Riau
Riau is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Barisan Mountains to the Malacca Strait, including several large islands situated within the Strait. The province shares land borders with North Sumatra to the northwest, West Sumatra to the west, and Jambi to the south, and a maritime border with the Riau Islands and the country of Malaysia to the east. It is the second-largest province in the island of Sumatra after South Sumatra with a total land area of 93,356.32 km², and an estimated population of 7,007,353 in 2024. The province comprises ten regencies and two cities, with Pekanbaru serving as the capital and largest city.
Historically, Riau has been a part of various monarchies before the arrival of European colonial powers. Muara Takus, a Buddhist temple complex believed to be a remnant of the Buddhist empire of Srivijaya -12th century, is situated in Kampar Regency in Riau province. Following the spread of Islam in the 14th century, the region was then under control of Malay sultanates of Siak Sri Indrapura, Indragiri, and Johor. The sultanates later became protectorate of the Dutch and were reduced to puppet states of the Dutch East Indies. After the establishment of Indonesia in 1945, Riau belonged to the republic's provinces of Sumatra and Central Sumatra. On 10 August 1957, the province of Riau was inaugurated and it included the Riau Islands until 2004.
Although Riau is predominantly considered the land of Malays, it is a highly diverse province. In addition to Malays constituting one-third of the population, other major ethnic groups include Javanese, Minangkabau, Batak, and Chinese. The local Riau dialect of Malay language is considered as the lingua franca in the province, but Indonesian, the standardized form of Malay is used as the official language and also as the second language of many people. Other than that, different languages such as Minangkabau, Hokkien and varieties of Batak languages are also spoken.
Riau is one of the wealthiest provinces in Indonesia and is rich in natural resources, particularly petroleum, natural gas, rubber, palm oil and fibre plantations. Extensive logging and plantation development in has led to a massive decline in forest cover Riau, and associated fires have contributed to haze across the larger region.
Etymology
There are three possible origins of the word riau which became the name of this province. First, from the Portuguese word, "rio" which means river. In 1514, there was a Portuguese military expedition that traced the Siak River, in order to find the location of a kingdom they believed existed in the area, and at the same time to pursue followers of Sultan Mahmud Shah who fled after the fall of the Malacca Sultanate.The second version claims that riau comes from the word riahi which means sea water. The word is allegedly derived from the figure of Sinbad al-Bahar in the book of the One Thousand and One Nights.
Another version is that riau is derived from the Malay word riuh, which means "crowded, frenzied working people". This word is believed used to reflect the nature of the Malay people in present-day Bintan. The name is likely to have become famous since Raja Kecil moved the Malay kingdom center from Johor to Ulu Riau in 1719. This name was used as one of the four main sultanates that formed the kingdoms of Riau, Lingga, Johor and Pahang. However, as the consequences of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 between the Netherlands and United Kingdom, the Johor-Pahang sultanates fell under British influence, while the Riau-Lingga sultanates fell under Dutch influence.
History
Prehistoric era
Riau is thought to have been inhabited since between 40,000 and 10,000 BC, with the discovery of tools from the Pleistocene era in the Sengingi River area in Kuantan Singingi Regency in August 2009. Stone tools found include: an axle, a drawstring, and shale and core stone axes. The research team also found some wood fossils estimated to be older than the stone tools. It is suspected the tool users were Pithecanthropus erectus similar to those found in Sangiran, Central Java. These tools proved the existence of prehistoric settlement in Riau. Earlier settlement was assumed to be possible in the area since the discovery of the Muara Takus Temple in Kampar in 1860.Early historic era
The Malay kingdoms in Riau were at first based on the Buddhist Srivijaya Empire. This is evidenced by the Muara Takus Temple which was thought to be the center of the Srivijaya government in Riau. Its architecturally resembles temples that can be found in India. In addition, French historian George Cœdès also discovered the similarity of the Srivijaya governmental structure and the Malay sultanates of the 15th century. The earliest text that deals with the Malay world is Sulalatus Salatin '' by Tun Sri Lanang, in 1612. According to the annals, Bukit Seguntang in modern-day Palembang in South Sumatra is where Sang Sapurba came to the world and his descendants would scatter throughout the Malay world. His descendants such as Sang Mutiara would become king in Tanjungpura and Sang Nila Utama would become king in Bintan before finally moving to Singapura. Before the arrival of Islam to the archipelago, many parts of the Riau region were under the Srivijaya Empire between the 7th to the 14th century which was greatly influenced by the Hindu-Buddhist tradition. Islam was introduced to the region when the Maharaja of Srivijaya sent a letter to Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz of the Umayyad Caliphate in Egypt containing a request to send a messenger to introduce Islamic law to him.Islamic sultanates
In the 12th century, the entry of Islam into the archipelago was carried through the Samudera Pasai Sultanate in Aceh which was the first Islamic sultanate in the archipelago. The process of the spread of Islam occurred through trade, marriage and missionary activities of Muslim clerics. These factors led to the spread and growth of Islamic influence throughout the Malay world. The strong acceptance of Islam by Malay people is the aspect of equality, which contrasted the caste system in Hinduism, where lower class caste people were less than members of a higher castes.The golden age of Islam in the region was when Malacca became an Islamic sultanate. Many elements of Islamic law, including political and administrative sciences were incorporated into Malacca law, especially the Udang-Undang Melaka. The ruler of Malacca received the title 'Sultan' and was responsible for Islam in his kingdom. In the 15th century, Islam spread and developed throughout the Melaka region including the entire Malay Peninsula, Riau Islands, Bintan, Lingga, Jambi, Bengkalis, Siak, Rokan, Indragiri, Kampar, and Kuantan. Malacca is considered a catalyst in the expansion of Islam into other areas such as Palembang, Sumatra, Patani in southern Thailand, North Kalimantan, Brunei and Mindanao.
According to the journals of the Portuguese explorer Tomé Pires between 1513 and 1515, Siak controlled an area that lies between Arcat and Indragiri. It was a port city under a Minangkabau king, but became a Malacca vassal before being conquered by the Portuguese. Since the fall of Malacca to the Dutch East India Company, the Johor Sultanate claimed Siak as part of its sovereign territory. This continued until the arrival of Sultan Abdul Jalil Rahmat Shah or Raja Kecil who later founded the Siak Sultanate. In the Syair Perang Siak, it is told that Raja Kecil was asked to become the ruler of Siak for the consensus of the people in Bengkalis. This aims to release Siak from the influence of the Johor Sultanate. While according to the Hikayat Siak, Raja Kecil was also called the true inheritor of the throne of the Sultan of Johor who lost the power struggle. Based on the correspondence of the Sultan Indermasyah with the Dutch Governor-General in Malacca at that time, it was mentioned that Sultan Abdul Jalil was his brother who was sent for business affairs with the VOC. Sultan Abdul Jalil then wrote a letter addressed to the Dutch, calling himself the Raja Kecil of Pagaruyung, that he would take revenge for the death of the Sultan of Johor.
In 1718, Raja Kecil succeeded in conquering the Johor Sultanate, at the same time crowning himself as the Sultan of Johor with the title Yang Dipertuan Besar Johor. But in 1722, a rebellion led by Raja Sulaiman, the son of the former Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah IV, demanded the right to the throne of Johor. With the help of Bugis mercenaries, Raja Sulaiman then succeeded in seizing the throne of Johor, and established himself as the ruler of Johor in Peninsular Malaysia, crowning himself as Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah of Johor, while Raja Kecil moved to Bintan and in 1723 established a new government center on the bank of the Siak River with the name Siak Sri Inderapura. While the center of the Johor government which had been around the estuary of the Johor River was abandoned. Whereas the claim of Raja Kecil as the legitimate heir to the throne of Johor, was recognized by the Orang Laut community. The Orang Laut is a Malay sub-group that resides in the Riau Islands region that stretches from east Sumatra to the South China Sea, and this loyalty continued until the collapse of the Siak Sultanate.
By the late 18th century, the Siak Sultanate had become the dominant power on the eastern coast of Sumatra. In 1780, the Siak Sultanate conquered the Sultanate of Langkat, and made the area its protectorate, alongside the Deli and Serdang Sultanates. Under the ties of a cooperation agreement with the VOC, in 1784 the Siak Sultanate helped the VOC attack and subdue the Selangor Sultanate. Previously they had collaborated to quell the Raja Haji Fisabilillah rebellion on Penyengat Island.
The Siak Sultanate took advantage of the trade supervision through the Straits of Malacca, as well as the ability to control pirates in the region. The progress of Siak's economy can be seen from the Dutch records which stated that in 1783 there were around 171 merchant ships making a voyage from Siak to Malacca. Siak is a trading triangle between the Netherlands in Malacca and the United Kingdom on Penang. But on the other hand, the glory of Siak caused jealousy of the descendants of Yang Dipertuan Muda, especially after the loss of their power in the Riau Islands. The attitude of dislike and hostility towards the Sultan of Siak was, seen in the Tuhfat al-Nafis, where in the description of the story they describe the Sultan of Siak as "a person who is greedy for the wealth of the world".
The dominance of the Siak Sultanate towards the eastern coast of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula was quite significant. They were able to replace the influence of Johor before on the control of the trade route in the Strait of Malacca. In addition, the Siak Sultanate also emerged as a key holder of the Minangkabau highland, through three main rivers, of Siak, Kampar, and Kuantan, which had previously been the key to the glory of Malacca. However, the progress of Siak's economy faded caused by the turmoil in the Minangkabau interior known as the Padri War.