Mukomuko

Mukomuko lies on Sumatra's western coast, where the lands of Bengkulu meet the country historically associated with Inderapura. It was the centre of the Anak Sungai kingdom, a coastal polity linked by tradition to the Minangkabau world. Its people included inland communities and settlers engaged in rice cultivation, pepper growing and trade.

In the early seventeenth century Anak Sungai was regarded as part of Inderapura. The neighbouring kingdom also provided a route by which Islam reached Mukomuko. A local account records that in 1728 Merah Bangin was installed as sultan at Mukomuko, establishing a separate court. The rulers of the coast thus drew on older connections with Inderapura while maintaining their own authority among the communities of Anak Sungai along the coast.