Rantau Benar

Rantau Benar lies in the Tungkal country of Jambi, among the rivers and hills of eastern Sumatra. A local tradition calls the settlement Balik Bukit, or “behind the hill”, and relates its foundation to Datuk Mandaliko and his children, remembered as ancestors of three neighbouring communities. The place also appears in accounts of the lower territories of the Jambi kingdom, which extended from the Tungkal area towards the Batang Hari basin and the border with Palembang.