Sulaiman Syah

Sultan Sulaiman Syah (died after 1773) was the twenty-seventh sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He usurped the throne from the reigning Bugis Dynasty and held power May–July 1773.

The previous sultan Alauddin Mahmud Syah I led a troubled reign and often encountered opposition from the chiefs of the kingdom. He was briefly deposed by an usurper, Badr ul-Alam Syah in 1764-1765. A new uprising was launched in April 1773 by people of the often-rebellious XXII Mukims, one of the three sagis (regions) of Aceh. Being joined by people from the XXV Mukims, the insurgents expelled Alauddin Mahmud Syah who fled to Mukim Peuët.^[1] At the end of May the victorious party appointed Raja Udahna Lela as sultan under the name Sulaiman Syah. Whether he was the same person as a Raja Udahna Lela who was the son of the previous usurper Badr ul-Alam Syah, is unsure.^[2] Alauddin Mahmud Syah was nevertheless able to gather supporters from the mukims (districts) Daroy Pang Uleë Susuh, Lam Ara and Jampel.^[3] Sulaiman Syah was attacked and expelled after only two months' reign, and Alauddin Mahmud Syah was restored. If Sulaiman Syah is the same person as Badr ul-Alam Syah's son Raja Udahna Lela, he later played an important rule in the history of the sultanate and died under dramatic circumstances in 1805.^[4]

References

Literature

• Djajadiningrat, Raden Hoesein (1911) 'Critische overzicht van de in Maleische werken vervatte gegevens over de geschiedenis van het soeltanaat van Atjeh', Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 65, pp. 135–265.
• Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indië (1917), Vol. 1. 's Gravenhage & Leiden: M. Nijhoff & Brill.
• Zainuddin, H.M. (1961) Tarich Atjeh dan Nusantara, Jilid I. Medan: Pustaka Iskandar Muda.