition to the spiritual aspirations of pilgrimages to Mecca. 3 Therefore technological transfers of knowledge were able to occur between all of these parties. Increased capital as a result of the prospering pepper markets which also meant increased access of shipping from local and international traders, which in turn exposed Aceh to improved technologies from the west for long term commercial ventures in junks of larger tonnage. 4 This physical investment may also be seen as a celebration of relations between the Ottomans and the Indonesians, politically against the Dutch whilst also spiritually against Christianity overtaking the region. The design of the mosque reflected other Malay-style indigenous architectural typologies, dominated by concerns of climate and material availability, in addition to the spiritual understandings of the levels of ascending and descending between physical and metaphysical worlds. Thirdly, the close relationships between indigenous spiritual belief systems and state were further reflected in the siting of the mosque within proximity of the royal palace. The Sultan being the earthly representative of God consistent with global Islamic practice required sufficient allocation for the Acehnese court residents and other subjects to congregate. This spatial interplay is evident in a rare 1645 map produced by the Dutch and discussed here to reflect upon cultural practices as well as mosque design and spatial representation. Therefore it is tentatively posited that whilst it is evident that the notion of cosmopolitanism extended beyond the extents of local Muslim communities, in premodern times as is the case for modernity, communities such as the seventeenth century Acehnese court remained highly connected to other Muslims, but in addition their Islamic cosmopolitanism cannot be dissociated either from non-muslim cosmopolitanisms. A predicament of terminology arises in Islamic cosmopolitanism as it paradoxically suggests an identity to the cosmopolite. 2 Ibid., 34 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 3

6 Figure 2: Rare 1645 Dutch map of Aceh township and port settlement. [Source: Biblioteca Laurenziana Florence] The events of the nineteenth century, after the Aceh wars with the Dutch, and the destruction of the Baiturrahman Mosque as a symbol of Islam and of a lucrative and culturally-rich period of Aceh s history, are debated. For some scholars this act of destruction was an example of a coloniser asserting their power intent on bringing the local Islamic community to ultimate despair and demise in the desecration of its physical and spiritual centre. By contrast it is argued that the intrinsic beginnings in Islamic cosmopolitanism in addition to the influence of other cosmopolitanisms contributed to a resilience of the Acehnese to endure, rebuild physically and ideologically, their spaces of worship and everyday life. The Dutch introduced another way of conceiving and constructing the built environment, where the stylistic references to Islam symbolised an international connection with the broader Islamic community. Typical historical depictions of a population recipient only of oppression by colonising forces, stripped of their livelihoods and spiritual space misconstrues contemporary understandings and local contributions to the rebuilt city of Banda Aceh and Baiturrahman Mosque. A history negating Acehnese contributions to their lived space manifests a sense of disenchantment, disempowerment and lack of control. The 1877 reconstruction of the Baiturrahman Mosque is a case which highlights these misconstrued conceptions of the past. Some of the misunderstandings include: the plan form of the building represented the Christian crucifix implemented for an Islamic space of worship as an insult to the Islamic community and as a result the building was underutilised for a period after its completion; the Dutch rebuilt the building to impose an international style of architecture on the Acehnese in their abandonment of the indigenous forms thus leading particular styles from the Dutch perspective without local consultation; these actions equated to a type of Orientalism of attempting a manipulation of the Acehnese to curtail to the Dutch. By contrast DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 4

7 another story is revealed whereby the mosque was conceived by the Sultan in conversation with the Dutch with mediations between the European architect, Chinese contractor and Dutch colonial coffers to rebuild in the international Islamic style from which Aceh had historically drawn spiritual and intellectual influences. Figure 3: Baiturrahman Mosque, or the Great Mosque of Kutaraja built by the Netherlands India Government in [Source: From H. D. K Willink s Landschappen en Volkstypen van Nederlandsch Indie (Haarlem, 1883) in Reid] In addition to the mosque being constructed with emergent modern technologies such as the railway, as well as shipbuilding techniques in the production of the dome designs, enduring materials sourced from Europe, China and the Middle East all contributed to an international cosmopolitanism expressed through the architecture. How might the emergence of a modern shift in thinking about the design of built space, in addition to power struggles contribute to the nineteenth century Baiturrahman Mosque? Conceptualising built space Identity construction became a part of the emergence of modern urban environments. Constructed identities or a sought-after aesthetic in building design terms are a modern phenomenon and preconceived. Incidental identity was characteristic of pre-modern societies whereby religious and socio-cultural spatial practices influenced the production of space and the aesthetic realisations of built form. To highlight historical modes of transition in the production of space from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries and to support a theory as to the physical translations behind the Baiturrahman Mosque in Aceh, the theoretical frame established by French urban historian Françoise Choay s seminal work The Rule and the Model, has been adopted for this understanding. DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 5

8 Figure 4: Part of Peter Mundy s sketch of Sultan Iskandar Thani s Idul Adh 1637 feast procession to the Baiturrahman Mosque shown on the left. [Source: Reid 1996, Indonesian Heritage; Early of Modern History] Choay highlighted the origins of conceptualising the creation of built space and associated written discourse that stem from Western culture and post-industrial Revolution, where these methods were imposed into other cultural contexts on the premise of science. 5 This discourse is traced to Alberti s De re aedificatoria, published in the fifteenth century. According to Choay, Alberti does not introduce any religious reasoning behind his methods, but does highlight some social practices. Essentially his ideas are based in mathematical constructs such as perspective for proposing a rational frame through which to conceptualise the urban environment. 6 The groups of works which contribute to the conception of built spaces are coined by Choay as instaurational texts, in that they represent the foundation of the discipline of urban theory or what nineteenth century intellectuals refer to as urbanism and are divided into architectural treatises, utopias, and writings on urbanisms. 7 These divisions are important as they characterised different ways of seeing, mapping and drawing the world, as well as illustrating how rational urbanism and the colonial model came to be adopted in the non- Western world. Architectural treatises proposed principles for conceiving built space in any context, as a methodology for implementation. Choay s focus is that of utopias which delivered models and mappings as interpretations of idealised versions of society as well as critiques as to the inadequacies of the current society. These conceptual urban utopias are like prototypes in that they are delocalised and reproducible. 8 The prototype represents a system proposed through the rationalisation of rules of an established human order, in addition to a system of socio-cultural practices. 9 The representation of such a rationalised system is indicated by master plans, surveys, or three-dimensional prototype models. 5 Ibid., 2. 6 Ibid., 4. 7 Ibid., 8. Also see Thomas Moore, (2008), Utopia In. Adelaide: The University of Adelaide Library. Link to e-resource: http//ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/more/thomas/m83u/. 8 Choay, Ibid. DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 6

9 Therefore the shift from a retrospective view of the world to a projective view is the result of a shift in thinking from the premodern to the modern. The former is related to the past in its descriptive nature, and the latter is speculative, focused on the future. The events and actions around the building of Iskandar Muda s Baiturrahman Mosque in the seventeenth century were descriptive in the way they describe or narrate a story of the site, the building and its religious significance. By contrast projective design and the rebuilding of the nineteenth century Baiturrahman Mosque represents a preconceived, premeditated design process that is projective in the sense it maps a future reality for the purpose of implementation in the field. In terms of utopian thinking, Choay has classified these two approaches as culturalist resonating with the past and past modes of production, traditional trades and artisanship. This approach compares with the progressivist whereby the innovations of the industrial revolution provide insight, instruction and innovation on how to project modernity into the built environment. Using scientific knowledge and current technologies, as well as a desired and specified aesthetic process enables the architect to design and to custom build a future environment. The significance of the role of the map in urban and architectural design is at the beginning of the process of design thinking in that it acts as a rationalising tool in the collation and representation of data on the site. Once the site and survey mapping is prepared, the designer works from this reductive space to project a built solution. Systematically the designer draws upon the contexts of the site, as well as socio-cultural conditions and the mosque s religious practices of the future occupants of the building. The point at which the process becomes contentious is the shift from the retrospective to the projective position. How does the designer employ traditional and historical knowledge of an environment and peoples to undertake a projective drawing and mapping of a projective reality? This junction between the contemporary and retrospective knowledge is an uncomfortable and typically unexplained position. Inevitably the designer interprets and distorts accrued knowledge, perhaps drawing on certain aesthetic choices out of their historical and intellectual context, to realise the project? This is the part of the design process where identity construction occurs on behalf of the client or the architect or both and typifies the role of the Baiturrahman Mosque architect de Bruins, which will be highlighted later. 10 To what extent was this shift from premodern practice and the celebration of Islam under Sultan Iskandar Muda in the seventeenth century mosque, different or evident in the design and material composition in the later nineteenth century mosque? Islam in Aceh Acehnese historian Zainuddin suggests that after the rise of Islam in the eight century an increased number of Muslim traders frequented Lamurai in north Sumatra on their route to China. 11 Arab and Indian Islamic missionaries in the ninth century left Arabic inscriptions in Pasai, according to historian Ali Hasjmy, which had an influence in the creation of the first Islamic state in Aceh. 12 Ibrahim Battuta, an Arab traveller and scholar in the thirteenth century in Aceh, noted foreign settlements in Pasai of Arab, Persian and Indian, and the townspeople were conversant in Arabic, Malay and Hindi. Interactions and integration between foreigners and local Acehnese were typical from economic transactions to the personal with marriage between these groups. 13 By the sixteenth century these trading and Islamic centres had come under the 10 Nichols, Julie Maps and Meanings: Urban Cartography and Urban Design. Paolo Alto, California, USA.: Academica Press, Hasan, Izziah "Architecture and the politics of identity in Indonesia: a study of the cultural history of Aceh." PhD, School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, The University of Adelaide. 49. citing Zainuddin Tarich Atjeh Dan Nusantara, 1st edition (Medan, Indonesia: Pustaka Iskandar Muda 1961), Ibid. citing Ali Hasjmy et al., 50 Tahun Aceh Membangun, (Banda Aceh: Masjlis Ulama Indonesia Daerah Istimewa Aceh dan Pemerintah Daerah Istimewa Aceh, 1995), Hasan, 53.See also Suhaili Osman 119, Expressing Islam: A Study of the Bayt Al-Qur an and the Museum Istiqlal Indonesia and the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, NUS Masters Thesis Department of History DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 7

10 jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam, which encompassed Lamurai or Meukuta Alam, as well as Pedir, Pasai and Perlak. 14 Acehnese historian M. Junus Djamil in the Chronicles of Aceh s Sultans, suggest that the origins of Acehnese peoples may be seen in peoples originating from Siam, Hindi, Funan, Kampuchea and Tjampa of the Mon-Khmer race. 15 Such origins highlights the roles of Hinduism and Buddhism in Acehnese culture and society before Islam arrived in the kingdom. 16 Sanskrit words were incorporated into the Acehnese language and subsequently it has been documented by D. G. E. Hall that Acehnese sultans adopted Moghul garden design as well as bureaucratic titles, and dress. 17 The power of Pasai as a Muslim trading centre grew once the Portuguese invaded Malacca and were now forced to shift their trading pursuits from Malacca to Pasai. Silk was introduced to Pasai by Chinese Muslims, but then was subsequently grown in the hinterlands. 18 By the sixteenth century the ruler of Aceh, Sultan Ali Mughayat Syah drove the Portuguese out of Pasai, with the port of Aceh superseding Pasai s role as the dominant trading port in north Sumatra. 19 According to Hill the residents of Pasai were the first Islamic proselytisers. 20 By the reign of Sultan Ala adin Riayat Syah al-kahar ( ) there were established trade routes between Aceh to the Red Sea with caravans taking pepper and other spices to the Mediterranean. This passage entrenched relationships with Turkish rulers in terms of trade as well as Islamic socio-cultural practices. 21 Sultan Iskandar Muda further dominated trade in the Archipelago by centralising foreign trade into the port of Banda Aceh. 22 According to Takeshi Ito, Iskandar Muda used his alliances with the English and Dutch East India companies to strengthen his royal authority and secure trade outside of the Portuguese monopoly of the Malaccan port. 23 The title of Sultan was adopted by the Acehnese kings from the Arabic word saltana (to dominate), which were celebrated on their graves in addition to poems or prayers about their lives. Arab kings were seen as the heroes of the propagation of Islam and as a result held influence and strong relations with the Acehnese and other Islamic regions of Persia and India. 24 Known as the gateway to Mecca with many foreign Muslims studying in Aceh under Islamic scholars before their pilgrimage. 25 Aceh s reputation in the seventeenth century or what is known as the Golden Age under the Sultan Iskandar Muda s reign ( Ibid., 50. Also in M C Ricklefs A History of Modern Indonesia since c (London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1993) Ibid., 51 citing Djamil, Tawarich Radja Kerajaan Aceh, 3 16 Ibid., 51, citing Said Aceh Sepanjang Abad 15-19, and Said discusses the origins of different languages in Aceh. 17 Hall, Daniel George Edward A History of South-east Asia. 3rd ed. New York: St Martin s Press, 219. For further reading see Barabara Leigh Hands of Time: the Craft of Aceh (Jakarata: Djambatan, 1989), 5.According to Elizabeth Lambourd s work there is also a connection suggested with South Asian Muslim funeral practices which has been uncovered in the region. 18 Hasan, Hall, D. G. E 4 th edition (Basingstoke: Macmillan Education, 1981), Hill, A. H "The Coming of Islam to North Sumatra." Journal of Southeast Asian History 4 (1):6-, Reid, Anthony Indonesian Heritage: Early Modern History. Indonesia: Achipelago Press, Markham, Albert Hastings, ed The Voyages and Works of John Davis, the Navigator. new release ed: Literary Licensing LLC Ito, Takeshi "The World of the Adat Aceh: A Historical Study of the Sultanate of Aceh." PhD PhD, Asian Studies, Australian National University Fatimi, S. Q Islam Comes to Malaysia. The University of Michigan: Malaysian Sociological Research Institute, Hall, 219. DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 8

11 1636). Aceh was a centre of Sufi scholarship in Southeast Asia in addition to economic, cultural and heightened international relations with the Ottoman Turks. 26 According to Riddell, after their defeat in Malacca in 1629 against the Portuguese, the Acehnese, Iskandar Muda and the Acehnese people were increasingly showing signs of war weariness. 27 Subsequently there was religious and foreign policy change as a result of this defeat. There was a degree of turmoil which followed in the latter half of the 1630s with regard to religion as one of Iskandar Muda s great Sufi scholars, Hamzah Fansuri died and another six months later another leading Shaykh died. 28 This view of the relationship between God and community established by Hamzah was so controversial after Iskandar Muda s death and also the death of his Sufi scholars that Hamzah s teachings were deemed heretical. The change in direction for Islamic scholarship in Aceh occurred under the next Sultan Iskandar Thani, who according to Riddell, was the adopted son of Iskandar Muda from Pahang. He observed the teachings of a Gujerati scholar Muhammad Rainiri, newly arrived in Aceh and who refuted the Sufism of mystic Hamzah Fansuri and Sham al-din patronised by his adopted father. 29 According to Snouck Hurgronje, many of the Acehnese followers of the previous teachings of Sufism were murdered by Iskandar Thani. 30 Also under Thani s reign, the Dutch joined forces with Johor to defeat the Portuguese in Malacca, which fractured relations between Johor and Aceh, as the Acehnese felt threatened by foreign occupation in Malacca. 31 Seventeenth Century Baiturrahman Mosque Sultan Iskandar Muda century called his seventeenth century construction the Great Mosque Baiturrahman and reportedly the Hikayat Aceh states that Turkish envoys to Aceh described the impact of the mosque as follows: 32 In the country, there is an immensely large and very high mosque, of which the roof top is made of plated silver and it has crystal mirrors The other mosques of the world cannot rival this one. It extends as far as the eye can see; the minbar is made partly of gold and partly of suasa During prayers every one repeats: Our master is the Sultan Perkasa Alam who controls both worlds and both seas, east and west. 33 An Englishman, Peter Mundy travelled to Aceh in 1637 and from his drawings there are impressions of the mosque as well as a ceremonial occasion of the sacrifice of buffaloes for the great Islamic feast of Idul Adh 26 Reid, Anthony "Sixteenth Century Turkish Influence in Western Indonesia." Journal of Southeast Asian History X (3): Riddell, Peter "Abd al-raʼūf al-singkilī's Tarjumān al-mustafīd: a critical study of his treatment of Juz "PhD, Asian Studies, Australian National University., Ibid., Ibid., Hurgronje, Snouck The Acehnese. 2 vols. Vol. 2. Leiden: KITLV Press, Takeshi, Hasan, As cited and translated by Wilhelmina Remke Raap, The Great Mosque of Banda Aceh: Its History, Architecture and Its Relationship to the Development of Islam in Northern Sumatra (Masters of Arts, University of Victoria, 1994), DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 9

12 featuring the building. 34 The mosque was square in form and had a surrounding wall covered by a roof comprising of four levels. It reflected the style of Javanese mosques such as the Demak Mosque, and according to de Graaf this was a common archetype of Indonesian mosques until the nineteenth century. 35 The Demak Mosque or Masjid Agung Demak established in 1506 is the oldest mosque in Java exhibiting the tiered roof forms prior to the arrival of Islam in the region. 36 Such architectural references appear to reflect Hindu multi-storey roof forms rather than Middle Eastern mosque architecture and the call to prayer was presumed to take place on one of the roof terraces. 37 According to Suhaili Osman, the Demak Mosque tiers took on adopted Islamic meanings such as Islam, Iman (faith) and Ikhsan (perfection or excellence). 38 Whilst the Masjid Sultan Ternate demonstrated seven tiered levels of roof and this archetype reflected the seven levels of Syurga Sanskrit term for Heaven, and still popularly referred to in the early seventeenth century, despite the arrival of Islam and the introduction of the Arabic word, Al-Jannah. 39 As these documented cultural variables still embraced within the Islamic faith suggest that in the seventeenth century at least multiple influences in the realisation of religious architecture were embraced. These buildings were constructed of indigenous and readily available materials such as sirap-thatched roofs and light-weight timber as well as bamboo structures. They were easily replaceable were they deemed inappropriate to the practice of Islam, yet their forms endured despite historical connections with Hinduism. Whilst there were differences of approach and belief systems within Islamic communities during the seventeenth century in Aceh as was evident with the alternate teachings between Hamzah (Sufism) and al-rainri (Shari a), it is notable how Hinduism and Buddhism were tolerated. The differences of Islamic thinking became more pronounced by the nineteenth century in an expression of difference from traditional to the modern in the expression of traditionalist values to those of the nationalists (modern) who wanted closer adherence to scripture and religious practices. 40 Urban Aceh The Acehnese actively resisted Europeans in their region and the Dutch occupation. This was a costly position for the Dutch as they needed to be constantly mobilised or actively engaged in conflict to protect their often tenuous positions. So as a result during their occupation of Aceh there was a lack of investment in built infrastructure compared with Javanese cities. 41 In the late part of the seventeenth century under the reign of Queen Naqiatuddin the palace and extents of the city of Aceh were raised to the ground in a coup. 42 It is estimated by Thomas Bowrey at the end of the seventeenth century there was around eight thousand houses in the capital city. 43 According to Reid, the population was approximately one hundred thousand people, consisting of local residents in addition to foreign traders and artisans, writers as well as scholars 34 Temple, Richard Carnac, ed A geographical Account of Countries Round the Bay of Bengal, by Thomas Bowrey Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society.321 See also Temple, Richard Carnac, ed The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, Vol. 4. London: The Hakluyt Society. 35 de Graaf, H. J "The Origin of Javanese Mosque." Journal of Southeast Asian History 4 (1)., Florida, Nancy K., ed The Demak Mosque: Construction of Authority (Babad Jaka Tinkir) in Writing the Past, Inscribing the Future: History as Prophecy in Colonial Java Durham, N. C.: Duke University Press. 37 De Graaf, Suhaili, Osman "Expressing Islam: A Study of the Bayt Al-Qur an and the Museum Istiqlal Indonesia and the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia " Masters, Department of History National University of Singapore.. 39 Ibid., Ibid., Hasan, Ibid. 43 Dasgupta, Arun Kumar Aceh in Indonesian Trade and Politics, , 81. DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 10

13 from ethnic backgrounds as diverse as Turkish, Chinese, Gujerati, Bengali, Portuguese, Burmese and Javanese. 44 The Sultan encouraged development of the city and house building motivating accommodation for visitors and residents. Lombard suggests the Sultan also influenced the design of housing, with each house typically constructed simply in wood and woven bamboo walls. 45 Figure 5: Detail from 1645 map of Aceh The urban settlement expanded to the east and west sides of the Aceh River with the western part being the older city. It was essentially a low lying city and often flooded in the monsoon, causing substantial damage. The eastern part of the city had facilities constructed there for the colonials from housing projects to military facilities and hospitals, a prison and water tower. 46 The palace complex of the Sultan (keratin or dalam) occupied the central hierarchical position in the township of Aceh. The Dalam was at the intersection of the Aceh River and the Kruëng Darōy about five kilometres from the sea at the southern end of the town. In front of the main gate there was a large open square or gathering space known as Medan Khayyali which abutted the Mosque Baiturrahman Reid, Anthony "The Structure of Cities in Southeast Asia, 15th-17th Centuries." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 11: , Hasan, 121. citing Lombard, Kerjaan Aceh: Jaman Sultan Iskandar Muda ( ), Hasan 127, citing Sufi and Wibowo, Persona Banda Aceh. 47 Ito, 21 DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 11

14 Fortifications of the city and palace as a whole were non-existent except for a moat of three metres wide and three metres deep which surrounded the palace court. The soil from the excavation of the moat formed a compacted mounded wall to the court and this was planted out with bamboo, obscuring the palace from view and according to Beaulieu provided an impressive natural backdrop to the gardens and grounds of the court. The mosque, sited on the western side of the city plaza, accommodated the central gathering space for the Acehnese community. 48 Iskandar Muda rebuilt the Dalam in 1621, where there was a stone fort constructed with a large bastion of guns. In front of this bastion there was a pleasure garden encompassing several fish ponds and paths. The garden was also enclosed with a earthern wall about about three to four metres high and a moat also surrounding the perimeter. 49 To enter the private quarters of the sultan, required traversing four gates and three courtyards. The Dalam consisted of four sections the outer court, middle court inner court and finally the private quarters. 50 In its original form built in the seventeenth century, the Baiturrahman Mosque may be seen in the 1645 map of Aceh [detail in Figure below], represented in the traditional style of Malay mosque architecture, with tiered multiple rooves. It was a majestic timber structure and distinctive in style and form in the landscape of urban Aceh. This period corresponded with a tradition of high culture in Aceh, characterised by religious teachings and the dissemination of studies, knowledge and ideas by visiting Islamic scholars. Also as a centre of the arts generally, Acehnese enjoyed literature, artistic performances such as dance and puppetry, in addition to a favourite source of entertainment by the Sultan of cock fighting and other competitive interactions of animal combatants. The urban Acehnese people were highly connected to this environment of exchange of knowledge, technological, economic and religious ideas. This cosmopolitanism, if understood as peoples belonging to all of the world meant that Aceh was always exposed to multiple influences from architectural styles to technologies in the production of its built environment as indicated in early representations. Culture and artistic pursuits flourished with Sultan Iskandar Muda employing a reported 300 goldsmiths at the court, as well as spinners of yarn, weavers, silversmiths and wood carvers. These artisans were predominantly foreign Chinese and Turks. 51 The Colonial period & 19 th Century Baiturrahman Mosque According to Edward Said, in his book Orientalism, that it involved practices whereby the West introduced a particular way of thinking to their colonised territories, for the purpose of restructuring society. 52 This mode of thinking was imposed and according to Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani, unwelcome, particularly where it expressed cultural difference this was most evident in the reconstruction of the built environment. 53 These scholars outline an argument for the adoption of the kubah (dome) in the Baiturrahman Mosque reconstruction as being evident of an Orientalist imposition on the people of Aceh. 54 At the same time Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani acknowledge that the Sultan in conjunction with the Dutch appointed a foreign architect for the project and the archetype of the dome was popular generally in International 48 Dasgupta, Ito, Ibid. 51 Markham, Said, Edward W Orientalism. New York: Vintage. 53 Kurniawan, Kemas Ridwan, and Ratu Arum Kusumawardhani "The Influence of 19th century Ducth Colonial Orientalism in spreading Kubah (Islamic Dome) and Middle-Eastern Architectural Styles for Mosques in Sumatra." Journal of Design and Built Environment 11 (3):1-13., Ibid. see also Reid, Anthony, and Takeshi Ito "A Precious Dutch Map of Aceh, c " Archipel 57: DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 12

15 Architecture Exhibitions in Paris and London. 55 Indigenous cultural building elements and styles were exhibited during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in an eclectic, misconstrued and decontextualized way at these European biennales, according to Kusno, for the coloniser to convey a sense of European mastery over its colony 56 Whilst the Baiturrahman Mosque appears to have been influenced by the processes outlined above, it also may be posited that the influence of European ideas and technologies, disseminated by the Dutch and other foreign contributors to the project, adopted for the rebuilding were accepted by the Acehnese. These technologies include the methods for the construction of the kubah, which are based on ship building methods adopted from the Europeans; the international team of workers on the project, from the architect to the Chinese contractor, all of whom would have brought their specific knowledge and practices of construction to this project; and finally the plan form of the building whilst alleged to represent the Christian symbol of the cross, is actually found referent in Islam. To what extent was there value to the Acehnese community in the international style of the mosque? As there is a history of destruction of cultural and religious architecture in Aceh, if it were an offensive Orientalist imposition, why did the Baiturrahman Mosque survive post-independence in Aceh? There are no doubt complex and numerous reasons as to why this building survived to the current day, however it was not merely a stereotypical account of the case of the coloniser dominating the colonised, as is outlined below. Figure 6: Baiturrahman Mosque, Aceh [Source: KITLV photographic archive Leiden.] 55 Ibid. see also Feener, R. Michael, Patrick Daly, and Anthony Reid, eds Mapping the Acehnese Past and its present state of study. Leiden, The Netherlands: KITLV Press. 56 Kusno, Abidin Behind the Postcolonial: Architecture, urban space and political cultures in Indonesia. Edited by Thomas A. Markus and Anthony D. King, Architext Series. London: Routledge., 27. DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 13

16 International Technologies and Materials As has been highlighted Aceh was recipient particularly from the seventeenth century of knowledge systems disseminated by international trade perspectives. A practice exonerated in a world where trade success was measured by volumes and capacity of production in addition to the expediency of the product from the home port to its destination, the most current ship design and building knowledge were embraced. According to Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani, this adoption of ship-building techniques to realise the onion kubah was reflective of the architect de Bruins inexperience with dome construction, and thus needed to conceal this inadequacy of the architecture behind a suspended ceiling. 57 The base of the dome was octagonal in shape, made out of a timber sub-structure umbrella-like in its framework. This framework would then be glad in steamed timber boarding moulded with the heat to the shape and formed a drum-like space called the tambur. This steaming and framing was developed from shipbuilding techniques. The final outer layer consisted of sirap (roof shingles). 58 The tambur had a series of terraces which was also where the muazin would call make the regular call to prayer. This floor of the tambur was immediately above the timber ceiling to the main prayer space of the mosque. 59 The majority of the materials for the mosque were sourced from outside Aceh. The lime or mortar was from Penang Island; stonework was predominantly Dutch; except the marble for the stairs and floors which was of Chinese origin; window lintels were cast iron from Belgian and timber window frames were Burmese with iron columns from Surabaya. These internationally sourced materials contributed to the budget overrun of the building. Receipt of the mosque by the Acehnese people occurred on 27 th December Netherlands Indies General Governor for Aceh, A. Pruys van der Hoven gave the keys to the mosque to Teungku Kadhi Malikul Adil as the representative of the Acehnese people. In addition the style seems to borrow from the Moghuls and Indo-Islamic architecture of India using the dome shape, prominent in architecture of Rajput. There are also Dutch references with the stepped gable. Ogee arches used rhythmically throughout the building with stucco features seems to reflect the Moorish architecture of India. 61 International Workers The mosque of Baiturrahman was designed by Italian-Dutch architect Meester de Bruins of the Department of Water and Public Works in Batavia and built between It was the first religious structure built by the Dutch in Aceh as the old mosque had been destroyed by the Dutch in It was commissioned by the Acehnese Sultanate, although the construction process appears to have fallen under Dutch instruction. 63 The site consisted of the ruins of Sultan Iskandar Muda s seventeenth century version. 64 According to 57 Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani,5. The architect s name de Bruins (Dutch) might be a malapropism of de Bruchi (Italian) from the Aga Khan website, or de Brunc (French) as according to Izziah Hasan in her thesis. 58 Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani,9 59 Ibid.,10 60 Ibid., Tilosten, G. H. R The Rajat Palaces: The Development of an Architectural Style, New Haven and London: Yale University Press Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani,5. 63 Ibid., DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 14

17 Hasan, the building accesses influences which may be seen as both foreign and local, in the notion of a square enclosed plan from the former mosque whilst aesthetically it draws on Indian Moghul architecture. 65 De Bruins scheme was required to adhere to religious guidance of the Religious Councillor of Garut, and hence the plan and the façade was modified to accommodate Islamic guidelines. 66 The mosque contains seven kubah and four towers to contributing to its roof structure. The north and western sides of the mosque are adjacent to the Pasar Aceh (traditional market of Aceh). The eastern side where the main entrance was located, contained a garden displaying a symmetrical relationship between its towers and gates. 67 The contractor was a Chinese Lieutenant, called Lie A Sie in charge of the construction. 68 Zeynep Celik states that international architects employed by the colonials, sourced their inspiration predominantly from the Ottoman Empire, stylistically this architecture was key as the Turks being a dominant force in the Islamic world had buildings such as a copy of the Alhambra exhibited in Europe. 69 Celik suggests, colonial architects adopted what may be seen as a rationalist approach to Islamic architecture, combining the aesthetics of a culturally diverse group, although under the religious umbrella of Islam. Its material palette was drawn predominantly from imported products such as Chinese tiles and marble, timber from Burma and Surabaya metal. 70 The notion of a rationalised approach is also in keeping with Choay s argument, in that modern design was developed from conceptual thinking, seeking an identity and approach to the architecture, then these borrowed influences were rationalised into a building form. This conceptual and projective thinking was inherently a modern characteristic or architecture and of building, where aesthetics and form were preconceived and sought out from influential Islamic religious structures internationally. Identity construction was a modern phenomenon as premodern peoples had identity inscribed in their incidental and established daily practices with the aesthetics derived by materials and technologies available to them, and appropriate to climate. Cruciform Symbolism in Islam According to Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani, the mosque design exhibits a reversed cruciform plan as if the mosque was a Mohammedan church. 71 This plan form contained twenty eight round columns as well as 16 square columns that formed the main mosque structure. The internal space was around eight hundred square meters in area, with one main entrance and windows which were highly situated decorated in cast ironwork trellises. 72 According to Samer Akkach s seminal work Cosmology and Architecture in Premodern Islam 64 O'Neil, Hugh "Diadem or Dome: Sovereignty and the Transformation of the Mosque in Sumtara." Tectonic Dimension in Islamic Architectural Tradition in Indonesia: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Islamic Expression in Indonesian Architecture Islamic University in collaboration with the Indonesian Institute for History of Architecture., Hasan, Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani,5. The Islamic law requirements fell under the auspices of Penhulu Masjid Besar Garut. See also Said, Muhammad, Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani, Said, Muhammad, Celik, Zeynep Displaying the Orient, Architecture of Islam at Nineteenth century World Fairs. Berkeley: University of California Press.. 70 O Neil, Kurniawan and Kusmawardhani,5. 72 Ibid., 9 DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 15

18 Throughout the Islamic world a tendency to order spaces according to a cruciform layout is traceable in a sufficient number of examples to suggest ubiquity and consistency across temporal, geographical, and cultural distances. 73 Figure 7: Cruciform plan of Baiturrahman Mosque as in [source: This type of spatial ordering was evident in the nineteenth century re-design of the Great Baiturrahman Mosque. Akkach highlights that whilst the stylising of the cryptic order varies given geographic differences and historical periods, the order itself has largely remained consistent over these variations. 74 Premodern Islamic sources including Sufis and other Muslim scholars, show how the cosmos was finite in their conceptions of space. This conception was represented diagrammatically through a series of concentric circles with the centre being earth and the outer domain consisting of the divine and sacred realms. Importantly these realms were integral to each other as well as displaying a hierarchy of position and meaning between physical and spiritual realities. Representations produced by premodern Muslim scholars used geometry to understand the complexity of the world and in particular the fundamental order of being. 75 The main alteration in conception for modernity is that space and the cosmos have become inherently more complex in our understandings due to modern scientific discoveries and notions of physical space have extended beyond earth to the universe. Akkach states that is the cosmological order of things which brought together different the realms of geography, cosmology, the human body and architecture. These integral relationships have broken down with modernity and therefore altering our spatiality of being and orientating ourselves in the world Akkach, Samer Cosmology and Architecture in Premodern Islam: An Architectural Reading of Mystical Ideas. Edited by Seyyed Hosein Nasr, SUNY series on Islam. Albany, USA: State University of New York Press., xvii-xviii 74 Ibid., xviii 75 Ibid. Hooker, Virginia Matheson, ed Islamic Architecture Under the New Order in Culture and Society in New Order Indonesia: South East Asian Social Science Monograph. 76 Ibid. DRAFT COPY Not To Be Quoted Without Permission From The Author 16