Alauddin al-Kahar

Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah al-Kahar
Grave of Sultan al-Kahar in Komplek Kandang XII, Banda Aceh
Sulṭān of Acèh Darussalam
Reign	1537/1539 – 28 September 1571
Predecessor	Salahuddin of Aceh
Successor	Ali Ri'ayat Syah I
Died	28 September 1571(1571-09-28)
Burial	Komplek Kandang XII, Banda Aceh
Issue	Abdullah Husain Sri Alam Abangta di-tangkap Abangta Abdul Jalil
Father	Ali Mughayat Syah
Mother	Sitt Hur

Sultan Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah al-Kahar (died 28 September 1571) was the third sultan of Aceh, and was one of the strongest warrior rulers in the history of the kingdom. In his time the power structures that his father had begun were greatly strengthened. His age was marked by warfare with the Portuguese and Malay rivals, with varying fortunes.

Alauddin was the son of Sultan Ali Mughayat Syah who founded the state in the early sixteenth century. After Sultan Ali's death in 1530, his eldest son Salahuddin ruled for a while but was inept to govern. The queen mother had great influence in the state and appointed a regent called Raja Bungsu who had a green payung (parasol), a symbol of authority, and a house opposite the royal abode. Meanwhile, Alauddin governed Samudra Pasai which had been conquered by Aceh in 1524. Being dissatisfied with conditions in the capital, he staged a royal coup in c. 1537 or 1539, killed Raja Bungsu, and imprisoned Salahuddin and the queen mother Sitt Hur. The prisoners died years later in 1548 and 1554, respectively. Alauddin now took the throne with the regnal title Sultan Alauddin Ri'ayat Syah al-Kahar. In Acehnese tradition he is remembered as a great organizer of the Acehnese state. Thus he was supposedly the ruler who divided Acehnese society into administrative lineage groups (kaum or sukeë), but it is unclear whether this attribution is correct.

The campaigns of Alauddin began in 1539 when he waged war on the Batak people, who lived to the south of Aceh. The Portuguese traveler Fernão Mendes Pinto mentions that the sultan asked the king of the Bataks to convert to Islam, and attacked him when he refused. Pinto provides a long and picturesque account of the Bataks and their affairs with the Acehnese; it is doubtful from the point of view that no comprehensive Batak kingdom is known to other sources. The Acehnese army reportedly included contingents of Turks and men from Cambay and Malabar. After this campaign Alauddin attacked Aru, the later Deli. He killed the ruler of that place in 1539, but was then forced by the Johor army to withdraw in c. 1540. Aru subsequently belonged to Johor up to 1564.