Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia
Bengkulu Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is on the southwest coast of the island of Sumatra, and borders the provinces of West Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumatra and Lampung. The province also includes Enggano Island. The capital and largest city is Bengkulu city. It was formerly the site of a British garrison, which they called Bencoolen. The English East India Company established a pepper-trading center and garrison at Bengkulu in 1685. In 1714 the British built Fort Marlborough in the city, which still stands. The trading post was never profitable for the British, being hampered by a location which Europeans found unpleasant, and by an inability to find sufficient pepper to buy. It became an occasional port of call for the EIC's East Indiamen. Despite these difficulties, the British persisted, maintaining their presence for roughly 140 years before ceding it to the Dutch as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 to focus attention on Malacca. Bengkulu remained part of ...