Bengkulu ( Rejangese: ), formerly Bencoolen (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Benkoelen'') is the capital of the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Bengkulu Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the former Bencoolen Residency area from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was fi ...

. The city is the second largest city on the west coast of Sumatra Island after

Padang Padang () is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With a Census population of 1,015,000 as of 2022, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. Th ...

. Previously this area was under the influence of the kingdom of

Inderapura Inderapura was the capital city of the medieval kingdom of Pahang that existed from 5th to 15th century. The city was mentioned several times in the Malay Annals in narrating the conquest of Pahang in 1454. The word Inderapura means "Town of Indra ...

and the

Sultanate of Banten The Banten Sultanate (كسلطانن بنتن) was a Bantenese Islamic trading kingdom founded in the 16th century and centred in Banten, a port city on the northwest coast of Java; the contemporary English name of both was Bantam. It is said ...

. The city also became the exile of

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

during the period of 1939 - 1942. It covers an area of 151.70 km² and had a population of 308,544 at the 2010 Census and 373,591 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The city is also the largest city of Bengkulu Province.

History

The British East India Company founded Bengkulu (named Bencoolen by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

), in 1685, as their new commercial centre for the region. In the 17th century, the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

controlled the spice trade in the Lampung region of southern Sumatra from a port in

Banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Se ...

, in the north west of the neighbouring island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. In 1682, a troop of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

attacked Banten. The local crown prince submitted to the

, who then recognised him as Sultan. The Dutch expelled all other Europeans present in Banten, leading the

to establish Bengkulu. In 1714, the British built

Fort Marlborough Fort Marlborough (Indonesian Benteng Marlborough, also known as Malabero) is a former East India Company fort located in Bengkulu City, Sumatra. It was built between 1713-1719 by the East India Company under the leadership of Governor Joseph Col ...

at Bengkulu. The trading centre was never financially viable, because of its remoteness and the difficulty in procuring

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

. Despite these difficulties, the British persisted, maintaining a presence there for over a century, ceding it to the

as part of the

Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London, was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 17 March 1824. The treaty was to resolve disputes arising from the execution of the Anglo-D ...

to focus their attention on

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

. Edmund Roberts, the first

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

envoy to the Far East, visited Bengkulu in 1832. Like the rest of present-day Indonesia, Bengkulu remained a Dutch colony until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(later the first president of

) was imprisoned by the Dutch in the 1930s, including a brief period in Bengkulu. Sukarno met his future wife,

Fatmawati Fatmawati (5 February 1923 – 14 May 1980) is a National Hero of Indonesia ( id, Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia). As the inaugural First Lady of Indonesia, she was the third wife of the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, and the mother of Indon ...

, during his time in Bengkulu.

Geography

The region is at low elevation and can have

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s. In the mid 19th century,

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and related diseases were common. Bengkulu lies near the Sunda Fault and is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. The June 2000 Enggano earthquake killed at least 100 people. A recent report predicts that Bengkulu is "at risk of inundation over the next few decades from undersea earthquakes predicted along the coast of Sumatra" A series of earthquakes struck Bengkulu during September 2007, killing 13 people. Bengkulu City has an area of 151.70 km ², and is located on the west coast of Sumatra island, with the province having a coastline about 525 km in length. The area of this city lies parallel to the mountains of Bukit Barisan and face to face with the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

Administrative districts

The City of Bengkulu comprised eight administrative

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

(''kecamatan'') at the time of the 2010 Census, but subsequently a ninth district (Singaran Pati) was formed out of the northwest half of the existing Gading Cempaka District. The districts are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census. The table also includes the numbers of administrative villages (urban ''kelurahan'' and rural ''desa'') in each district. Note: (a) the 2010 population of the new Singaran Piti District is included in the figure for Gading Cempaka District, from which it was later split off.

Climate

Bengkulu has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(Af) with very heavy rainfall year-round.

Governance

Based on Emergency Law Number 6 Year 1956, Bengkulu was one of the Small Town with an area of 17.6 km² in South Sumatera province . The mention of this Small Town then changed to Kotamadya based on Law No. 1 of 1957 on the subject of local government. After the issuance of Law Number 9 Year 1967 regarding the establishment of Bengkulu Province, Bengkulu Municipality as well as being the capital for the province. However, the law only came into force on 1 June 1968 after the issuance of Government Regulation No. 20/1968. Based on the Decree of the Provincial Governor of Bengkulu No. 821.27-039 dated 22 January 1981, the Municipality of Bengkulu was subsequently divided into two districts namely Teluk Segara District and Gading Cempaka District. With the enactment of Decree of Mayor of Bengkulu Region No. 440 and 444 of 1981 and reinforced by the Decree of the Governor of Bengkulu No. 141 of 1982 on 1 October 1982, the mention of the territory of Kedatukan was erased and Pemangkuan became ''kelurahan''. Furthermore, based on Government Regulation No. 41 of 1982, Bengkulu Region Second Level Region consists of 2 Definitive Districts with Teluk Segara District overseeing 17 villages and Gading Cempaka District overseeing 21 urban villages. Then based on Government Regulation No. 46 of 1986, the area of Bengkulu Municipality was increased to 151.7 km² and consisted of four districts, comprising 38 urban villages (''kelurahan'') and 17 rural villages (''desa''). Another five districts were later added by splitting these four. Historically, there was a

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

where all legal investigations passed through. Criminals who were

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

had copies of their trials sent to

for review.

Transportation

Bengkulu is connected by road, air and sea. There are several public transportation modes in Bengkulu such as taxi, angkot (mini-van), ''ojek'' (motorcycle taxi).

Airport

The city is served by the newly renovated Fatmawati Soekarno Airport. There is one terminal building for both international and domestic flights.

Harbour

Bengkulu's harbour, known locally as Pulau Bai, serves inter-island as well as International routes. The ferry terminal is the access point to

Enggano Island Enggano Island is about 100 km (60 mi) southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia, though it can also be considered a barrier island of Sumatra. Enggano is about long from ea ...

Demographics

As of 1832, the population of Bengkulu, and its surrounding area, was estimated at 18,000 people. During that time, the region had a varied population:

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

, Javanese, Indians, and more.

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

was located in the centre of the city.

Economy

When under Dutch rule, Bengkulu had

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

people harvested and processed

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

and mace. The nutmeg would be processed into

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

products.

Pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

was a large export, too. The area also produced smaller amounts of

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

and rice, however, both were primarily imported from

. Fruit and animal production was also significant.

Tourism

In this city there are several British heritage buildings and fortresses, including

, founded in 1713 on Long Beach, Hamilton Monument and

Thomas Parr Monument The Thomas Parr Monument (Indonesian: Tugu Thomas Parr) is a monument located in Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Indonesia and dedicated to Thomas Parr, the British Resident of Bengkulu who was killed in 1807. Constructed the year after his death, it is consid ...

in the downtown area,

's exile house on Soekarno-Hatta Street, and Jamik Mosque designed by Ir. Sukarno. Bengkulu City also has a number of other mainstay attractions, such as Chinatown, Tapak Paderi Beach, Jakat Beach, Dendam Tak Sudah Lake and Pulau Baai Harbor . Not only that, a number of culinary potential of Bengkulu City is also interesting. Some of them such as Pendap, Lempuk Durian, Pondok Durian Bengkulu, Bai Tat, and so forth. One of which can be a reference to shop for souvenirs, the traveler can go to the area Anggut Bengkulu City. This area has been set local government into a typical souvenir center . And for those of you who love durian, Bengkulu City also has a variety of durian processed hunting spots. This can be found in Pondok Durian Bengkulu. In this outlet travelers can enjoy processed Durian ranging from durian ice cream and a variety of variants, durian toast, pancake durian, durian pancakes and so forth.

Culture

Each year, in the Muslim month of

Muharram Muḥarram ( ar, ٱلْمُحَرَّم) (fully known as Muharram ul Haram) is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is forbidden. It is held to be the second holiest month after R ...

, Bengkulu hosts the ceremony ''Tabot''. The two centuries old ritual was made by artisans from

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in India for the construction of Fort Marlborough. It celebrates the martyrdom of Imam Shiite Hussein's death at the

Battle of Karbala The Battle of Karbala ( ar, مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ...

. The Tabot is an opportunity for a grand procession, accompanied by songs and dances performed by young girls.

Education

As of 1832, the city had two

Lancasterian method The Monitorial System, also known as Madras System or Lancasterian System, was an education method that took hold during the early 19th century, because of Spanish, French, and English colonial education that was imposed into the areas of expansion. ...

Dutch schools. At one school, students were taught

math Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

and the

Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Rejang script, Rencong: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spo ...

. The students frequently used a Malay version of ''

The New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

'' to learn Malayan, which was created by

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...

when the British occupied Bengkulu. The other school was at an

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

. In this town lies the only state university in the province of Bengkulu, the Universitas Bengkulu (UNIB).

References

Bibliography

* Ricklefs, M. C., ''A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1300'' (2de édition), 1993 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bengkulu City Populated places established in 1685 1685 establishments in the British Empire