This chapter attempts to explore the concept of jihad in Acehnese cultural tradition. Over centuries of armed conflict in the region, the Acehnese have often been heralded for their activities on the battlefield. Over the course of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century, Aceh was involved in constant and bloody religious wars against the Portuguese in Melaka, not to mention a number of military confrontations with other states in the region during that period and after. In 1873, a long and arduous war broke out between Aceh and the Dutch, and extended periods of armed conflict continued to plague Aceh during the post-independence period. In these later conflicts, the lines were drawn in new ways, such as in the bloody ‘Social Revolution’of late 1945 to early 1946, known locally as the Prang Cumbok (Cumbok War). Later, in 1953, M. Daud Beureueh inspired the Acehnese to rebel against the newly established Republic of Indonesia, in an effort to win independence for the region as an Islamic state. This Darul Islam movement was eventually contained by the Indonesian central government, and Daud Beureueh finally capitulated in 1962. However, in 1976, a new armed movement for Acehnese independence was founded. It was known as the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM, Free Aceh Movement), and was engaged in extended armed conflict with the Indonesian military until the signing of the Helsinki agreement in 2005.