According to the limited early sources available, by the sixteenth century Pariaman was an important port city serving the Minangkabau settlements in the interior highlands of central west Sumatra.

In the early seventeenth century the port came under control of the Sultanate of Aceh, to the north; an Acehnese governor was stationed in the town.

By the early twentieth century the port was less prominent on the coast, as Padang, just to the south, was the focus of Dutch activities in western Sumatra and had a railroad link to the interior.

Although the population of Pariaman is predominantly Sunni, a famous and popular festival of Shia origin named Tabuik (from Arabic "tabut" meaning coffin), is held annually in the city every 10 Muharram, the Day of Ashura.

It presumably represents the white horse of the Imam Hussein at the Battle of Karbala, but is portrayed with a woman's head, wings, a broad tail and carrying a coffin.