The Chulia in Penang: Patronage and Place-Making around the Kapitan Kling Mosque 1786–1957 by Khoo Salma Nasution (review)

It is very hard in this short review to do justice to the years of meticulous research and the personal commitment that will make The Chulia in Penang required reading not only for Penang specialists but for those working on Malaysia, British imperialism, and Indian diasporas more generally. Anchored by the history of the Kapitan Kling Mosque, the narrative traces the fortunes of Penang’s Tamil Muslim community in over 500 richly illustrated pages, from 1786 until the declaration of Malaya’s independence in 1957. The material is organized in six parts, each subdivided into chapters. Part One discusses the long-standing role of the Chulias in maritime trade, their position as Muslims in India, and early Chulia settlement in Penang, introducing readers to the Kapitan Kling mosque and the Chulia ‘captain’, Cauder Mohuddeen. The second part concentrates on the first half of the nineteenth century, using case studies to track the evolution of a new ‘Jawi Pekan’ identity as Chulia men married local women. Part Three begins with the British Government’s assumption of authority over former East India Company possessions in 1867. The management of Muslim endowments—buildings, lands and institutions—became progressively more subject to British oversight, with inevitable controversies and compromises. The fourth part highlights Chulia involvement in Islamic reformist movements and the Muhammadan Advisory Board, while the outbreak of World War and associated anti-colonialism drew some Chulia towards Pan-Islam and Indian nationalism. Part Five focuses on Chulia business activities, especially in relation to trade and shipping, where Tamil Muslim specialization was everywhere evident. A final section deals with the Penang experience during in the Second World War. The book concludes with a discussion of the new questions faced by Chulia descendants, initially uneasily positioned between the demands of their Indian heritage and their allegiance to independent Malaya in 1957, but for the most part successfully adjusting to the new order.

Testifying to years of committed digging, the detail presented here could only have been amassed by a true Penangite who knows where to look for sources, for maps, for photographs, for paintings, for informants, and who has the tenacity to follow up every possible lead. It has also opened up avenues for further research, especially for those who can read Tamil, such as Chulia relations with the Nattukottai Chettiar, the powerful Indian financier caste. Of course, organizing this wide-ranging body information posed challenges, and the chapter divisions in some of the six parts cohere better than others. A degree of overlap was probably inevitable, so that there is some repetition of names of locations, events and individuals, but the index is a useful tool for researchers tracking a particular topic. The text is clear and eminently accessible, carefully referenced, with all the necessary explanatory notes. The illustrations, from private collections, archives and family albums, represent an unparalleled depository of visual sources on Penang, with captions that help identify people and places. Urban renewal in the 1920s and early 1930s transformed much of the waqf areas, as old areas were razed and communities displaced, while the destruction of buildings by Allied bombs during the Second World War makes the photographs of buildings that are no longer extant all the more valuable. The thoughtful foreword by Professor Rajeswary Ampalavanar Brown combines scholarship and readability, setting the tone for the entire book. Produced with the assistance of Think City, the price is extremely reasonable for such an encyclopedic volume, and Areca Books should be congratulated for a superb production overall.

One of the ‘take-aways’ from this book is obviously the Chulia contribution to Penang’s economy and its cosmopolitan culture. Their connections with India and the surrounding region helped make Penang a global pathway, the crossroads for incoming ideas, especially in regard to Islam, but also in many other...