Kubu

Kubu lies in the lowlands of eastern Sumatra, on waterways opening toward the Strait of Malacca. Its local history is associated with the Sungai Baung and migration from the Minangkabau country of Rao. In traditions preserved by elders, a party led by Datuk Raja Hitam came from Padang Nunang and established itself here in the later seventeenth century. The remembered party included advisers and military followers as well as families, making the settlement a political community with named offices and a founding lineage.

The local succession story continues with Banda Jalal, styled Johan Pahlawan, and a dispute settled by Siak's Sultan Raja Kecil. Customary authority developed through the founding households and their leaders, while the river remained central to the settlement's identity. Kubu later belonged to the group of riverine negeri that acknowledged the Sultan of Siak, alongside Bangko and Tanah Putih. This relationship joined local leadership to a larger Malay sultanate. Its history consequently follows both the settlement traditions of the Baung River and the wider political connections of the Rokan coast.