Sumatran Military/Work Elephants--1900-1940

Loosely translated: Sumatra in 1900 had few good roads, but that does not mean there were no roads. In the western part of the island, the roads were the only connections between the mountains and the narrow coastal strip, but well into the 19th century, these were mostly short road sections that are also of poor quality. The number of roads increased during this century is growing because the colonial government further and further inland as it can, for example during the Padri War and the Aceh War. Also economic expansion (plantations, mining) were often closely followed by increased state intervention, which usually led to extension of the road. Did not have good roads when everything would be getransportreerd elephant. That was certainly not the case and this picture is therefore quite unique. Sumatra have many elephants, but the taming of it was a rarity. In the 17th century held Sultan Iskandar Muda in Aceh large numbers of elephants as a mount for holding and fighting. However, it seems that with the death of the Sultan the art of taming elephants lost. This is in contrast to India, Burma and Thailand, where elephants were used for hunting, and mount on official occasions and for work in the woods. Only during the Aceh War, the Dutch were using elephants. (P. Orchard, 2001). By elephants for military transport and freight transport center link and Geumpang, Aceh