Banda Aceh

Banda Aceh grew as the capital of the Sultanate of Aceh, established in the early 16th century at the mouth of the Aceh River, where ships entering the Strait of Malacca made their first landfall in the archipelago. Pepper and the pilgrim trade made it rich, and it became a centre of Islamic scholarship known as the doorway to Mecca. Under Iskandar Muda in the early 17th century the sultanate reached its height, fighting the Portuguese at Malacca and sending embassies as far as the Ottoman court; the Gunongan and the royal garden survive from that period. A series of women ruled as sultana later in the same century.

The Dutch declared war in 1873, and their expedition commander, General Johan Köhler, was killed in the fighting around the city, wrecking the first expedition. The war that followed lasted about three decades, was among the most costly the Netherlands fought in the Indies, and left a deep distrust of outside rule. The Dutch rebuilt the mosque that had burned in their attack, and the town was known as Kutaraja until the old name was restored in 1963. After independence Aceh's relations with Jakarta stayed difficult, and the Free Aceh Movement fought an insurgency from 1976.

On the morning of 26 December 2004 an earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra sent a tsunami into the city. Waves reached several kilometres inland, and the disaster killed around 170,000 people in Indonesia, with Banda Aceh among the worst-hit places. Reconstruction brought international aid on a vast scale, new housing, roads and escape buildings. The disaster also helped bring the sides to the Helsinki agreement of August 2005, which ended the insurgency and gave the province special autonomy, including the right to apply Islamic law.

Acehnese identity rests on Islam and on a long memory of resistance. The province is often called the veranda of Mecca, and religious observance runs deeper in daily life here than almost anywhere else in Indonesia: prayer times empty the shops, Friday mornings shut the city, and religious by-laws set the rules for dress and conduct. The Acehnese language, related to Cham languages of mainland Southeast Asia rather than to Malay, is widely spoken alongside Indonesian.

The best-known art form is the Saman, a seated dance of synchronised clapping, chest-slapping and chanting performed in a tight line, which is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Other Acehnese dances such as the Ratoh Duek and Seudati use the same close-packed rows and rising tempo, and are performed at weddings and provincial festivals. Embroidered Acehnese cloth with gold thread, songket weaving and rencong daggers are the traditional crafts.

Coffee houses are the other great institution. Men and, increasingly, women gather in warung kopi from before dawn to argue politics, do business and read the papers, and the city has hundreds of them. Hospitality is warm but formal: visitors are welcomed, offered coffee at once, and asked direct questions about family and religion. The 2004 tsunami is part of everyday conversation, and most families lost members; people generally speak about it plainly rather than avoiding it.

About 270,000 people live inside the city of Banda Aceh, a compact place on both banks of the Aceh River, with the larger district of Aceh Besar spreading around it. The population is overwhelmingly Acehnese and Muslim, with a small Chinese community long established in Peunayong. Its age profile is young, and the two universities in Darussalam — Syiah Kuala and the Ar-Raniry Islamic university — bring tens of thousands of students from across the province.

Government is the largest employer: Banda Aceh is the provincial capital, and the special autonomy settlement channels substantial funds through it. Trade, transport, hospitals, education and fishing fill out the rest, and the harbours at Lampulo and Ulee Lheue support a fleet that supplies the markets. Much of the built environment dates from after 2004, with aid-funded housing estates, wide roads and marked evacuation routes laid across the flattened western districts.

The day starts very early, with coffee houses busy before the dawn prayer and markets trading by first light, and slows sharply in the afternoon heat. Evenings belong to the mosque plaza and to the food streets of Peunayong. Ongoing issues include a provincial economy that remains among the poorer ones in Indonesia despite autonomy funds, debate about the reach of the religious by-laws, and preparedness for the next earthquake, which is treated as a matter of when rather than whether.

Acehnese cooking is the spiciest and the most Indian-influenced in Sumatra, built on curry leaves, cardamom, star anise, cumin and dried chilli. Mie Aceh is the city's signature: thick yellow noodles stir-fried or served soupy in a dark spiced gravy with beef, prawns or whole crab, topped with fried shallots, pickles and a wedge of lime. Kuah beulangong, a curry of goat or beef with young jackfruit, is cooked in enormous pots for religious feasts and communal meals. Ayam tangkap buries fried chicken under crisp curry and pandan leaves with green chillies.

Rice is eaten with gulai curries, and the Acehnese use asam sunti — sun-dried and salted belimbing wuluh, a sour fruit — where other regions use tamarind. Seafood is central, with grilled fish and squid from the Lampulo boats. Roti canai and martabak show the Indian and Malay side of the kitchen, and sate matang, an Acehnese satay, is served with peanut sauce and a bowl of broth.

Sweets include timphan, a soft dumpling of glutinous rice flour, banana and coconut milk steamed in banana leaf, made especially for Eid. Coffee is the drink that defines the place: arabica from the Gayo highlands inland and robusta from elsewhere in Aceh, brewed strong and strained through a long cloth sock. Sanger, coffee with condensed milk beaten to a froth, is the everyday order, and kopi sanger and a plate of noodles is the standard breakfast. No alcohol is sold anywhere in the province.