ort Cornwallis at traveltips.com/padang-kota-lama.htm" style="text-decoration: none;-Padang Kota Lama , George Town, is the largest intact fortress still standing in Malaysia. When Captain Francis Light landed in Penang in 1786, on the cape which was then called Tanjung Penaga in Malay, and today known as George Town, he built a simple stockade out of nibong palms. Over the century, the very tip of Penang Island where Fort Cornwallis is located became known as Fort Point. Fort Cornwallis was named after the Governor-General of Bengal, Charles Marquis Cornwallis. The design of the fort is similar to other British forts in India, albeit built on a smaller scale. Forn Cornwallis was originally encircled by a 27-feet wide, 6-feet deep moat. This too is gone today, having been filled up in the 1920s to prevent malaria - following an epidemic which hitPenang then. Captain Francis Light, a seaman who has established a trading station in Kedah for the Madras firm of Jourdain, Sullivan and De Souza put together a plan that practically solved the problem. Light suggested that the island of Penang would be a suitable station for the East India Company. At the same time, Light reported to his superiors at the Madras firm that the King of Kedah had granted him Kuala Kedah as well as the entire coast including Penang Island, in return for protection against Selangor. However, after a few letters to his superiors and having been ignored in these negotiations, a bitter Francis Light withdrew to decoration: none;-Phuket . He continued his trading activities and maintained his relationship with the ruler of Kedah. On 15 February 1786, he wrote to the acting Governor-General of India, on the success of his mission in getting Penang, and on 11 August 1786, Francis Light took formal possession of Penang Island.