Batusangkar is the capital of the Tanah Datar

Tanah Datar

Tanah Datar is a regency in West Sumatra province, Indonesia. The regency has a population of 334,000. The capital of the regency is Batusangkar...

 regency of West Sumatra

West Sumatra

West Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It lies on the west coast of the island Sumatra. It borders the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. It includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

.

The town is near the former seat of the Minangkabau royalty established by Adityawarman

Adityawarman

Adityawarman , a nobleman born in east Java, from Pararaton poem, his mother's name was Dara Jingga from Dharmasraya princess; his father’s name was Adwayawarman from Kuburajo Inscription around Limo Kaum in West Sumatra...

 in Pagaruyung, represented by the reconstructed Pagaruyung Palace

Pagaruyung Palace

Pagaruyung was the seat of Minangkabau kings, though little is known about it...

. A number of stones bearing inscriptions (prasasti) left by Adityavarman that remain in the region are the first written records in West Sumatra. After the death of Adityavarman (1375) no more stone inscriptions were produced.

The town was known as Fort Van der Capellen during colonial times, when it was a Dutch outpost established during the Padri War

Padri War

The Padri War was fought from 1803 until 1837 in West Sumatra between two rival muslim factions. The Dutch intervened from 1821 and helped the Adats defeat the Padri faction.-Background:...

 (1821-37). The fort was built between 1822 and 1826 and named after the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies represented the Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949.The first Governors-General were appointed by the Dutch East India Company...

, Godert van der Capellen

Godert van der Capellen

Godert Alexander Gerard Philip, Baron van der Capellen was a Dutch statesman from Utrecht.Van der Capellen was made Prefect of Friesland and soon thereafter Minister of the Interior and a member of the Privy Council. At his advice, King Louis Napoleon abdicated the throne in 1810 in favor of his...

. The city was officially renamed Batusangkar in 1949, replacing its colonial name.