Gunung Sahilan

Gunung Sahilan was a royal centre in the Kampar Kiri country of eastern Sumatra. Its rulers were linked by tradition to Pagaruyung in the Minangkabau highlands, and local accounts place the beginnings of the kingdom in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. The court governed through customary leaders in a riverine territory that included the Subayang and Batang Bio valleys. Its customs combined Minangkabau inheritance with Islamic influences, while upstream communities retained their own local chiefs.