Traveling: The City of Legacy

Traffic jam, cars and bikers are racing to get at the first place on the traffic light. Horns are screaming out everywhere, dust and pollution, that is the right thing about Medan city, but you also can find many things in this crowded biggest city in Sumatera. Even Medan well-known as a transit point but actually Medan has hidden gems. Besides, Medan also has many shopping centers to enforce the activity of international business.

On the way back to Aceh from Berastagi we spent a day to explore Medan, I knew Medan because I used to stay there for 4 years during my assignment with IFRC International Red Cross. But, this time I saw there are many change on the city face, new buildings and new Shopping Center are there and the traffic are much better than it was.

The Legacy of Deli Kingdom

Do you know that one of active kingdom in Indonesia is in Medan?. I am sure that you knew very well one of the active kingdoms is in Yogyakarta, the kingdom of Yogyakarta. Medan is not only the capital of North Sumatera but also the capital of Deli Kingdom since 1888. Maimoon Palace was built on August 26, 1888, as the official palace for important meeting, ceremonial event and welcoming the important guess of kingdom. The designer of the palace was Th. Van Erp from Holland according to the direct order from The Great Sultan Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan Ma’moen Al-Rasyid. The architecture is combined from 3 different cultures, 2 locals and international; from west culture combined with East Culture and Local Melayu Dili itself. And this palace is still used until today, but it has been renovated as necessary, because at first time it was built using high quality wood. Those wood can be seen remain as the major part of the palace of 2,700 M2 (Square Meter) size. The location of the palace is at Sultan Ma’moen Al Rasyid Street, No. 66, Medan City, North Sumatera.

The State symbol of Deli Kingdom

The History Of Deli Kingdom

The Deli kingdom was established for the first time in 1632 by Tuanku Panglima Gotjah Pahlawan in Labuhan Deli. Tuanku Panglima Gotjah Pahlawan is an Acehnese named Muhammad Dalik, he was an admiral from the kingdom of Aceh (Atjeh). He was more famous with his nick name as Gocah Pahlawan and also known as admiral Khuja Bintan (some spell as Admiral Kuda Bintan), he was a blood line of Amir Muhammad Badar Ud-Din (Badaruddin) Khan, a patrician of a kingdom in Delhi India who married with Princes Chandra Dewi from the Kindom of Samudera Pasai (The Foundation of Aceh Kingdom). He was pointed as a deputy of ex Haru Kingdom territory at Lalang River Percut (Lalang,Percut Sei Tuan). Muhammad Dalik started to establish his own Deli Kingdom which was under the Kingdom of Aceh at the first time. You may need to look at the history of Aceh Kingdom for further more information, and some says this Deli Kingdom is a founder of the Serdang Kingdom as well. The Deli kingdom basically was Aceh Kingdom Territory, and has blood relative with the Sultan of Samudera Pasai Aceh. Tuanku Panglima Gotjah Pahlawan govern his kingdom from 1632-1669, until he passed away in the year. The next king of Deli Kingdom is Tuanku Panglima Parunggit, his son from 1669-1698. During his government the Deli Kingdom proclaim his kingdom was no longer under the kingdom of Aceh and the capital is still in Labuhan Deli about 20 KM from Medan City.

The Kings Of Deli Kingdom

The Deli Kingdom always rule by the blood relative of the king, when the king is passed away, then, his son will be the king, here is the list of Kings of Deli Kingdom.

1. Tuanku Panglima Gotjah Pahlawan the founding father of Deli Kingdom, 1632-1669
2. Tuanku Panglima Parunggit son of Gotjah Pahlawan rule from 1669-1698, in his era the kingdom of Deli proclaim themselves free from Aceh Kingdom, and started to open trading relationship with VOC in Malacca.
3. Tuanku Panglima Paderap, rule the kingdom in 1698-1728, in this era Deli kingdom was expanded along the East Coast to Serdang and Denai
4. Tuanku Panglima Pasutan (1728-1761)
5. Tuanku Panglima Gandar Wahid (1761-1805)
6. Sultan Panglima Amaluddin Mangendar Alam (1805-1850)
7. Sultan Osman Perkasa Alam (1850-1858)
8. Sultan Mahmud Perkasa Alam (1858-1873)
9. Sultan Ma’moen Al Rasyid Perkasa Alamsyah (1873-1924), in his hand this kingdom reached the golden era of government and economic situation
10. Sultan Amaluddin Sani Perkasa Alamsyah (1924-1945)
11. Sultan Osman Al Sani Perkasa Alam (1945-1967)
12. Sultan Azmi Perkasa Alam (1967-1998)
13. Sultan Otteman Mahmud Perkasa Alam (1998-2005)
14. Sultan Mahmud Lamantjiji Perkasa Alam (2005 — at present time)

After the independent day, all the kingdoms in Indonesia no one by one became part of Indonesian republic, but some of them like kingdom of Deli and kingdom of Yogyakarta remain with the old roles and tradition but has no governmental authority.

Maimoon Palace is used as the central of Deli cultural and kingdom official ceremony. All those cultural heritage is under protected by law of Indonesia.

The Legend of Separated Cannon

On the right side of the palace, there is a unique building to keep the legend of separated cannon, the tale of the cannon is written on the Inscription. See the picture below:

The wooden house where part of the Meriam Puntung (separated cannon) is kept

See the picture below:

According to the Deli Malay legend the cannon was the personification of the Putri Hijau Younger’s brother from Deli Tua kingdom named Mambang Khayali, which transformed himself into a canon when he was doing his utmost to defend the palace against the attack of the Acehnese King, because the King’s proposal was rejected by Putri Hijau, the barrel kept on firing continuously which cause the barrel was very hot and the cannon finally broken into two part. The top of the cannon flew over the air and landed in Kampung Sukanalu Kecamatan Barus Jahen Tanah Karo, while the other part is now kept in the small wooden house on the right side of the Maimoen Palace area.

I did not have a chance to go inside of the palace to see the ornament and curving of the original architecture. I recommend this palace to be visited when you are in Medan. You can see the beautiful palace in its original form before you go the Center Point Shopping Center which is the largest shopping mall in Medan right now.

Those informations, I collected from direct interview with the gate keeper and brochure I took, and some story is taken from Wikipedia.

wikipedia link in Bahasa: https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesultanan_Deli

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