Archaeology of Colonisation or Colonisation of Archaeology?

Posted on 17 January 2020 at 20:48 | Last updated 26 January 2020 at 20:17

Penang and Melaka are the top-pick for holiday getaways in Malaysia among the locals as well as international tourists for their historic attractions. Apart from increasingly alluring visitors to the ‘food heaven’, these places had also been appealing to ‘foreigners’ in the past.

Melaka

The history of Melaka began with the arrival of a fleeing prince from Temasik (today’s Singapore), on the shore of Melaka in the late 14^th century. The prince, Parameswara, then founded the city and turned it into one of the greatest trading ports in Southeast Asia. As Melaka came to monopolise the trading routes, the port city was attacked by the Portuguese in 1511. The Portuguese was later defeated by the Dutch in 1641 who then ruled the port before handing it over to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Melaka was then under the rule of the British until 1942. After being briefly ruled under the Empire of Japan during World War II, Melaka which was a crown colony at that time, became part of the Malayan Union in 1946 and eventually gained independence from the British in 1957.

A Famosa’s construction represents the Portuguese conquest while its demolition is a reminder of the British occupation. Only the entrance gate of the town wall survived. Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas. Available under Wikimedia Commons.

Penang

The way the history of Penang – formerly Prince of Wales Island and Province Wellesley - is usually told is by putting Francis Light, a British explorer, in the picture as the founder of the island. This is probably because the beginning of British expansion into the Malay states and the British colonisation in Southeast Asia was marked by the entitlement of Francis Light as the Superintendent in charge of the settlement in 1786, making Penang the oldest British settlement in Malaysia.

The island, however, was previously under the reign of the Kedah Sultanate, as it was also part of the Ancient Kedah (also known as Bujang Valley) civilisation which we have talked about in the previous post. In addition, an archaeological excavation conducted by the Centre of Global Archaeological Research USM in Guar Kepah, Penang in 2017 uncovered human remains dated back to 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, indicating that the region was already inhabited during the Neolithic period. Even so, the history of Penang is still hugely shaped by the British colonialism.

Fort Cornwallis, a defensive fort built by Francis Light after he took possession of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah in 1786. Photo available under Creative Commons License.

The Cities Today: UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Melaka and George Town (the capital of Penang), both known as the ‘Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca’ have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage listing in 2008.

The inscription of the two historic urban centres are based on the following criteria:

"exhibit an important interchange of human values": a site of multicultural trading and three successive European colonial powers

"bearing unique testimony to a cultural tradition": expressing multicultural heritage through the diversity of religious buildings, ethnic groups, languages, and festivals

"an outstanding example of a type of building or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history": reflect a mixture of influences which created a unique townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.

Archaeology in Malaysia Today

A study concluded that a country’s attitudes towards its colonial past is influenced by the factors including when and how the colonisers came, the coloniser’s degree of dominance and exploitation, and the conditions under which they left.

In the late 20^th century, colonial sites in Southeast Asia have been said to be competing for attention, personnel and funding with archaeological relics belonging to a much older, pre-colonial, rich indigenous culture. This competition would be conceivable, as undertaking more ‘archaeology of colonialism’ will create the ‘impression’ of ‘colonisation of archaeology’ by the colonial sites. The 'pre-colonial' archaeological sites, however, have always been in the agony of lack of funding and manpower, most probably due to the lack of interest and the expertise needed.

Nonetheless, the cities have evidently demonstrated colonial legacy through the lens of public archaeology. The World Heritage Sites' inscription criteria of both cities do not only reflect their historical significance, but also portray the country's uniqueness; its multi-racial identity that has definitely appealed to people from all over the world. This diversity, which is the country's exceptionality, should not only be embraced by the nation but should be internalised as an entity to promote and enhance unity among its citizens.

Moving forward, good management, funding and legislation of these heritage sites - both archaeological and colonial - can only be allowed and maintained with the presence and increase in public interest on their own past - the past, which had formed the multicultural nation to be what it is today.

Key references and further readings:

Wikipedia (2019). History of Penang. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Penang#Founding_of_Penang. Accessed 17 January 2020.
Wikipedia (2020). Malacca. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malacca. Accessed 17 January 2020.
Wikipedia (2019). A Famosa. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Famosa. Accessed 17 January 2020.
Wikipedia (2019). Fort Cornwallis. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Cornwallis. Accessed 17 January 2020.
Wikipedia (2020). Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Cities_of_the_Straits_of_Malacca. Accessed 17 January 2020.
Wikipedia (2020). World Heritage Site. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site#Selection_criteria. Accessed 17 January 2020.
Asia Web Direct (2020). The Historical City of Malacca. URL: malacca.ws/attractions/melaka-historic-cities.htm. Accessed on 17 January 2020.
Proust, K. (1993). ‘Public Archaeology and the Physical Legacy of European Colonisation in South East Asia’. Australasian Historical Archaeology, Vol. 11, pp. 108-117. Australian Society for Historical Archaeology. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/29544335?read-now=1&seq=7#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Photos:

Uwe Aranas (2014). ‘Malacca City, Malaysia: A Famosa’. URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melaka_Malaysia_A-Famosa-01.jpg
Graystravels (2017). ‘Fort Cornwallis’. URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Cornwallis_-_Penang.jpg

Nation-Building in Malaysia in the 21st Century

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