Sing Us a Song of Zion
The Sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra welcomed his guests from Christian England with an unexpected gesture of friendship.
1602
Queen Elizabeth I 1558-1603
The Sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra welcomed his guests from Christian England with an unexpected gesture of friendship.
1602
Queen Elizabeth I 1558-1603
In 1601, Sir James Lancaster set out in four ships for India and the Far East, seeking trading partners for England on behalf Queen Elizabeth I and the newly-formed East India Company. He visited the Kingdom of Achin (Aceh) in the north of Sumatra the following year, where the Sultan was graciously pleased to receive this emissary from a backward, cold and infidel land far, far away.
abridged
AFTER passing through more adventures and dangers, and seeing many strange and wonderful sights, they at length came to Achin in the island of Sumatra.*
Queen Elizabeth had sent a letter to the King of Achin,* and now Captain James Lancaster went on shore to deliver it.* He was received with great honour and was led to the King’s court riding upon an elephant, while a band marched in front of him making a fearful noise with drums and trumpets.
After Lancaster had presented his letter there were banquets and cock-fights in his honour, with much present giving, without which no Eastern could do any business. Then after a great deal of talking the King wrote an answer to the Queen, and a treaty of peace and agreement to trade was made.
* Aceh (pronounced AH-chay), also spelled Acheh, Achin (pronounced AH-cheen) or Atjeh, is an autonomous region of northern Sumatra in Indonesia, with its capital at Banda Aceh. Islam reached the area in the thirteenth century, and spread from there throughout Indonesia. Aceh remains an almost wholly Islamic society to this day, practising strict shariah law though there is a tiny Christian community too.
* The ruler of the Kingdom of Aceh at this time was Sultan Alauddin Ri’ayat Syah Sayyid al-Mukammal (r. 1589–1604), tenth sultan of Aceh. During his time, Dutch, French and English merchants came calling, and the streets were notable for all manner of shops and boutiques selling Turkish fashions imported from India to the west.
* James Lancaster (?1554-1618) was a privateer, i.e. the captain of a ship in private service rather than the Royal Navy. The word carries the connotation of piracy, as privateers often plundered other ships on the high seas, and on his earlier voyage to the Malay Peninsula in 1591-94 James had proved no exception. His second voyage, in 1601-1603 as captain of the ship Red Dragon, won him a knighthood from the new King, James VI of Scotland and I of England.