. ca 1900–1939. Jambi was the site of the
Melayu kingdom that engaged in trade throughout the
Strait of Malacca and beyond. It was recorded as having sent a mission to China in 644 CE. It was annexed by
Srivijaya by 685 CE, but tried to declare its independence in the 9th century. Jambi succeeded
Palembang, its southern economic and military rival, as the major player in trade in the Malacca straits. After the 1025
Chola raids in Southeast Asia, Jambi still sent missions to China. In the early decades of the Dutch presence in the region, when the Dutch were one of several traders competing with the British, Chinese, Arabs, and Malays, the
Jambi Sultanate profited from trade in
pepper with the Dutch. This relationship declined by about 1770, and the sultanate had little contact with the Dutch for about sixty years. In 1833, minor conflicts with the
Dutch East Indies who were well established in Palembang, meant the Dutch increasingly felt the need to control the actions of Jambi. They coerced Sultan Facharudin to agree to greater Dutch presence in the region and control over trade, although the sultanate remained nominally independent. In 1858 the Dutch, concerned over the risk of competition for control from other foreign powers, invaded Jambi with a force from their capital
Batavia. They met little resistance, and Sultan Taha fled upriver, to the inland regions of Jambi. The Dutch installed a puppet ruler, Nazarudin, in the lower region, which included the capital city. For the next forty years Taha maintained the upriver kingdom, and slowly reextended his influence over the lower regions through political agreements and marriage connections. In 1904, however, the Dutch were stronger and, as a part of a larger campaign to consolidate control over the entire archipelago, managed to capture and kill Taha, and in 1906, the entire area was brought under direct colonial control. Following the death of Jambi Sultan, Taha Saifuddin, on 27 April 1904 and the success of the Dutch controlled areas of the Sultanate of Jambi, Jambi then was set up as a Residency and entry into the territory Netherlands Indies. Jambi's first Resident OL Helfrich was appointed by the governor general under Dutch Decree No. 20, dated 4 May 1906, with his inauguration held on 2 July 1906. In 1945, Sumatra comprised a single province, but in 1948 this was divided into three provinces, including the province of
Central Sumatra (which included present-day Jambi Province). In 1957 this short-lived province was itself divided, and Jambi was created as an independent Province. {{Historical populations ==Government and administrative divisions==