This thesis deals with the history of the Acehnese Islamic empire, focusing on the events leading up to its decline in both its internal stability and its hegemony in the surrounding regions in the second half of the seventeenth century. During the given period (1641-1699) the empire was ruled successively by four female rulers. The thesis deals with the political and economic developments in this period. / Aceh was an Islamic empire in the Indonesian archipelago which emerged as the greatest and most influential Islamic power in the region from the middle of the sixteenth century to the early seventeenth century. It reached its golden age during the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607-1636) who succeeded in developing the empire into an unrivaled Muslim power whose control included the West Sumatran coast and the Malay peninsula. During his reign, Aceh became the holder of the political and economic hegemony in the region. / Towards the second half of the seventeenth century, the power of Aceh gradually declined from its peak both internally and externally. Internally, political disintegration paved the way for the process of power transition between political groups within the empire. Externally, both the political importance and the economic supremacy of the empire in the region was drastically reduced. Consequently, its power again shrank back into the north-Sumatran area from which the empire originally emerged.

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