Seri Rambai cannon at Fort Cornwallis, Penang

Thursday, May 17 2012

FACING the Straits of Melaka sits one of the most well known sights in Fort Cornwallis -- the Seri Rambai cannon. It has had a long and interesting history and a surrounding folklore that suggests mystical healing properties.

Unknown to many and according to the more popular version of the story, this brass cannon, casted in 1603, was initially presented to the then Sultan of Johor, Sultan Riayat Shah III in 1606 by the Dutch through the Dutch East India Company (VOC or Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie). See gallery below for the VOC inscription on the cannon. In 1613, the Portuguese took possession of Seri Rambai. The cannon was taken to Java, where it stayed until 1795, when it was given to Acheh and brought to Kuala Selangor at Kota Melawati.

“In 1871, the British seized the cannon and placed it on board a ship called Seri Rambai to be transported to Penang. But, before the ship reached the island, it was sunk by pirates. A number of attempts were made to salvage it. When they finally succeeded in doing so, the cannon was placed at Fort Cornwallis. The cannon was then named after the ship that sank with it”. (Johor's Seri Rambai cannon). Read here for another version of the cannon’s journey.