Iskandar Thani
Encyclopedia
Iskandar Thani Alauddin Mughayat Syah (died 1641) was the thirteenth sultan of Aceh, following the powerful Iskandar Muda
. Iskandar Thani was the son of the sultan of Pahang
, Ahmad Syah, who was brought to Aceh in the conquest of Pahang in 1617 by Iskandar Muda. He married the sultan's daughter, the later queen Taj ul-Alam
, and succeeded Iskandar Muda as sultan when he died in 1636.
Reigning in the wake of the rout of the Acehnese fleet in 1629, Iskandar Thani was not able to continue his predecessor's military successes. He was a strong ruler, able to suppress the orang kaya (Acehnese nobility) and working to centralize royal power as Iskandar Muda had done. His rule was too short to make major accomplishments, however, and after his death the elite re-asserted their influence, and placed his widow, Taj ul-Alam
, on the throne, the first of several weak sultans.
Like Iskandar Muda's, the court of Iskandar Thani was known as a center of Islamic learning. He was the patron of Nuruddin ar-Raniri
, an Islamic scholar from Gujarat who arrived in Aceh in 1637. Ar-Raniri denounced the work of earlier scholars from Iskandar Muda's court, and ordered their books to be burned while establishing literary and religious standards.
Iskandar Muda
Iskandar Muda was the twelfth Sultan of Aceh, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, and was the strongest power and wealthiest state in the western Indonesian archipelago and the Strait of Malacca. "Iskandar Muda" literally means "young Alexander," and his conquests...
. Iskandar Thani was the son of the sultan of Pahang
Pahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...
, Ahmad Syah, who was brought to Aceh in the conquest of Pahang in 1617 by Iskandar Muda. He married the sultan's daughter, the later queen Taj ul-Alam
Taj ul-Alam
Ratu Safiatuddin Taj ul-Alam was the fourteenth sultana of Aceh. She was the daughter of the sultan Iskandar Muda and the wife of his successor, Iskandar Thani, who became sultan upon the death of her husband...
, and succeeded Iskandar Muda as sultan when he died in 1636.
Reigning in the wake of the rout of the Acehnese fleet in 1629, Iskandar Thani was not able to continue his predecessor's military successes. He was a strong ruler, able to suppress the orang kaya (Acehnese nobility) and working to centralize royal power as Iskandar Muda had done. His rule was too short to make major accomplishments, however, and after his death the elite re-asserted their influence, and placed his widow, Taj ul-Alam
Taj ul-Alam
Ratu Safiatuddin Taj ul-Alam was the fourteenth sultana of Aceh. She was the daughter of the sultan Iskandar Muda and the wife of his successor, Iskandar Thani, who became sultan upon the death of her husband...
, on the throne, the first of several weak sultans.
Like Iskandar Muda's, the court of Iskandar Thani was known as a center of Islamic learning. He was the patron of Nuruddin ar-Raniri
Nuruddin ar-Raniri
Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri was an Islamic scholar from Gujarat, India, who worked for several years in the court of the sultan of Aceh in what is now Indonesia...
, an Islamic scholar from Gujarat who arrived in Aceh in 1637. Ar-Raniri denounced the work of earlier scholars from Iskandar Muda's court, and ordered their books to be burned while establishing literary and religious standards.