Figures
1 Daeng Pabarang’s songko, collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. RV-3600-6087, and reporting in Indië: geïllustreerd weekblad voor Nederland en koloniën (vol. 1, 1917) 2
2 Ceremonial keris, Gowa, 17th century. Gold, gemstones. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. RV-360-6021 30
3 Share of Islamic objects in the Tropenmuseum collection, by country. Published in Shatanawi (2014, 31) 42
4 Division of the sample: Islamic collections by region 43
5 Reception room at the home of Sophia van IJsseldijk-Withof, Malang, 1911. Page from a family photo album. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-ALB-1937-8 51
6 Dining room at the home of Sophia van IJsseldijk-Withof, Malang, 1911. Page from a family photo album. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-ALB-1937-9 51
7 Sophia van IJsseldijk-Withof, her husband Egbart and daughter Margaretha in the vegetable garden, Malang, 1911. Page from a family photo album. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-ALB-1937-10 52
8 Brass zakat al-fitr beaker (Java, 1820), one of the Islamic objects Sophia van IJsseldijk-Withof displayed in her dining room. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-3272-15 52
9 George Nijpels’s weapon collection in his office in The Hague, 1937. Collection National Museum of World Cultures RV-11996-2 61
10 Henri Swart’s weapon collection in his residence in Banda Aceh, 1915. Collection National Museum of World Cultures TM-10020629 61
11 Frits van Daalen’s weapon collection, exhibited at the Museum of the Royal Military Academy in Breda, c.1938. Collection National Museum of World Cultures RV-11996-1 61
12 Teuku Teungoh, drawings of Buraq, 1900–1904. Pencil on paper. On the reverse the imprisoned Teuku wrote a plea for help directed to the civil governor. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. RV-1429-134/134a 65
13 Exhibition of the Van Laaren collection, assembled during the 1904 Gayo campaign, at the Colonial Museum in Haarlem, 1912 (photograph Berend Zweers). Collection National Museum of World Cultures TM-60040399 68
14 Collection of Willem Stammeshaus, displayed in his home in Seulimeum (Aceh), 1912 71
15 Golden ring with engraved shahada calligraphy, acquired in Mecca, late 19th century (photograph John Klein Nagelvoort). Willem Stammeshaus received this ring as a gift. Stammeshaus replaced the original silver ring with gold, the stone is probably Indian or Iranian work. Private collection 74
16 Page from Stammeshaus’s memoirs with explanation of his ex libris (design Sjuwke Kunst). Private collection 75
17 Willem Stammeshaus and his closest associates during his time in office at the west coast of Aceh. Calang, 26 September 1920. He wrote in the caption: ‘some of the trusted ones, with whom I shared the good times and the bad.’ Private collection 77
18 Friday prayers at the meunasah Dagang, 19 May 1922 (photograph F.W. Stammeshaus). Stammeshaus noted the name of the imam as Teungku Hajji ʿAbd al-Amin muʾmin. Private collection 78
19 Willem Stammeshaus, his wife Nelly and colleagues attending a kanduri (ritual meal), Calang, 11 December 1921. Private collection 78
20 Notes in Qurʾans and religious manuscripts detailing names, dates and places of looting. Collection Museum Bronbeek (Beijens collection), Wereldmuseum and NMVW 83
21 Tombs at Kandang XII and KNIL barracks, Banda Aceh, 1891. Collection University Library Leiden inv. no. KITLV 116418 93
22 Sandstone tomb panel, probably from the Kandang Mas graveyard that the KNIL demolished in 1879. Banda Aceh, 16th or 17th century. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. RV-179-1 97
23 Graves at Kandang Meuh, after restoration by the KNIL, Banda Aceh, 1885–1895 (photostudio G.R. Lambert & Co.). Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-60022774 99
24 Gravestones exhibited in front of the Atjeh Museum in Banda Aceh, 1924–1926. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-60023674 100
25 Jan de Vink of the Archaeological Service, working on drawings of gravestone inscriptions in his Banda Aceh office, 1915. Collection University Library Leiden inv. no. Or. 20.965: 380 (4) 102
26 Visit to the Tengku Batee Balee graveyard, 4 March 1933. Left to right: Teuku Ali Basya, Gerard Tichelman, Muhammad Salim al-Kalali, Teuku Raja Pedir. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-10016644 104
27 Indonesian pilgrims were required to leave their ID cards behind at the Dutch consulate in Jeddah; these are a few of the 25,000 ID cards that are now part of the NMVW collection; all cards date from 1937–1939. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. nos. RV-A258 (55 batches) 108
28 Hajji outfits, an 1883 donation by Karel Holle, exhibited at the Colonial Museum in Haarlem, 1900–1923. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-60040425 115
29 Holle’s hajji outfits exhibited at the Tropenmuseum, 1967. The display is meant to make a contrast with scantily clad Western women, marking the binary traditional/modern. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-60058168 116
30 Some of the printed talismans, seized from ʿAbdul Wahib in 1881. Forty-six talismanic scrolls, printed in Turkey, late 19th century. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. nos. 7082-S-121-9-1/46 120
31 Amulets, confiscated at various landraden in Java. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. nos. TM-630-12a/TM-865-2/TM-865-5/TM-865-7/TM-1170-3f 123
32 Waist belt with pockets for amulets, seized from Kusumo, Yogyakarta, 1946–49. Collection Museum Bronbeek inv. no. 1996/03/14-4-1. The items, including amulets on paper with the Throne verse (ayat al-kursi) and various formulas, are glued on a wooden board together with a 1962 letter from the Royal Tropical Institute with an explanation of the Arabic texts, probably written by Remt Mellema 125
33 Group portrait of four pilgrims from Aceh and their wakils (local agents) at the Dutch Consulate in Jeddah, October 1884 (photograph Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje). Second from the right (sitting) is Teungku di Cot Plieng. Plate from Bilder-Atlas zu Mekka von Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje (1888). Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-60057109 127
34 Teungku Cot di Plieng’s rante bui. Image from The Blood of the People: Revolution and the End of Traditional Rule in Northern Sumatra, by Anthony Reid (1979). Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-599-2 128
35 Silver seal stamp, seized from Teungku Cot di Plieng in 1904. 7 × 4 cm. Collection Museum Nasional Indonesia inv. no. E 165. Imprint of the stamp, owned by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje. Collection Leiden University Library, inv. no. Or. 8232.3 130
36 Keris, Madura, c.1835. Collection Rijksmuseum inv. no. NG-NM-7115. Letter, Madura, 20 Shawwal 1250 (19 February 1835). Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. RV-360-8080. Notwithstanding the agreement made during the liquidation of the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities, the keris was allocated to the Netherlands Museum of History and Art (but later loaned to the Colonial Institute). The accompanying letter of Sultan Cakra Adiningrat VIII of Madura to King Willem I became part of the collections of the Museum of Ethnology 146
37 Islamic period objects, transferred from the Museum of Antiquities to the Museum of Ethnology in 1903. Marble Jewish tombstone from the Ottoman period, Izmir, 1805. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. RV-1403-3494. Basalt tombstone, probably made in Mecca, 9th–10th century. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. RV-1403-3497 154
38 OVM-thesaurus for Insular Southeast Asia: classical periods. Collection system National Museum of World Cultures. Accessed 26 January 2021 184
39 TMS record for tomb panel RV-179-1. Collection system National Museum of World Cultures. Accessed 26 January 2021 184
40 Indonesian objects displayed in a Moorish-style case in the pavilion of the Dutch colonies at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, 1876. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, collection of Centennial Exhibition records 194
41 Grave of Sultana Nahrisyah (r. 1406–1428) at the Kuta Krueng graveyard in northern Aceh, 1908 (photograph Hendrik Leydie Melville). Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-60044471 202
42 Moulder Johannes Jacobs working on the replica of the grave of Sultana Nahrisyah at the Colonial Institute, 1940–1941 (photograph Bert Buurman). Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-10000168. © Bert Buurman / Nederlands Fotomuseum 203
43 Curator Gerard Tichelman of the Colonial Institute at a press meeting, 1941 (photograph Stapf Bilderdienst). National Archives/Fotocollectie Elsevier 2.24.05.02 inv. no. 023-0835 204
44 Panels at the Mantingan mosque complex after restoration by the Archaeological Service, 1930 (photography Jan de Vink). Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. nos. TM-ALB-1986-32 / TM-ALB-1986-36 / Leiden University Library OD 10468 205
45 Jan de Vink, Design drawing for a wooden box, 1930. Silver box, 1930–1940, Yogyakarta. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. nos. TM-6316-33 / TM-6326-12a, courtesy of VriendenLoterij (formerly BankGiro Loterij). A comparison between the photographs and drawings shows that De Vink adjusted the compositions for the silverware, making them more symmetrical and stylised 206
46 Display dedicated to Islam at the Aceh Gallery in the Colonial Institute, c.1931. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-60040071 208
47 Islam Gallery at the Tropenmuseum, visualising Remt Mellema’s idea of the global ummah, 1954–1975. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. nos. TM-10030211/TM-10030227 211
48 Calligraphy of the shahada by Uthman, 1860–61 (1277 AH). Probably acquired by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje during his travels to the Hijaz of 1884–85. Collection National Museum of World Cultures, on loan from the Oriental Institute, inv. no. RV-B106-161 212
49 Remt Mellema made reproductions of the calligraphy for the Islam Gallery, for publications and for display at the Mobarak Mosque in The Hague, the first purpose-built mosque in the Netherlands, which he helped realise. Wedding of Joke Innemee and Lacin Yildiz at the Mobarak Mosque, 1966 (photograph Nico Naeff). Collection National Archives 2.24.10.02 inv. no. 119–0685. © Nico Naeff / Nederlands Fotomuseum 212
50 Kyai antakusuma, 1855–1877, Yogyakarta. Velvet, silk, cinde and gold thread in patchwork technique. Collection National Museum of World Cultures inv. no. TM-1595-2 218
51 Cover of the weekly Indië: geïllustreerd weekblad voor Nederland en Koloniën (17 April 1918) featuring an image of Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII 220
Tables
1 Categories used in the 1880s and the present-day (Serrurier 1882; TMS database NMVW) 182