Origins Appellation and Name Bengkulu, a Province on The Island of Sumatra

INDEPHEDIA.com - Bengkulu is a province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The provincial capital of Bengkulu is located in Bengkulu City.

Geographically, this province is located in the southwestern part of Sumatra Island and the west coast in the southern part of Sumatra Island.

The province in Southern Sumatra (Sumbagsel) is directly adjacent to the Provinces of West Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumatra and Lampung.

The Origins of the Appellation and the Name of Bengkulu

Launching Bengkulukota, Bengkulu in Dutch is called Benkoelen or Bengkulen, in English it is called Bencoolen, while in Malay it is called Bangkahulu.

There are many stories about the origins and name of Bengkulu, some say that the name Bengkulu comes from the Malay language and the word bang means "coastal" and while kulon means "west".

Then, there was a shift in the pronunciation of bang to beng and kulon to kulu.

Meanwhile, other sources state that the name "Bencoolen" is thought to have been taken from a hill named in Cullen, Scotland, Bm of Cullen (or its variety, Ben Cullen).

This naming is unfounded because it is not in the character of the Malay people to name their area by an unknown regional name, especially since the origin of the name is from Scotland, which is far away.

On the other hand, traditional sources state that Bengkulu or Bangkahulu originates from the words Carcass and Hulu which mean carcasses upstream.

It is said that according to the story, there used to be a war between the small kingdoms in Bengkulu and the battle resulted in many casualties from both sides in the upper reaches of the Bengkulu river.

It was these war victims who became unburied carcasses in the upper reaches of the river, hence the name Bangkaihulu.

Gradually the name Bangkaihulu changed its pronunciation to Bangkahulu or Bengkulu.

Of the many stories about the origin of the name Bengkulu, there is one story that is more widely known in Bengkulu society.

The story is taken from the story of the war against the Acehnese who came to propose to Putri Gading Cempaka, the daughter of Ratu Agung Sungai (River) Serut. However, the application was rejected, causing war.

The inner child of Putri Gading Cempaka who replaced Ratu Agung as King of the Serut River shouted "Empang ka hulu".

Empang ka hulu means blocking them and don't let them set foot on our land. From these words, the word Bangkahulu or Bengkulu was born. (SJ/IND)