Through Turbulent Terrain: Trade of The Straits Port of Penang, present The Story of Navigating A Tough Environment in Space and Time. Penang has had a colourful existence from its beginning, in 1786, as an East India Company port in the northern Straits of Melaka. Penang earned its stripes – rising to become the straits Settlements capital in 1826 and a commercial centre in Southest Asia’s north – west littoral – despite little support from heigher authorities in India and London. Penang also had to contend with Dutch machinations in Sumatra- the Dutch increased port duties even after the Treaty of London in 1824 which guaranteed free trade, effectively preventing Penang from trading there. Additionally, the shift of the Straits Settlements capital to Singapore on 1832 saw Penang’s many proposals constanly blocked. Contrary to the conventional view that Penang was by-passed by Singapore after 1819. Penang held the own, contonued her entrepot trade up to the post-independence period, also serving as the conduit for the turn of the twentieth century.