During the seventeenth century, under the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda, Aceh’s influence extended across most of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.
Aligned with both the Ottoman Empire and the Dutch East India Company (VOC), Aceh played a key role in the struggle against Portuguese Malacca and the Johor Sultanate.
However, Aceh’s military power gradually declined, and by the eighteenth century, it ceded its territory of Pariaman in Sumatra to the Dutch.
By the early nineteenth century, Aceh had regained prominence, leveraging its strategic position to control regional trade. In the 1820s, it produced over half of the world’s black pepper supply, making it an essential player in global commerce.
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 marked a turning point, as Britain ceded its colonial possessions on Sumatra to the Dutch. Despite having no actual control over Aceh, the British inaccurately listed the sultanate as one of their possessions in the treaty.
Initially, the Dutch agreed to respect Aceh’s independence, though this commitment would later be challenged as Dutch ambitions in the region grew.