George Town, the capital city of the state of Penang, is the second largest city in Malaysia and the economic centre of the country's northern region. The history of George Town began with its establishment by Captain Francis Light of the British East India Company in 1786. Founded as a free port, George Town became the first British settlement in Southeast Asia and prospered in the 19th century as one of the vital British entrepôts within the region. It briefly became the capital of the Straits Settlements, a British crown colony which also consisted of Singapore and Malacca.
During World War II, George Town was militarily occupied by the Japanese Empire between 1941 and 1945. At the war's end, it became the first city in British Malaya to be liberated, under Operation Jurist. Following the dissolution of the Straits Settlements in 1946, Penang was merged into the Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia). Despite a secessionist movement that originated from the city, the merger with Malaya went ahead and the federation attained independence from the British Empire in 1957.
George Town became the first city in Malaya, and by extension, Malaysia, when in 1957, it was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II. In addition, the city centre has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. Today, the city, well known for its cultural diversity, colonial-era architecture and street food, is a booming tourist destination and still serves as the financial centre of northern Malaysia. Historical affiliationsPeriod Kedah Sultanate 1136–1786 British East India Company 1786–1867 Straits Settlements 1826–1941; 1945–1946 Empire of Japan1941–1945 Malayan Union 1946–1948 Federation of Malaya 1948–1963 Malaysia 1963 – present
Establishment
For centuries prior to the arrival of the British East India Company in the Malay Peninsula in the late 18th century, Penang Island had formed part of the Sultanate of Kedah. As a Siamese vassal kingdom, Kedah had maintained an uneasy and somewhat turbulent diplomatic relationship with its mightier northern neighbour.
In the 1770s, the British East India Company, seeking to expand its presence into Southeast Asia, instructed Francis Light to form trade relations in the Malay Peninsula. At the time, in the aftermath of the Burmese–Siamese War, Kedah was facing the threat of military invasion by both Siam and Burma, as well as an internal Bugis rebellion.
Aware of the unfolding situation, Light landed in Kedah, proceeded to form cordial relations with the then sultan of Kedah, Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin II, and promised British military assistance. To illustrate his commitment, Light led a force to recapture a Bugis-held fort for the sultan, who reciprocated by offering Penang Island. Light subsequently wrote to his superiors regarding the offer, arguing that Penang Island could serve as a "convenient magazine for trade", and its strategic location would allow the British to check Dutch and French territorial gains in Southeast Asia. He added that, with the other ports in the region, such as Aceh and Phuket, riddled with piracy and ruled by despotic governments, the British East India Company could seize the opportunity to establish a tranquil harbour on Penang Island conducive for free trade, also noting that if "Malay, Bugis and Chinese will come to reside here, it will become the Exchange of the East if not loaded with impositions and restrictions".
However, nothing materialised until 1786, when Light was finally ordered to acquire Penang Island from Kedah. By then, the British were fighting the Thirteen American Colonies, which were backed by France and the Netherlands. Faced with the Dutch dominance of the East Indies (now Indonesia) and a growing French threat, the British East India Company sought control of Penang Island as a Royal Navy repair base, and a trading post between China and the Indian subcontinent.
Light negotiated the cession of Penang Island to the British East India Company with the new sultan of Kedah, Abdullah Mukarram Shah, in exchange for British military protection and a lease of 6,000 Spanish dollars to pay off Kedah's debts to Siam. With the agreement between Light and the Kedah sultan fruitfully concluded, Light and his entourage sailed on to Penang Island, where they arrived on 17 July 1786.
The site where Light first landed was originally a mangrove swamp covered in thick jungle. To expedite the clearing of the vegetation, Light ordered his vessels to fire silver coins into the jungle. Fort Cornwallis would later be constructed at the spot where Light first set foot.
Once enough land was cleared, creating what is now the Esplanade, a simple ceremony was held on 11 August, during which the Union Jack was flown for the first time. This marked the formal possession of Penang Island by the British East India Company in the name of King George III. The island was renamed the Prince of Wales Island after the heir to the British throne, while the new settlement of George Town was founded in honour of King George III.
Thus, George Town became the first British settlement in Southeast Asia and heralded the start of British colonialism in the Malay Peninsula. Indeed, during the next century, the settlement would serve as a springboard for further British expansion of territory and influence in the region.
Unbeknownst to Sultan Abdullah, however, Light had acted with neither the authority nor the approval of his superiors in India. When Light reneged on his promise of British military assistance against Siam, in 1791 the Kedah sultan assembled an army and a fleet of pirates in what is now Seberang Perai to recapture the Prince of Wales Island. In response, the British East India Company reinforced the garrison on the island with two companies from Calcutta. Having failed to persuade the sultan to disband his forces, the British East India Company attacked and defeated the Kedah forces, destroying a Kedah fort in Perai in the process.
Light died from malaria in 1794 and was buried within the city's Old Protestant Cemetery at Northam Road. To this day, Light is regarded as the founding father of Penang.
Early growth
Francis Light had established George Town as a free port to entice merchants from the Dutch ports in the region. Attracted by the promise of free trade without having to pay any form of tax or duties, and assured of their safety at the British-governed harbour, merchants flocked into George Town; consequently, the number of incoming vessels rose exponentially from 85 in 1786 to 3,569 in 1802. The population of the new settlement had also increased to 10,000 by 1792. Immigrants arrived from various parts of Asia; in 1801, the then lieutenant-governor of the Prince of Wales Island, Sir George Leith, commented that "there is not, probably, any part of the world where, in so small a space, so many different people are assembled together or so great a variety of languages spoken".
At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, the British East India Company enlarged and rearmed Fort Cornwallis. The Royal Navy based a small squadron under Admiral Troubridge at the island in 1805, but withdrew it in 1806. A small shipyard was established that launched its first vessel in 1806. It built few vessels and was closed in 1811 or 1812. The last large vessel built there was .Phipps, John, (of the Master Attendant's Office, Calcutta), (1840) A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time .... (Scott), p.175.
Soon after the establishment of George Town, pepper cultivation was introduced onto the Prince of Wales Island. Spice farms were opened in the interior of the island, while other spices, including local variants of nutmeg and clove, also began to be harvested. In the early 19th century, Penang, which by then comprised both the Prince of Wales Island and a strip of the Malay Peninsula named Province Wellesley (now Seberang Perai), emerged as a centre of spice production and trade within Southeast Asia. The Port of Penang in George Town functioned as a conduit, through which agricultural produce from the spice farms further inland were exported. The export of spice also allowed the British East India Company to cover the administrative costs for Penang.
George Town was originally developed haphazardly, as buildings and streets were constructed ad hoc. The new settlement, arranged in a grid pattern, was bounded by four streets - Light Street, Beach Street, Chulia Street and Pitt Street. The segregation of George Town's commercial and administrative precincts, as well as ethnic enclaves, can still be seen today; with Light Street serving as an administrative precinct where government and judicial offices are concentrated.
A committee of assessors for George Town was established in 1800, making it the first local government to be established within British Malaya. The committee, which consisted of British and local Asian ratepayers, was tasked with the valuation of property within the new settlement.
In 1807, Penang was conferred a royal charter that provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court and a police force. The Supreme Court of Penang was first opened at Fort Cornwallis in the following year, with Edmond Stanley assuming office as its first Recorder (Judge). In the following decades, Penang's judiciary and police force were progressively extended to the whole of the Straits Settlements, and later copied throughout British Malaya. Hence, George Town became the birthplace of the present-day Malaysian judiciary system, as well as the Royal Malaysian Police.
Straits Settlements
In 1826, the British East India Company consolidated its territories of Penang, Singapore and Malacca into a single political entity, the Straits Settlements. George Town was made the capital of this new entity. However, owing to Singapore's more strategic geographical position between the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea, the Port of Singapore rapidly surpassed the Port of Penang as the preeminent harbour in the region. Prompted by this development, in 1832, Singapore replaced George Town as the capital of the Straits Settlements in 1832. Even so, George Town remained the seat of the Straits Settlements judiciary until 1855.
Although its importance became secondary to Singapore's, George Town remained a vital British entrepôt within Southeast Asia, funneling the exports meant for global shipping lines which had bypassed other regional harbours. In the latter half of the 19th century, the tin mining boom in the neighbouring Sultanate of Perak and southern Siam brought more prosperity to the city. Tin from the Kinta Valley and Siam were shipped to George Town for smelting, before being exported via the Port of Penang to European and American industries. The Port of Penang subsequently became a major conduit for the export of tin from British Malaya, directly challenging the Port of Singapore. The launch of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the advent of steamships further cemented the Port of Penang's importance. These factors were crucial, as it established the Malacca Strait as part of the main sea route between Europe and Asia, with George Town as the first port-of-call east of the Indian subcontinent and a vital link in the international telegraph lines.
In 1857, the George Town Municipal Commission, which consisted of five members and led by the resident-councillor of Penang, was formed. Three of the municipal commissioners were to be elected by expatriate ratepayers and Straits-born British citizens, making the Municipal Commission the first, albeit partially, elected local government within British Malaya. However, the local elections were abolished by 1913.