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Penyengat Island

During the golden era of Riau-Lingga Sultanate, Penyengat Island held significant roles in governmental and educational sectors. The island was likewise the hearth of Islamic teaching and Malay cultural civilization in the past. For that reason, the provincial government of Riau Island fixed the island as the highly recommended historical tourism destination. The remaining traces of Riau-Lingga Sultanate can still be found in the island, even though some of them are in critically physical condition.

Once upon a time, there were some fishermen and pirates anchored off the coast of the island. They came to the island for pure water that was hard to find in other places except in Penyengat Island. Feeling of being disturbed by those people, a group of bee flied over them to take revenge on. Those people got stung by the bee, so the island was named "Penyengat" that Literally means "stinger".


Another story grappling with the early history of Penyengat Island is the story of Sultan Mahmud Marhum Besar, who ruled over Riau-Lingga Sultanate from 1761 A.D. to 1812 A.D. It is said that the Sultan proposed a marriage to Engku Putri Raja Hamidah, the daughter of Raja Ali Haji. As he loved the girl very much, a 240-ha island named Penyengat was bestowed upon her by the Sultan.

The Great Mosque of Sultan Riau in Penyengat Island

Feeling enough observing the elegance of the Great Mosque of Sultan Riau, you can move to other historical sites but, we recommend you to take a visit to several mausoleums of Riau-Lingga Sultanate staffers. There you can find the mausoleum of Engku Putri Raja Hamidah and Raja Ali Haji's graveyard. The most interesting one is the mausoleums of Raja Ali Haji because here, you can see one of his great literary works entitled Gurindam 12. You can read the whole series of Gurindam 12 that were carved out on the mausoleum's wall.