Light developed George Town as a free port, thus allowing merchants to trade without having to pay any form of tax or duties. Penang Island was renamed the Prince of Wales Island after the heir to the British throne, while the new settlement of George Town was created in honour of King George III. Once the area was cleared, a simple ceremony was held on 11 August, during which the Union Jack was raised.
The area where Light first landed, which is now the Esplanade, was originally a swamp covered in thick jungle. After an agreement was signed between Light and the Sultan, Light and his entourage sailed on to Penang Island, where they arrived on 17 July 1786. To that end, Light negotiated with the new Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah, regarding the cession of the island to the British East India Company in exchange for British military aid.
The British East India Company sought control of the island as a Royal Navy base, and as a trading post between China and India. Īlthough Light subsequently reported on this offer to his superiors, it was only in 1786 when he was finally ordered to obtain Penang Island from Kedah. Aware of this situation, Light formed friendly relations with the then Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin II, and promised British military protection, while the Sultan reciprocally offered Penang Island, then part of Kedah. Light subsequently landed in Kedah, a Siamese vassal state threatened by both Siam and Burma, as well as an internal Bugis revolt. In the 1770s, the British East India Company instructed Francis Light to form trade relations in the Malay Peninsula. įort Cornwallis was built in 1786 to protect Penang Island from amphibious invasion. Meanwhile, George Town's Swettenham Pier has emerged as the busiest port-of-call in Malaysia for cruise shipping. Logistically, the Penang International Airport links George Town with several major regional cities, while a ferry service, the Penang Bridge and the Second Penang Bridge connect the city with the rest of Peninsular Malaysia. The city also serves as the financial centre of northern Malaysia and the nation's most vital medical tourism hub. The city of George Town includes the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, a high-tech manufacturing hub regarded as the Silicon Valley of the East. Moreover, the city hosts unique cultural heritage, such as the Peranakans whose legacies are still visible on Penang's architecture and cuisine. It also gained a reputation as Malaysia's gastronomic capital for its distinct and ubiquitous street food. Shortly before Malaya attained independence from the British in 1957, George Town was declared a city by Queen Elizabeth II, making it the first city in the country's modern history.ĭue to the intermingling of the various ethnicities and religions that arrived on its shores, George Town acquired a large eclectic assortment of colonial and Asian architectural styles. It was subjugated by Japan during World War II, before being recaptured by the British at war's end.
Together with Singapore and Malacca, George Town formed part of the Straits Settlements, which became a British crown colony in 1867.
Įstablished as an entrepôt by Francis Light of the British East India Company in 1786, George Town was the first British settlement in Southeast Asia. The historical core of George Town has been inscribed as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site since 2008. It is Malaysia's second largest city, with 708,127 inhabitants as of 2010, while Greater Penang is the nation's second biggest conurbation with a population of 2,412,616. George Town, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang, is located at the north-eastern tip of Penang Island. Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca