Malaccan copper keping coin of William IV, 1831Image["Malaccan one keeping coin of William IV, 1831"]
Image["Malaccan one keeping coin of William IV, 1831"]
Malaccan copper keping coin of William IV, 1831
Malacca, an island of what is now Malaysia was between c. 1400 and 1526 the centre of a powerful sultanate which formed a nexus of several Asian trade systems and disseminated Islam widely along the trade routes. It was conquered by Portuguese colonists in 1526 and in 1641 by the Dutch, under whose rules it lost much of its old importance, but maintained an Islamic system of weights, measures and currency. Ceded to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, it was incorporated into the new territory of the Straits Settlements in 1826. It was thus ruled by the British East India Company in the name of King William IV (1830-37) when this keping coin was struck in 1831. The continuing adherence to the Sultanate's practices can be seen in the dating, in Persian script, on the reverse, to 1248 in the Islamic calendar.