Indonesia: 'Achem' or 'Atsjien'. A view of Banda Aceh in Sumatra, Amsterdam, 1761

The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam, was a Sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a major regional power in the 16th and 17th centuries, before experiencing a long period of decline. Its capital was Kutaraja, the present-day Banda Aceh. At its peak it was a formidable enemy of the Sultanate of Johor and Portuguese-controlled Malacca, both on the Malayan Peninsula, as all three attempted to control the trade through the Strait of Malacca and the regional exports of pepper and tin with fluctuating success. In addition to its considerable military strength, the court of Aceh became a noted center of Islamic scholarship and trade. The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873Ð1914), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United Kingdom in Singapore during early 1873. The war was part of a series of conflicts in the late 19th century that consolidated Dutch rule over modern-day Indonesia. (Photo by: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)