Eventually, in 1641, a joint attack was made by the Achinese and the Dutch, but the latter, not the people of the sturdy little Sumatran kingdom, became the owners of the coveted port.
About this time an attack upon the city was made by the Achinese fleet, under the raja of Pedir in Sumatra; and Xavier's early biographers relate a dramatic story of how he roused the governor to action.
Simalu is peopled partly by Achinese and partly by Menangkabo settlers.
Native chronicles derive the Menangkabo princes from Alexander the Great; and the Achinese dynasty boasts its origin from a missionary of Islam.
The Dutch garrison in Kotaraja occupies the old Achinese citadel.