Batu Gajah: The Forgotten Capital of Kinta
By Koay Su Lyn
January 2019 TOWNS OF MALAYA
Once a small village along the Kinta River, Batu Gajah rose to prominence in 1881 when it became the new river port for the Papan mines. Three years later, it was chosen as the capital of Kinta Valley when Ipoh was still a dense, jungle village. Then known as the only town after Taiping, Batu Gajah became the administrative and social centre of Kinta given its favorable locality and terrain. While the rise of Ipoh soon attributed to its declining...
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Koay Su Lyn
reads and writes of the past to make sense of the present. She is a research analyst in the History and Heritage Programme of Penang Institute.
