History 3 Lecture 3

8/2/2019 History 3 Lecture 3

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COLONIALISM 02BRITISH COLONIALISM

By Sukhjit Kaur


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LECTURE OUTLINEIntroduction

British Empire

Straits Settlements

Kingdom of Sarawak

Opening up the Land


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British Colonialism

Introduction


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During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Spain and

Portugal pioneered European exploration of the globe and in the

process, established large overseas empires.

Envious of the great wealth these empires bestowed, England, France

and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of

their own in the Americas and Asia.

A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with Netherlands and

France left England the dominant power in North Americas and India.

Introduction


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British Colonialism

British Empire


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The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with English

settlements of North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and theestablishment of a private company, the English East India Company, to trade with Asia.

British policy in Asia during the 19th century was chiefly concerned with protecting and

expanding India, viewed as its most important colony and key to the rest of Asia.

British Empire


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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other

territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom.

At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost

global power.

By 1922, the British Empire held sway over

population of 458million people = one-quarter of the world population

covered more than 33,670,000km2 = quarter of the worlds land area.

British Empire


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British Empire

The Sun never sets on the British Empire


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British Colonialism

Straits Settlements


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LECTURE OUTLINEPenang

Malacca

Singapore


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Straits Settlements

Penang


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Originally part of the Malay sultanate of Kedah, Penang was ceded to the British East India

Company in 1786 by the Sultan of Kedah, in exchange for military protection from Siamese

and Burmese armies.

On August 1786, Captain Francis Light, known as the founder of Penang, hoisted the Union

Jack thereby taking formal possession of Penang and renamed it Prince of Wales Island.

It became the first British possession in the Malay States and Southeast Asia.

Introduction


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The location of the Island at the opening

of the Straits of Malacca attracted the

British East India Company to use the

island as a natural harbour and

anchorage for their trading ships, and as

a naval base to counter growing French

ambitions in the region. The settlements on the north-eastern tip

of the island was named George Town

after King George III of the United

Kingdom.

The settlement was first built around theharbour with Fort Cornwallis forming the

islands defense.

To expedite jungle clearing by

labourers, Light fired silver coins from his

ship cannons into the dense vegetation,

and the land was cleared in no time.

Introduction


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Light declared Prince of Wales Island a free port to attract trade away from Dutch who were

then the colonial ruler of the Dutch East Indies.

This strategy drew many immigrant traders to Penang.

Settlers were allowed to claim whatever land they could clear. By 1789, Penang had 5,000

residents and this doubled by the end of the following decade.

Colonial Penang prospered through exports of tin and rubber, which fed the IndutrialRevolution in Britain.

Introduction


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Penangs prosperity attracted people from far and wide, making Penang truly a melting pot

of diverse cultures.

Among the ethnic groups found in Penang were Malays, Acehnese, Arabs, Armenians,

British, Burmese, Germans, Jews, Chinese, Gujeratis, Bengalis, Japanese, Punjabis, Sindhis,

Tamils, Thais, Malayalees, Rawas, Javanese, Mandailings, Portuguese, Eurasians and others.

Though many of them no longer impose a felt presence today, their memory lives on inplace names such as Burma Road, Rangoon Road, Siam Road, Armenian Street, Acheen

Street, Gottlied Road, Katz Street and the Jewish Cemetary.

Introduction


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Armenian Street


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Acheen Street


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Northam RoadMillionaires Row

Known as European Road because of many European bungalows. The road reflected

the decadent lifestyles of the rich and famous who lived along the Millionaires Row

First residential suburb where the elite had their homes along the scenic North Beach.

Among them were the early colonial administrators including Raffles.The Penang Club

founded in the 1860s was the most exclusive on the settlement.


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Northam RoadMillionaires Row

Each mansion was set in ample gardens that came with tennis courts, stables, circular

driveways, service buildings and sea walls which had to be maintained at high costagainst eroding shoreline. The pretty boulevard, through which were driven the

guilded horse carriages and later the fancy cars, was lined with shady trees and wide

grassy banks.

By the 20th century, it was no longer the Europeans who lived there, but the self made

local millionaires, and eclectic mansions fine enough for entertaining their Europeanfriends.

Eventually during the Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War took most of

what was left.


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The earliest influence on Malaysian architecture can be traced to the buildings of George

Town, a trading post of the East India Company established in 1786.

It started with the construction of Fort Cornwallis at the tip of the Northeastern cape of

Penang Island.

The colonial town spread west and south towards the central range, eventually becoming

home to what is today Malaysias largest collection of 19th and early 20th century buildings

and of its best examples of Anglo-Indian, Chinese and Indian Muslim architecture.

Built roads and public infrastructure.

Impact of British Rule in Penang


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Most of Colonial architecture emulated the Neoclassical style prevalent in England at that

time.

Classicism in architecture refers to ancient Greek and Roman designs used in temples,

theatres and other civic buildings.

Neoclassicism was brought to Malaya by the British via India, their other colony.

The imposing scale and the formal appearance of this architectural style was consideredeminently suited to signify dignity, rank and prestige.

However, measures were taken to suit the buildings to the tropical environment and

climate.

British architects successfully designed buildings which combined classical dignity with

modifications for the tropics by using devices such as high ceilings, verandas, expansivewindows and louvered panels.

Colonial Architecture


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Straits Settlements

Malacca


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Dutch pave the way for British Rule

In the Napoleonic Wars, the army of the revolutionary French overran Holland in 1795.

The Dutch, fearing their overseas settlements might also be taken over by the French,requested the British to provide protection to all their trading posts.


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Although the British were expected to occupy Melaka temporarily, their arrival was an

important turning point in Malaysian History.

In 1824, with the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, the British exchanged their trading post

in Bencoolen (Sumatra, Indonesia) for Melaka.

Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824

- addressed issues regarding the rights to trade in the Spice Islands.

- did not clearly describe the limitations of expansion by either side in the Malay

world.

By the end of the 19th century, the British were involved as colonial power throughout the

Peninsula.

Dutch pave the way for British Rule


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In the next 162 years, the British brought about improvements inland and in sea

transportation.

An Iron Jetty was built at the harbour for streamers in 1880 replacing the wooden jetty.

By 1900 about 320 km roads were constructed in and around Malacca.

Installed telephone and telegram system

Built public buildings with emphasis on symmetrical planning, harmonious proportionsand the use of classical motifs.

Impact of British Colonialism in Malacca


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Straits Settlements

Singapore


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In 1818, Raffles managed to convince Lord

Hastings, the then governor-general of India andhis superior at the British East India Company, to

fund an expedition to establish a new British base

in the region.

Raffles happened upon the island of Singapore,

which upon investigation, seemed to be a naturalchoice.

It lay at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula,

near the Straits of Malacca, and possessed an

excellent natural harbour, fresh water supplies,

and timber for repairing ships. Most importantly, it

was unoccupied by the Dutch.

Introduction


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Raffles Plan of Singapore also known as the Jackson Plan / Plan of the town of Singapore.

an urban plan for Singapore drawn up to maintain some order in the urban development of

the fledging but thriving colony founded just three years earlier.


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Raffles Plan of SingaporeOriginally, William Farquhar who had governed Singapore from 1819 to 1823 had allowed the

colony to flourish under the sheer volume of trade that passed through her port, but had notorganised the colony, and thus it grew haphazardly.

Upon his return, Sir Stamford Raffles was displeased by the disorderliness, and formed a

town Committee led by Lieutenant Jackson to revise the layout plan of the city.

The Jackson plan divided Singapore into ethnic functional subdivisions and lay the colony

out in a grid pattern.

Ethnic residential areas were to be segregated into four areas.


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Raffles Plan of Singapore1. The European Town

- had residents who consisted of European traders, Eurasians and rich Asians.

2. The Chinese Kampong

- for the ethnic Chinese

- located in present day Chinatown

- south east of the Singapore river.


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Raffles Plan of Singapore3. Chulia Kampong

- where ethnic Indians originally resided

- located further north of the Chinese Kampong.


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Raffles Plan of Singapore4. Kampong Glam

- consisted of Muslims, ethnic Malays and Arabs who had migrated to Singapore.

- further divided for the Bugis and the Sultan of Singapore.


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Colonial Architecture of Singapore


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British Colonialism

Kingdom of Sarawak


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Sarawak was part of the Sultanate of Brunei in Borneo.

Sarawak was in chaos from piracy and insurgency. Sultan Omar Ali II, the Sultan of Brunei, ordered Pangeran Muda Hashim in 1839 to restore

order and it was during this time that James Brooke visited Sarawak.

James Brooke was an independent adventurer with his own ship having left military

employment in India.

Pangeran Muda Hashim requested assistance and Brooke successfully defeated thepirates and insurgents that led to the signing of a treaty in 1841 ceding as a reward Sarawak

and Sinian to James Brooke.

James Brooke was also bestowed Rajah of Sarawak and founded the white Rajah Dynasty of

Sarawak.

Introduction


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The 3 white Rajahs of Sarawak were;

Sir James Brooke (1841-1868)

Sir Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke (1868-1917)

Sir Charles Vyner Brooke (1917-1946)

White Rajahs


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During the reign of the second Rajah, Kuching changed from a ramshackle little place into

a town which was clean and had street lights, good roads and fine buildings.

One of the first grand buildings to be constructed was the Astana, the Rajahs residence, on

the north side of the river overlooking the town.

Impact


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Built in 1870, it was a romantic representation of an English country home with whitewashed

walls and wood-framed glass windows.

Broad, arcaded verandas were incorporated into the design to accommodate the hot,

humid weather.

Public buildings constructed during this period included the new court house.

The other notable buildings were a hospital, the jail and Fort Margherita, which was built in

the style of an English castle.

The world famous Sarawak Museum and the Pavilion, which became the Medical

Headquarters was also built during the reign of the second Rajah.

Impact


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The 100-year rule of the Brooke Raj bequeathed a distictive civic architectural heritage to

Kuching, one which reflected the British origin of the Brookes.

They brought with them a colonial style characterized by classical proportions and scale,

pillars and white stucco walls.

The biggest influence on traditional local architecture was the introduction of new building

materials.

Atap and ironwood shingles were replaced by clay tiles and reinforced concrete, making

traditional structures in Kuching almost obsolete.

Impact


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British Colonialism

Opening up the Land


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Although tin had been mined manually by Malays for centuries, it was the discovery in

Perak , in 1848 and from 1870 onwards, of major tin deposits that propelled Straits Chineseentrepreneurs and, later, European capitalists to invest in new techniques.

By the turn of the century, Malaysia was the worlds largest tin producer.

The towns in Perak and Selangor, including Kuala Lumpur, which served the tin mines and

growing rural communities, grew from ramshackle settlements of wood and thatched roof

houses into neat, colonial towns.

This saw large scale migration of Chinese coolies into the tin districts.

Tin Mines


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Tin Mines

Areas with tin mining in theMalaysian Peninsular

1.PERAK1.Larut2.Kinta Valley

2.SELANGOR1.Kanching2.Kuala Lumpur3.Sungai Ujong4.Lukut

3.NEGERI SEMBILAN1.Rasah


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Tin-mining towns - Taiping


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The British colonial

administration were quick tospot the benefits of building

an infrastructure of roads

and railways linking mining

areas to the west coast of

the Peninsula.

Between 1885 and 1895,

railway lines were

constructed to link tin mines

in an east-west direction

directly to a coastal port.

Towards the end of thecentury only did the focus

shift towards building

railways and roads to link

the urban centres along the

West Coasts.

Railways + Roads


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The Colonial Administrates also recognized only too clearly that mining was a non-

renewable resource, and that it was desirable to place the economy on a better long termfooting.

Agriculture appeared to be the answer.

The beginning of the 19th century had witnessed modest attempts to plant spices in Penang,

and later Singapore.

Plantations


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Agriculture in the country would have faced ruin had it not been for the introduction some

years earlier of rubber from Brazil.

The result was a dramatic rubber boom.

This fueled the agricultural development of the country.

Vast clearance in the early years of the century required enormous numbers of workers, far

more than the country itself was capable of providing.

As a result, large number of Tamils from Southern India were recruited.

Plantations


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Early Kuala LumpurEARLY KUALA LUMPUR.

1880 Kuala Lumpur

In the course of 80 years, from 1959 to 1939,

Kuala Lumpur grew from a small trading post in

the remote interior into the largest town in the

Malay Peninsular, with a population of more

than 120,000.

From a collection of shanties, Kuala Lumpur

changed into a town of shophouses, bungalowsand untidy and insanitary areas of working-

class settlement sprinkled with a few

prestigious government buildings.


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Early Kuala Lumpur1880s

A view of Kuala Lumpur showing the thatched / atap houses of the Chinese and

Malay quarters sited in the native town on the east bank of the Klang River. The

boundary between the Malay quarter and the Chinese settlement was a rough track,

nowadays Jalan Tun Perak. In 1880 the administrative capital of Selangor was

moved from Klang to Kuala Lumpur.

E l K l L 1890


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E l K l L 1900


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Two storey brick

shophouses replaced atap

sheds after a fire in 1881

destroyed most of the

houses in the narrow streets

of congested Chinatown. To

make the best use of limited

space, the individual plots

had a narrow street frontage

but greater depth.

Pedestrians used the

covered pavements in front.

P I f


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Permanent Infrastructures

In the year 1890, Maxwell suggested

to the Straits Government for thepublic infrastructures to be

permanent and to be more beautiful

and pleasing. This is due to the

strategic location of KL and its

potential to become one of the main

cities.

To get the new proposal going,

Maxwell reshuffled the whole public

works department. 1891, he employed

the well known engineer C. E. Spooner

from Ceylon as Chief Engineer ofSelangor.

Spooner had previously worked in the

Ceylon Public Works department. In

Selangor, he introduced / imported

buildings that were in the style of Raj/

Mohgul.

The New Government Office

P t I f t t


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Permanent Infrastructures

P t I f t t KL T H ll 1904


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Permanent InfrastructuresKL Town Hall 1904

P t I f t t G l P t Offi 1906


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Permanent InfrastructuresGeneral Post Office 1906

P t I f t t R il St ti 1911


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Permanent InfrastructuresRailway Station 1911

An early picture of Kuala Lumpur railway station, the citys oldest railway station.

Built in 1910, forming the central point of Malayas rail transport system.

Designed by A. B. Hubback, who was responsible for many of the buildings around

Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur.

Hubback created a unique Moorish/ colonial building style, featuring arches,

domes, and minarets

Permanent Infrastructures Railway Station 1911


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Permanent InfrastructuresRailway Station 1911

Mounbatten Road Jalan Tun Perak


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Mounbatten RoadJalan Tun Perak

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman


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Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman

Hill Stations


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Hill Stations

Malaysias four principal

hill stationsPenang Hill,Maxwells Hill (Bukit

Larut), Frasers Hill and

Cameron Highlands

owed their origin and

early development to the

British colonialists.

They sought an escape

from the hot, humid and

unhealthy conditions of

the lowlands.

Hill Stations


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Hill Stations

Known as change-of-air stations or sonatoria,

each was small and isolated and mainlycomprised a collection of bungalows perched on

ridges or strung along the flanks of hills.

The architecture was influenced by the romantic

ideals permeating the middle class in Britain in

the late 19th and early 20th century.

Hill Stations


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Hill Stations


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COLONIALISM 02

end

History 3 Lecture 3

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