ACHEEN', or Amax, a small kingdom in n.w. Sumatra, the only part of the island that has always resisted the Dutch; area about 16,500 sq.m., pop. est. from 50,000 to 330,000. The interior, never explored, is believed to be inhabited by tribes kindred with the Battas, a race of anthropophagi, adjoining on the south. On the e. coast are fertile plains, and in the interior high mountain ridges. Rice, pepper, cotton and trop ical fruits are the chief productions. Horned cattle, horses and goats are plenty and of fine breeds. What religion there is, is Moslem ; the inhabitants are divided into Achen ese, Pedeerese, and Malays. The sultan is nominally the supreme power, but the real governor is his appointee, the shahbander. There arc two chiefs in each of the three subdivisions, whose offices are hereditary. The sultan must consult these six chiefs in any movement of importance, and they consult with chiefs of the second grade before giving decision. The six chiefs elect a new sultan from the reigning family, and may depose him for acts against their idea of public welfare. Each village has a chief, in
large towns called rajah, who advises with the chief members of the community on im portant questions, and reports to his superior. The sultan's income is five per cent of the value of goods imported to Acheen (the capital), but he gets only such as the six chiefs or the shahbander may give him. Acheen was visited by the Portuguese in 1505, the Dutch in 1595, and English in 1612. In 1659 the East India co. established a factory at. the capital. England kept a protectorate over Acheen until 1824, when it was trans ferred to Holland. In 1873 there was a rebellion against the Dutch, but the next year their capture of the capital ended it. The capital is the city of ACIMEN, 5° 35' n., 95° 19' e., near the R.W. point of Sumatra, on a river a mile from the ocean. Like most Malay towns, it is of timber and thatch, and the houses are scattered and poor. It was once a much larger town; at present it is important only as the residence of the sultan.