Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah

Sultan Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah (1786 - 1 December 1823) was the twenty-ninth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He ruled in 1795-1815 and again in 1819-1823, the intervening period being filled by the usurper Syarif Saiful Alam Syah.

When Sultan Alauddin Muhammad Syah died in February 1795 he left a 9-year-old son, Husain, who was born from his main wife Merah di Awan (daughter of a previous sultan, Badr ul-Alam Syah). After an interregnum of about one month Husain was proclaimed under the name Sultan Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah. Merah di Awan made sure that her brother Raja Udahna Lela was appointed regent for the young sultan. The first years of the regency were relatively tranquil. The sultan, who had spent time on a British ship as a boy, spoke English and was well acquainted with European customs. He took up the habit of drinking alcohol which did not endear him to the Muslim clergy. The British were in possession of Penang off the coast of the Malay Peninsula since 1786 and there was a steady trade with the Acehnese who produced pepper and other local produce. The pepper ports of the west coast of Aceh continued to develop, some being dominated by the enterprising Lebai Dappa, father-in-law of Raja Udahna Lela. A serious incident occurred in 1803 when the ship Crescent was plundered by the inhabitants of Muki (north of Singkil). A British punitive expedition departed from Bengkulu in 1804 and captured the fort in Muki.

Sultan Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah began to reign in own name in 1802. However, his uncle Raja Udahna Lela was not willing to step down from his prerogatives as regent. He rebelled against the sultan, supported by the commercial strongman Lebai Dappah. At first Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah had too flee to Pidië. After some time he returned to the estuary of the Aceh River and asked the British in Penang for help to defeat the rebellion. No European help came, but the sultan managed to defeat Raja Udahna Lela after his mother, sister of the regent, had shifted her support from her brother to her son. Raja Udahna Lela fled in turn in 1805 but was caught and killed at Nesuk. The authority of Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah nevertheless stood on a shaky ground and he had problems harvesting the duties on the west coast. In spite of the expanding pepper trade the sultan benefited little since he did not have the bureaucratic apparatus to control economic flows. When he nevertheless tried, he inevitably created discontent among his subjects. A brief revolt that involved Lebai Dappah occurred in 1808 but was suppressed. It might partly have been caused by the sultan's use of British, French and Portuguese adventurers as trusted men.

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