Penang did not suffer under colonialism in the same way as Melaka. It was never invaded by the Portuguese or Dutch and the British snuck in without causing alarm.
Neolithic people lived on the island of Penang, 5,000 years ago, not many, but the island was continuously inhabited by a few people up until the eighteenth century, when Arabs, Japanese, Jews, Armenians and Europeans all decided to come and live here. Syed Sheriff Tengku Syed Hussein Al-Aidid, an Arab from Acheh (Sumatra), one of the wealthiest Arab spice traders, built the Lebuh Acheh mosque in 1808 and allocated land and houses for the Muslim community. He encouraged Moslem traders from all over the Malay archipelago to join his entrepreneurial community in Acheen Street in Penang.
The Europeans grew spices in large plantations, employing people from Java and from India. The Javanese came to Penang in the early nineteenth century and gradually over time assimilated into Malay culture and religion. Refugees continue to arrive today, stealthily, by night, in overfilled boats. They are not particularly discouraged by the Malaysian government, who welcome the opportunity to increase the proportion of Muslims in Malaysia. Burmese refugees are not welcomed with open arms since a) they do not look like Malays and b) they are not Muslim.
The Siamese invaded Kedah in 1821and also came peacefully to Penang to trade and farm.
Indians migrated to Penang, where they traded and lent money.
The first wave of Chinese were traders who came to Penang in the late eighteenth century, married Malays, giving rise to the Baba Nyonya (Chinese/Malay) community. Their religion was a fusion of Tao/Confusion/ Buddhist and they spoke a fusion of Chinese, Eglish and Malay. They traded with South China, South Siam, Burma and the North and West Malay states of Kedah, Perak, Selangor as well as Sumatra.
The second wave of Chinese came in the mid nineteenth century, as indentured coolies, free labourers, traders and artisans. Rich Chinese merchants had opulent country mansions, sent their children to school in Britain or China and chose to marry among themselves, occasionally improving the breeding stock by acquiring a brilliant son-in-law from a poor background.
Today the Nyonya are becoming assimilated into the modern Malay Chinese.
The Malays came from Kedah, Sumatra and southern Thailand. They were fishermen and boat builders. The current government is Malay, so Malays work in the civil service.
The East India Company, set up in 1600 to develop Asian markets for Lancashire woolen products, was focussed mainly on India but by the eighteenth century, when they realised that the Malay peninsular had tin, they became interested in Malaya. Francis Light arrived in India in the mid 1760s, later moving to Phuket, where he set up an East India Company base for trade between India and Siam. Fluent in Siam and Malay, it was he who managed to persuade the Sultan of Penang to let the British occupy Penang temporarily, in exchange for military protection. Of course the British didn't leave. In 1800 the East India Company agreed to pay an annual fee of 10,000 dollars to his Majesty the Sultan Dhiauddin Mukarram Shah II of Penang.
According the the museum in Penang, the British never signed a treaty or agreement with the Sultan of Penang. The Sultan, afraid of the Burmese and Siamese, who were making threatening noises towards Penang, was swayed by the dulcet tones of Francis Light.
Neolithic people lived on the island of Penang, 5,000 years ago, not many, but the island was continuously inhabited by a few people up until the eighteenth century, when Arabs, Japanese, Jews, Armenians and Europeans all decided to come and live here. Syed Sheriff Tengku Syed Hussein Al-Aidid, an Arab from Acheh (Sumatra), one of the wealthiest Arab spice traders, built the Lebuh Acheh mosque in 1808 and allocated land and houses for the Muslim community. He encouraged Moslem traders from all over the Malay archipelago to join his entrepreneurial community in Acheen Street in Penang.
The Europeans grew spices in large plantations, employing people from Java and from India. The Javanese came to Penang in the early nineteenth century and gradually over time assimilated into Malay culture and religion. Refugees continue to arrive today, stealthily, by night, in overfilled boats. They are not particularly discouraged by the Malaysian government, who welcome the opportunity to increase the proportion of Muslims in Malaysia. Burmese refugees are not welcomed with open arms since a) they do not look like Malays and b) they are not Muslim.
The Siamese invaded Kedah in 1821and also came peacefully to Penang to trade and farm.
Indians migrated to Penang, where they traded and lent money.
The first wave of Chinese were traders who came to Penang in the late eighteenth century, married Malays, giving rise to the Baba Nyonya (Chinese/Malay) community. Their religion was a fusion of Tao/Confusion/ Buddhist and they spoke a fusion of Chinese, Eglish and Malay. They traded with South China, South Siam, Burma and the North and West Malay states of Kedah, Perak, Selangor as well as Sumatra.
The second wave of Chinese came in the mid nineteenth century, as indentured coolies, free labourers, traders and artisans. Rich Chinese merchants had opulent country mansions, sent their children to school in Britain or China and chose to marry among themselves, occasionally improving the breeding stock by acquiring a brilliant son-in-law from a poor background.
Today the Nyonya are becoming assimilated into the modern Malay Chinese.
The Malays came from Kedah, Sumatra and southern Thailand. They were fishermen and boat builders. The current government is Malay, so Malays work in the civil service.
The East India Company, set up in 1600 to develop Asian markets for Lancashire woolen products, was focussed mainly on India but by the eighteenth century, when they realised that the Malay peninsular had tin, they became interested in Malaya. Francis Light arrived in India in the mid 1760s, later moving to Phuket, where he set up an East India Company base for trade between India and Siam. Fluent in Siam and Malay, it was he who managed to persuade the Sultan of Penang to let the British occupy Penang temporarily, in exchange for military protection. Of course the British didn't leave. In 1800 the East India Company agreed to pay an annual fee of 10,000 dollars to his Majesty the Sultan Dhiauddin Mukarram Shah II of Penang.
According the the museum in Penang, the British never signed a treaty or agreement with the Sultan of Penang. The Sultan, afraid of the Burmese and Siamese, who were making threatening noises towards Penang, was swayed by the dulcet tones of Francis Light.
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