The Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Museum is housed in a fine colonial-era building on the north bank of the Musi River, immediately east of Kuto Besak. The two-storey building, with its tall arched windows and dark teak floors, was originally the residence of the Dutch Resident of Palembang.
The collection inside is the city's principal historical museum and runs from Srivijaya-era statuary and inscriptions, through Palembang Sultanate court regalia, to colonial and twentieth-century material. The ethnographic rooms upstairs, with examples of songket weaving and intricate Palembang lacquerware, are the highlights. Allow an hour and a half. English-language captions are present but uneven.