Fort Cornwallis
| Fort Cornwallis | |
|---|---|
| Kota Cornwallis (Malay) கார்ன்வாலிசு கோட்டை (Tamil) |
|
| George Town, Penang in Malaysia | |
 |
|
 Fort Cornwallis
|
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| Coordinates | 5°25′15″N 100°20′38″E / 5.420769°N 100.343964°ECoordinates: 5°25′15″N 100°20′38″E / 5.420769°N 100.343964°E |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iii, iv |
| Designated | 2008 (32nd session) |
| Part of | George Town UNESCO Core Zone |
| Reference no. | 1223 |
| Region | Asia-Pacific |
| Area | 38.8 m2 (418 sq ft) |
| Site information | |
| Open to the public |
Yes |
| Other site facilities |
Fort Cornwallis Lighthouse Seri Rambai cannon |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1786 |
| Built by |
.svg){kind=small} British East India Company
|
| In use | 1786 – 1881 |
| Materials | Brick |
Fort Cornwallis is a star fort in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, built by the British East India Company in the late 18th century. Fort Cornwallis is the largest standing fort in Malaysia. The fort never engaged in combat during its operational history.
It is named after the then Governor-General of Bengal, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, who had also been involved in the American War of Independence.
Captain Francis Light took possession of Penang Island from the Sultan of Kedah in 1786 and built the original fort. It was a nibong (Malay: palm trunk) stockade with no permanent structures, covering an area of 417.6 square feet (38.80 m2). The fort's purpose was to protect Penang from pirates and Kedah. Light died in 1794.
In 1804, after the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, and during Colonel R.T. Farquhar’s term as Governor of Penang, Indian convict labourers rebuilt the fort using brick and stone. Fort Cornwallis was completed in 1810, at the cost of $80,000, during Norman Macalister’s term as Governor of Penang. A moat 9 metres wide by 2 metres deep once surrounded the fort but it was filled in the 1920s due to a malaria outbreak in the area.
Even though the fort was originally built for the British military, its function, historically, was more administrative than defensive. For example, the judge of the Supreme Court of Penang, Sir Edmond Stanley, was first housed at Fort Cornwallis when the court opened on 31 May 1808. During the 1920s Sikh police of the Straits Settlements occupied the fort.
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Wikipedia