Ancient forts in Malaysia
Due to its strategic position in Southeast Asia, the Malay Archipelago had traded extensively with merchants from Saudi Arabia, India, and China even before the founding of Melaka in 1402. Later, when Europeans expanded their influence in the 15th century on their quest To control trade between ports and sources of spices, they built forts in various places on the Malay Peninsula to protect their territories. Although the Malay Archipelago was never the scene of an epic battle, Malaysia today has several forts left behind by both border adventurers and Malaysian sultans. So let’s take a walk through history …
Arguably the most famous fort in Malaysia is Fort Cornwallis in Georgetown on the island of Penang. Located on Jalan Kota and facing the Esplanade, it was built on the spot where Francis Light landed on the island in 1786. To clear the jungle, Light loaded a cannon with silver coins and fired them into the jungle. In their attempts to retrieve the coins, Light’s men cleared the undergrowth at record speed, allowing a palisade of palm trees to be hastily erected. Between 1808 and 1810, convict labor was used to erect a suitable fort. A writer of the era of Light recorded: “Fort Cornwallis is in the shape of a square, each with a bastion at the corners, each side 150 yards long. On each outer face of the ramparts, there are embrasures in the ramparts for three cannons. The moat that surrounded the fort was thirty feet wide and six feet deep. “
Today, the moat no longer exists, but there are still several cannons on the ramparts. Among them is the famous Seri Rembai canyon. Founded by the VOC (Dutch East India Company) in Holland, it was handed over by the Dutch to the Sultan of Johor in 1606. In 1616, the sultan, including the Seri Rembai cannon, was captured by the Acehnese and taken to Aceh. In 1795, the Acehnese sent the cannon to Kuala Selangor as a sign of their alliance with the Bugis. In 1871, when the British attacked Kuala Selangor, they took the cannon by steam to Georgetown. On the Esplanade, however, the crew threw the cannon into the sea as useless. Several attempts to save him failed. According to folklore, in 1808, Tengku Kudin, the viceroy of Selangor, who was a master of the black arts, ordered the cannon to be raised and it surfaced. Today, it is believed that the barren woman who offers prayers to the cannon and puts flowers in her barrel will conceive.
Apart from the British, the Portuguese had also left a famous fort as a legacy. Located in the historic city of Melaka, the Portuguese fort of A’Famosa was supposedly built in four months under the supervision of Admiral Alfonso d’Albuquerque in 1511. The original structure surrounded St. Paul’s Hill but, today, its remnant is the De Santiago (Puerta de Santiaga) with the VOC shield on its arch. Amid visitors clicking cameras, Portuguese Eurasians sell souvenirs and artists sell paintings in the shade of forest flames.
The legendary Malay writer Munshi Abdullah gave a graphic description of its destruction in 1808 by the British when they occupied Melaka during the Napoleonic Wars. He wrote: After about ten minutes, the gunpowder exploded with a noise like thunder, and pieces of the Fort as large as elephants, and even some as large as houses, flew into the air and cascaded into the sea. Some crossed the river and hit the houses on the other side … But what a pity that a building as beautiful as this fell down in an instant … Because the Fort was the pride of Melaka and after its destruction the place lost its glory, like a woman deprived of her husband, the glow faded from her face.
In the coastal city of Kuala Selangor, Fort Melawati stands as a testament to the state’s glorious past. Perched atop Melawati Hill, which offered a panoramic view of the mouth of the Selangor River, the fort was built during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim in 1782. The Dutch invaded the fort in 1784, enlarged it and renamed it Fort Altingsburg . The Dutch guns still keep a solitary vigil over the sea. The hill is topped by the Altingsburg Lighthouse dating from 1907, which still serves its original function. A gruesome relic is an execution block within the fort, which was used to behead prisoners. There is also a poisoned well with a plaque that explains the legends behind it. A paved path leads to and around Melawati Hill. On weekends the road is closed to vehicular traffic and visitors have to walk up. Nearby attractions include the Kuala Selangor Museum and the Royal Mausoleum, the final resting place of the Bugis Sultans of Selangor.
Overlooking the bustle of Kuala Terengganu’s waterfront is Bukit Puteri (Princess Hill), towering 200 meters high. Near the Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin Post Office, a flight of stairs leads to Princess Hill Fort, which was the scene of a succession dispute for the Terengganu throne. Built in 1830 and occupied by Sultan Mahmud, it was attacked by Baginda Omar in 1839, who overthrew the Sultan. The new sultan rebuilt the fort, supposedly using honey to join the bricks, and imported cannons from Spain and Portugal to defend it. Among the artifacts found in the fort are a large bronze bell called a genta, a flagpole, and ancient cannons. In ancient times, the bronze bell was rung to warn the population of fires, of maddened men, and to signal the breaking of the fast during the month of Ramadan.
Johor’s most famous fort, unfortunately, is one of the least visited in the country as it is quite inaccessible. Called Kota Johor Lama (Old Johor Fort), it stands on the banks of the Johor River and was built in 1540 by Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah. In 1587, during the reign of Sultan Ali Jalia Abdul Jalil, the Portuguese led by Dom Paolo de Lima attacked the fort, which was defended by 8,000 Malay warriors, but were unable to take it. Two weeks later, a second attempt by the Portuguese with reinforcements managed to destroy it after nine days of brutal fighting. What remains of the fort today are grassy earthen ramparts, located eight kilometers from the Desaru road in the middle of a quiet village. To get to the fort, take the Kota-Tinggi-Desaru road and turn right onto a laterite track at Kampung Teluk Sengat. Then follow the signs through an oil palm plantation, which often has blue kingfishers flying through the trees.
In Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, the impressive Margherita Fort that resembles an English castle has never seen a battle. Built in 1879 by Charles Brooke, Sarawak’s first “white raja”, it commanded the river access to Kuching from its location on the north bank of the Kuching River. The fort was named after Margaret, Charles’s wife, and during their stay there, the Brookes kept sentries who shouted “All is well” every hour from 8 pm until dawn. In 1971, the fort became the Police Museum. There is a good collection of weapons and armory on the ground floor, while police uniforms and communications equipment are on display on the second floor; the third floor is occupied with counterfeit currency, drugs and weapons seized from the communists during the Emergency.
A more humble fort built by Charles Brooke is Fort Sylvia in Kapit. Dating back to 1880, it served to protect the Kayan and Kenyah tribes of the Orang Ulu community from attacks by the Iban headhunters. Made of ironwood, which is so dense that it does not float, the fort now houses the Kapit Museum. Its interesting ethnographic exhibits include totem poles, murals, burial huts, and carvings.
On the island of Pangkor in the state of Perak, the Kota Belanda (Dutch fort) basks in the sunshine at Teluk Gadung. It was built in 1680 by the Dutch East India Company to store tin and combat piracy. In 1690, discontent with Dutch rule caused Malay warriors to destroy it, but the Dutch captured and restored it in 1743. However, after three years, the fort abandoned when the Dutch withdrew from the Malay Peninsula. Today, only the outer walls of the fort have survived the ravages of time. A short distance away is a rock with a carved image depicting a tiger attacking a child.