Kisah

Kabupaten Bengkalis adalah salah satu kabupaten di Provinsi Riau, Indonesia. Ibu kotanya berada di Kecamatan Bengkalis. Wilayah dari kabupaten ini mencakup daratan bagian Timur Pulau Sumatra dan wilayah kepulauan, dengan luas adalah 6.973,00 km². Jumlah penduduk Bengkalis pada akhir tahun 2024 sebanyak 681.884 jiwa. Penghasilan terbesar Kabupaten Bengkalis adalah minyak bumi yang menjadi sumber terbesar APBD-nya bersama dengan gas. Kabupaten Bengkalis mempunyai letak yang sangat strategis, karena dilalui oleh jalur perkapalan internasional menuju ke Selat Malaka. Bengkalis juga termasuk dalam salah satu program Indonesia Malaysia Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS-GT) dan Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), yang menjadi lokasi strategis untuk pengembangan ekonomi dan perdagangan, terutama karena letaknya di dekat Melaka.

The origin of the name Bengkalis is taken from the words "Mengkal" which means sad or emotional and "Kalis" which means steadfast, patient and enduring. This word is taken from the expression of the Raja Kecil to his servants and followers when he arrived in Bengkalis when he wanted to overthrow the Johor Sultanate's rule over eastern Sumatra. The expression goes as follows: "Mengkal feels my heart because I am not recognized as the Sultan who rules the country, but it does not matter, we are still Kalis in accepting this situation.” This expression became a topic of conversation among the people that the king was "Mengkal" but still "Kalis". Finally, the expression became the saying "Oh, your king is Mengkalis". From this saying arose the word "mengkalis", which evolved into the modern place name "Bengkalis".

Bengkalis was part of the old kingdoms that controlled the Strait of Malacca region and is thought to have been first inhabited by Sea People who inhabited the northern and southern coastal areas who believe that they originated from Bukit Siguntang. Because the Melaka Sultanate was founded by Parameswara, a descendant of Sang Nila Utama, the founder of the Kingdom of Singapura, located in modern Singapore, the Orang Laut's loyalty to Melaka is unwavering. Recorded Orang Laut settlements on Bengkalis Island include Tanjung Parit in the present-day Muntai Village, Bantan District, and the Senggeren Tribe settlement at the mouth of the Bengkalis River. In Tanjung Parit, the Orang Laut were led by a leader who was very loyal to the Sultanate. This group of Orang Laut were ready to be deployed at any time to defend Melaka's interests, if needed with excellent sea navigation skills such as reading wind direction, stargazing, knowledge of the seasons, and other sea skills. The Orang Laut were known as skilled and resilient sailors. Melaka's conquest of Bengkalis, led by Bendahara Tun Perak, is also believed to be the beginning of the arrival of Islam in Bengkalis. Although Bengkalis may have previously been exposed to Islam through Indian and Arab traders who came to Bengkalis, the expansion of Malacca, accompanied by the spread of Islam, had a deeper meaning and its reach to the community of Bengkalis was much broader. The word Bengkalis itself was recorded as early as 1575 on a map made by Fernão vas Dourado, which on that map was called Bamcallis. Then in a Dutch map made by Willem Lodewycksz in 1596 and first published in 1598, Bengkalis was called Bancalis. Emanuel Gordinho de Eredia, in his book Declaracam de Malaca e India Meridional com o Cathay, published in 1613, referred to Bengkalis as Bencales. This book is a record of Gordinho's travels from Malacca, India to Cathay. Meanwhile, in the Insulae Indiae Orientalis, a Dutch map from the MercatorJansson series produced in 1635, Bengkalis is written as Bacalis. Meanwhile, in local sources such as the Hikayat Siak or Tuhfat al Nafis, Bengkalis is written as Mengkalis. This indicates that during the 19th century, when these Malay manuscripts were written, Bengkalis was known as Mengkalis. The same is true in the Hikayat Awang Sulung Merah Muda and Hikayat Terang Pipit.

Bengkalis was founded on 30 July 1512. In 1645, the regency was just a fishing village. The word Bengkalis was also recorded in history in 1511 in a book about Malacca entitled The Suma Oriental written by the Portuguese writer Tomé Pires. He provides a clear and specific picture of the life of the Malacca people from 1400 to 1515. The story is set while Pires was in the cosmopolitan city of Malacca from 1512 to 1515, the early years of the Portuguese conquest of Malacca. In 1678, Bengkalis became a meeting place for Malay, Javanese and Arab traders who brought their goods along with traders from Palembang, Jambi, Indragiri, Aceh, Kedah, Perak, Kelong, Johor, Penang, Petani, Thailand, Cambodia, Kochi, China and the Minangkabau people. They were Sumatrans who came to Bengkalis to collect salt, rice and fish caught in abundance by the people living around the Strait of Malacca. In 1717, Bengkalis was used as a line of attack against Johor by Raja Kecil. It was in Bengkalis that he assembled his military forces and then founded the Buantan Kingdom, later called the Siak Kingdom, in 1723. When the Siak Kingdom was founded, Bengkalis and Bukit Batu served as outposts for its defense, led by Datuk Laksamana Raja di Laut. Datuk Laksamana Raja di Laut built a powerful fleet and built warships equipped with weapons imported from Islamic countries. Later, during the Dutch East Indies rule, Bengkalis served as the capital of the East Sumatra Residency. However, the Dutch later moved the residency capital from Bengkalis to Medan. After this move, Bengkalis served as the capital of the Bengkalis Afdeling until the end of the Dutch rule in Indonesia. Meanwhile, during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Bengkalis was made the capital of Bengkalis Bun.

Kabupaten Bengkalis terletak di sebelah timur Pulau Sumatra yang mencakup area seluas 8.403,28 km² dengan batas sebagai berikut:

Bengkalis merupakan daerah dataran rendah dengan ketinggian rata-rata sekitar 2–6,1 meter dari permukaan laut. Sebagian besar merupakan tanah organosol, yaitu jenis tanah yang banyak mengandung bahan organik. Di daerah ini juga terdapat beberapa sungai, tasik (danau) serta 24 pulau besar dan kecil. Beberapa di antara pulau besar itu adalah Pulau Rupat (1.524,84 km²) dan Pulau Bengkalis (938,40 km²).

Bengkalis mempunyai iklim tropis yang sangat dipengaruhi oleh iklim laut dengan temperatur 26 °C – 32 °C. Musim hujan biasanya terjadi sekitar bulan September – Januari, dengan curah hujan rata-rata berkisar antara 809–4.078 mm/tahun. Periode musim kemarau biasanya terjadi antara bulan Februari hingga Agustus.