Daud Beureueh

Teungku Daud Beureueh (1899 in Pidie, Aceh – 1987 in Jakarta), military Governor of Aceh (1945–1953) and leader of the Darul Islam rebellion in the province (1953–1963).

Born in the Keumangan chiefdom of Pidië regency, he began from 1930 to champion a more modern form of Islamic school, and to become a popular reformist preacher. In 1939 he established and lead the Persatuan Ulama Seluruh Aceh (PUSA), or All Aceh Islamic Scholars Association. PUSA was not initially anti-Dutch, but emerged as the principal critic of the Dutch-supported hierarchy of uléëbalang (aristocrat-officials). Its members contacted the Japanese before their 1942 invasion, in the hope of overturning uléëbalang rule as a reward for their support. As the Japanese saw a greater need for popular support in 1944, they transferred many judicial functions from the uléëbalang to religious courts headed by Daud. After the Japanese surrender this conflict between religious and secular elites became violent, leading to the eclipse of the uléëbalang and the killing of many in December 1945. Daud was thereafter the most influential figure in Aceh, and his support for the Indonesian Republic's struggle against the returning Dutch helped make Aceh a bastion of the Republican cause. He was recognised as Military Governor in 1947, and Governor once independence was won in 1950.

He and his supporters were alienated from Jakarta thereafter. Daud was sidelined in favour of western-educated leaders in 1951 when Aceh was merged in a larger Province of North Sumatra with a substantial Christian (Batak) minority. Supported by former PUSA members and much of the military, he led a rebellion against Jakarta in September 1953, declaring that Aceh would join the insurgent Negara Islam Indonesia (Indonesian Islamic State) formed earlier in Java by Kartosuwirjo. Jakarta quickly retook the cities, but resistance was widespread until 1959, when many supporters accepted a peace agreement whereby Aceh would become a "Special Region" with the right to enact Islamic laws. Daud himself did not return from his guerrilla base until 1962, however, when he was given an amnesty but remained very critical. .

After the appearance of GAM separatists in 1977, Beureueh, who secretly supported the rebels, was arrested and held under house arrest in Jakarta until his death in 1987.