← The interactive mapAll civilizations

Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura

Founded around 1722-23 by Raja Kecil, a claimant to the Johor throne, Siak expanded through the 18th century to dominate much of eastern Sumatra by controlling the trade between the Sumatran interior and the Strait of Malacca. It became a Dutch vassal in the 19th century and acceded to Indonesia in 1946.

Acceded to the Republic of Indonesia in 1946; its last sultan gave up the throne and the sultanate's treasury to the Republic.

See it on the interactive map →

Further reading

• A History of Malaysia Barbara Watson Andaya & Leonard Y. Andaya · 1982

  Treats Raja Kecil, Siak, and the Johor succession crisis of the early 18th c. (Open Library /works/OL3901035W).

Sources

• Wikipedia, 'Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura' (intro fetched via API) + Wikidata Q2988765 (P571=1723, P576=1946)
• John Anderson, 'Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra in 1823' (1826), p. 177: 'It is customary for all the states actually or nominally tributary to Siack, as far as Langkat, to send once in three years, a certain number of prows and men to Siack, to repair the fortifications'
• Anderson 1826, p. 177: 'The chiefs of Beelah [Bila], Panei, Kualuh, Tanah Putih, and Bengkalis, whom I met at Siack, had come to assist in erecting a monument over the remains of the late king, the rajah exacting these feudal services of them, as being tributaries of Siack.'
• John Crawfurd, 'A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands & Adjacent Countries' (1856), s.v. KAMPAR, p. 193: 'It has Indragiri to the south-east; and Siak, to which it is tributary, to the north-west.' (and s.v. SIAK, p. 389: the Siak river 'navigable for vessels of large burden for eighty miles up ... the most useful stream in Sumatra')