Episode Details
Back to EpisodesHow the East India Company Took Penang: A Promise Betrayed
Description
In 1786, Francis Light raised the British flag over Penang and changed the history of the Malay Peninsula. But the deal behind it was far murkier than the familiar story suggests.
The Sultan of Kedah believed he was gaining British protection against powerful enemies. The East India Company wanted a strategic island on the route to China. Francis Light stood between them, allowing both sides to believe they were getting what they wanted.
Then the protection never came.
What followed was a broken bargain, war across the Penang Strait, a Siamese invasion, the exile of a Sultan and a treaty that settled Penang’s future without Kedah even being at the table.
This is the extraordinary story of how Britain took Penang, and the promise that was never kept.
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