Muntok (Chinese:文岛) or, more commonly,Mentok is a town in the Indonesian province ofBangka-Belitung on the island of Sumatra. The capital ofWest Bangka Regency (Bangka Barat), it is the site of the biggest tin smelter on the world. Mentok refers tothe tip of the island.
Mentok was founded at 1732 by Encek Wan Akub as order of SultanPalembang Darussalam Sri Susuhan Mahmud Badaruddin I, beginning as a small village consisting of 7 wooden houses for the royal family of Encek Wan Abdul Jabbar, father-in-law of sultan Badaruddin I of Palembang Darussalam who was married his daughter Zamnah for his 2nd wife from SiantanNatuna.
Encek Wan Akub discovered a large amount of[tin ore atUlim river, south Bangka Island on a voyage of discovery with his secret task force and reported it to sultan Badaruddin I of Palembang Darussalam.
By approval of sultan Badaruddin I of Palembang Darussalam, Encek Wan Akub ordered his nephew Wan Serin to go to seek tin miners inJohor,Siam andCampa and starttin mining on Bangka Island.
From that time Muntok become an exporter of tin ingots and was filled by merchant ships from many countries including theDutch East India Company.
In 1812 the BritishEast India Company captured Muntok, renamed it Minto (afterLord Minto, then Governor-General of India),[1] and used it as their headquarters inFort Nugent of Tandjoeng Kaleang to attack Palembang Darussalam for monopoly of the tin trade.
After theAnglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 in 1816 the British left Bangka Island and Mentok to the Dutch.
In 1913 the Dutch Indies Government moved the capital of the Bangka-Belitung Residency from Mentok toPangkal Pinang.
The majority of the people in Mentok areMalay andHakka Chinese. The Malay aremuslims, the majority of Chinese areBuddhist,Catholic andProtestant, there is also a small population of Arab and Indian muslims in the area.
Mentok is a tin smelter town and many people work in the smelter. Other people are government employees, and there are also fishermen, farmers, and tin miners. Mentok is 3 hours fromPalembang by ferry through thePort of Tanjung Kalian and 2 hours by paved road fromPangkal Pinang.
2°0′S105°5′E / 2.000°S 105.083°E /-2.000; 105.083
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