Archaeological Evidence of Penang's Cosmopolitan Islamic Heritage
By Nabil Nadri
February 2025 FEATURE
THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT archaeological traces that hint at a vibrant historical past in Penang. From the discoveries of the Penang Woman at Guar Kepah dated circa 4th millennia BCE, to the finding of structures and artefacts from the prosperous Bujang Valley at Kota Aur and Cherok Tok Kun circa 6th to 12th centuries CE, this area had been evidently settled by complex and developed societies in its distant past.The arrival of Islam, through Middle Eastern and South Indian Muslim maritime...
Nabil Nadri
33, is a researcher at the Department of History and Civilisation, International Islamic University
Malaysia (IIUM), and is currently a PhD candidate
at the Centre for Global Archaeological Research
at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). He is passionate about local history, classical literatures and archaeology in order to preserve and spread awareness about these. He is proud of his diverse Malay, Chinese, Indo-Afghan and
Buginese origins.
