| Fort Marlborough | |
|---|---|
| Fort Marlborough | |
 | |
  Fort Marlborough Location in Sumatra | |
| Location | Bengkulu City,Bengkulu Province,Indonesia |
| Nearest city | Bengkulu City |
| Area | 0.027 km2 (0.010 sq mi) |
| Established | 1713 (build) – 1719 (finish) |
| Governing body | Ministry of Tourism |
| Website | www |
Fort Marlborough (IndonesianBenteng Marlborough, also known asMalabero) is a formerEast India Company fort located inBengkulu City,Sumatra. It was built between 1713 and 1719 by theEast India Company under the leadership of GovernorJoseph Collett as a defensive fort for the British East India Company'sResidency there. It was one of the strongest British forts in the eastern region, second only toFort St. George inMadras, India.[1]
The fort is made of bricks 50 to 180 centimeters in thickness. The2000 Enggano earthquake, which registered 7.9 on themoment magnitude scale, and of 2007, with its 3.5-metertsunami, had no effect on the strongly built fort.[2]
The fort has a rectangular layout, with an arrowhead-shaped bastion on each corner. The entrance to the fort is in the southwest, protected by aravelin. A dry moat follows the trace of the fort. A wooden bridge spans the ditch that separates the main building from the front building. The southwest side has an arch entrance with a wooden door.[1] The fort encompasses 2.7 hectares, and stands on a site of 4.4 hectares.
The BritishEast India Company built the fort between 1713 and 1719. In 1714, Governor Collett obtained permission to build a new fort in Bencoolen. He named the new fort, which he built two miles from an older fort (Fort York), Fort Marlborough.
The fort was built on an artificial hill, and construction, using both convict and local labor, took several years to complete. During that period, the civil officers and the military garrison were divided between the old and the new fort.
In April 1715, Governor Collett sent a copy of the plan of the first Fort Marlborough[clarification needed]; the plan showed that the fort was walled with earth ramparts and ditch, with gun platforms on the bastions. The pace of construction was slow.[1]
In 1760, during theSeven Years' War, a French squadron under the command ofCharles Hector, Comte d'Estaing took the fort and used it as a base to attack and subdue other British settlements on the west coast of Sumatra. Before returning to theMascarenes, he ransomed the fort back to the British.[citation needed]
At one time, the native people of Bengkulu burned the fort, forcing the inhabitants to flee to Madras. They returned in 1724 after an agreement was reached. In 1793, another attack on the fort occurred, killing one British officer, Robert Hamilton. Another attack happened in 1807, killing aresident, Thomas Parr. Both are commemorated with monuments in Bengkulu City erected by the British colonial government.[1] Themonument to Parr is 170 metres (560 ft) southeast of the fortress.[3]
The British transferred Bengkulu, then known as Bencoolen, to Dutch control under theAnglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, which defined British and Dutch spheres of influence. In exchange, the Dutch cededMalacca to Britain and gave up their designs on the British settlement ofSingapore.[4] In 1837, the fort had about 60 Dutch soldiers occupying it.[5] The Japanese occupied the fort during their occupation of the Dutch East Indies (1942–1945). Then, during theIndonesian National Revolution period, the fort housed the headquarters of the Indonesian national police until the Dutch reoccupied the fort. When the Dutch left Indonesia in 1950, theIndonesian Army took over the fort. In 1977, the fort was handed over to the thenDepartment of Education and Culture to be restored and converted into a heritage site.[1]
3°47′14″S102°15′07″E / 3.787093°S 102.251848°E /-3.787093; 102.251848