In the 17th century, the British East India Company controlled the spice trade in the Lampung region of southern Sumatra from a port in Banten, in the northwest of the neighbouring island of Java.

The Dutch expelled all other Europeans present in Banten, leading the British to establish Bengkulu.

Despite these difficulties, the British persisted, maintaining a presence there for over a century, ceding it to the Dutch as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 to focus their attention on Malacca.

[5] Like the rest of present-day Indonesia, Bengkulu remained a Dutch colony until World War II.

A recent report predicts that Bengkulu is "at risk of inundation over the next few decades from undersea earthquakes predicted along the coast of Sumatra"[7] A series of earthquakes struck Bengkulu in September 2007, killing 13 people.

[1] The table also includes the numbers of administrative villages (all classed as urban kelurahan) in each district and its postcodes.

Based on Emergency Law Number 6 Year 1956, Bengkulu was one of the Small Town with an area of 17.6 km2 in South Sumatera province.

Bengkulu's harbour, known locally as Pulau Bai, serves inter-island as well as International routes.

The privately owned RBTV and BETV are the local TV stations based in Bengkulu.

During that time, the region had a varied population: Dutch, Chinese, Javanese, Indians, and more.

The area also produced smaller amounts of coffee and rice, however, both were primarily imported from Padang.

[6] In this city, there are several British heritage buildings and fortresses, including Fort Marlborough, founded in 1713 on Long Beach, Hamilton Monument and Thomas Parr Monument in the downtown area, Sukarno's exile house on Soekarno-Hatta Street, and Jamik Mosque designed by Ir.

And for those of you who love durian, Bengkulu City also has a variety of durian-processed hunting spots.

The two centuries-old ritual was made by artisans from Madras in India for the construction of Fort Marlborough.

The Tabot is an opportunity for a grand procession, accompanied by songs and dances performed by young girls.

The students frequently used a Malay version of The New Testament to learn Malayan, which was created by Robert Boyle when the British occupied Bengkulu.