Captain Francis Light had founded George Town…

1794 CE

Captain Francis Light had founded George Town as a free port to entice traders away from nearby Dutch trading posts.

He also encouraged immigrants by promising them as much land as they could clear and by reportedly firing silver dollars from his ship's cannons deep into the jungle

Trade in Penang grew exponentially soon after its founding—incoming ships and boats to Penang will increased from eighty-five in 1786 to three thousand five hundred and sixty-nine in 1802.

Many early settlers, including Light himself in 1794, succumb to malaria, earning early Penang the epithet 'the white man's grave'.

After Light's demise, Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Wellesley, who will go on to become the Duke of Wellington, arrives on the Prince of Wales Island to co-ordinate the island's defenses.

Locations
Penang > George Town Pulau Pinang Malaysia View →

People
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington View →

Groups
Arab people View → Malaysian Malays View → Minangkabau people View → British people View → Britain, Kingdom of Great View → East India Company, British (United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies) View → Kedah, Malay sultanate of View → British Malaya View → Siam, (Rattanakosin) Kingdom of View →

Topics
Colonization of Asia, British View →

Subjects
Commerce View → Government View →

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