Megalith of Cherok Tokun, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
Copyright © Timothy Tye. Stock Photo for Sale
Cherok Tokun Ancient Inscriptions, or Batu Bersurat Cherok Tokun, is the only ancient megalith in Penang, Malaysia, as recognised by the Malaysian Department of Museum and Antiquities. The granite megalith was found at the foot of a hill called Bukit Mertajam, within the compound of the St Anne Church.
The Cherok Tokun Ancient Inscriptions were first documented by Colonel James Low, a British army officer, in 1845. In his log, Low recorded his disappointment of not finding a more spectacular ruin, expecting to find an ancient temple ruin. He documented what he made out to be "a group of seven inscriptions". The inscriptions were believed to be in pre-Pallava script and written in Sanskrit. They were attributed to the ancient Kingdom of Kadaaram, which flourished in northern Malaysia in the 5th to 6th centuries. However, according to J Laidlay, who translated the text in 1848, the inscription was Pali, not Sanskrit.
The Museum and Antiquities Department built a shed over the megalith in 1973. It was the first and only ancient relic in Penang to be gazetted. By that time, the megalith was already covered with graffiti added by latter-day visitors, including an inscription by Colonel Low himself.
Bibliography
The Malay Peninsula: Crossroads of the Maritime Silk Road (100BC-1300AD) by Michel Jacq-Hergoualc'h
View of the ancient inscriptions of Cherok Tokun..
Copyright © Timothy Tye. Stock Photo for Sale
