Benkoelen Residency

Benkoelen Residency (Dutch: Residentie Benkoelen), also spelled Bencoolen, was an administrative subdivision of the Dutch East Indies, covering the present-day province of Bengkulu, Indonesia. Benkoelen was a British colony before they ceded it to the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. It was one of the control centers of the Dutch before independence, though after independence it became the resident of Bengkulu prefect. Initially, it was a part of Sumatra, later part of Southern Sumatra. Further, on the demand of Bengkulu Struggle Agency and according to Law no. 9/1967 Junkto Government Regulation no. 20/1968, Bengkulu became an all-new province, thereby making the Benkoelen Residency a part of it.