Barus

Historically, Barus was well known as a port town or kingdom on the western coast of Sumatra where it was a regional trade center from around the 7th or earlier until the 17th century.

[7] In 4th Chinese records, the name "Po-lu" is found, suggested to mean Barus or the northern part of Sumatra.

During the Tang dynasty, the Chinese traveller Yijing mentioned the island of Polushi (婆魯師洲) to the west of Palembang where Mulasarvastivada Buddhism was practiced.

One of the earliest mentions of Barus in Muslim sources may be by Sulaiman who wrote in 851 of gold mines and "plantations called Fansur, where one obtains a superior quality of camphor".

[7] In the 10th century, Al-Masudi wrote that "... the land of Fansur, whence is derived the fansuri camphor, which is only found there in large quantities in the years that have many storms and earthquakes".

[9] In the 13th century, the Chinese writer Zhao Rukuo （or Chau Ju-kua, 趙汝适）wrote in Zhu Fan Zhi that Binsu (賓窣, Pansur) was one of the countries producing camphor.

It is also named in the 1365 Old Javanese epic poem Nagarakretagama as one of the vassal states of the Majapahit that formed part of 'tanah ri Malayu'.

In the 16th century, Barus was a prosperous port; the Portuguese writer Tomé Pires mentioned in Suma Oriental the "very rich kingdom of Baros" that was also known to people from many nations as "Panchur" or "Pansur".

[17] Historically, the Barus population is a mixed people descended from the Minangkabau, Batak, and Acehnese, known as the ethnic of Pesisir (Pasisia).