Kesultanan Siak Sri Inderapura

The formal establishment of the sultanate of Siak is normally dated 1725, when the first of the 12 Sultans, Abdul Jalil Rahmad Syah, ascended the throne.

The Sultanate was located on and around the great Siak River which flows east to the Malacca straits. It political center the town of Siak Indrapura, was situated close to the mouth of the river.

Occupying a strategic position on the great international shipping conduit of the Malacca Strait, and with commercially important resources pepper and tin, the sultanate perhaps inevitably could not escape the complex regional power struggles involving local forces such as those of Aceh and Johor.

In 1791 Sayid Ali came to the power as ruler. Well known to Dutch as a former ‘pirate’ and occasional ally, he incorporated much of his raiding style experience into his style of government. Allying with the dreaded Ilanun, he mounted periodic attacks on neighboring ports and rival shipping.

At its greatest extend, early in the 19th century Siak’s authority stretched as far north as Langkat, Deli and Serdang, in today’s North Sumatra.

The trade is considerable and is carried on in vessels from the coast of Coromandel, which supply cargoes of piece goods, and also raw silk, opium and other articles, which they provide at Penang or Malacca: in return for which they receive gold, wax, sago, salted fish and fish-roes, elephants teeth, gambir, camphor, rattan and other canes.

Although political declined the line of Sultans continued until the establishment of the Indonesian republic.
Kesultanan Siak Sri Inderapura