Siak treaty in 1858

Jambi recognized Dutch sovereignty after a brief military intervention in 1834 and Indragiri in 1838, but under the London treaty Britain objected to Dutch expansion north of the Equator and the Dutch had no formal presence in Indragiri.

North of Indragiri, however, the sultanate of Siak experience internal political struggles in the 1850s and the Sultan appealed for Dutch protection. The Britain reluctantly permitted the Dutch to establish their hegemony in 1858 in order to preserve regional stability.

 In the Siak Treaty (1858) which was subsequently concluded the Sultan pledged his allegiance to the Netherlands Indies Government. In this treaty the Government at the same time undertook to maintain the rights of the Sultan in his dependencies.

Siak Treaty gave the Dutch sovereignty over Siak and which counted as the state’s territories as far north as Tamiang, the border state of Aceh. The article in the treaty defined the boundaries as far as Alas and Langkat and thus including pepper ports which were both under Aceh’s jurisdiction and important to British trade. The British objected and in 1863-5 sent gunboats to these pepper ports.
Siak treaty in 1858

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