Batu Bersurat Pangkor

Batu Bersurat Pangkor (22 September 2020)


B. Melayu

Batu Bersurat Pangkor (GPS: 4.19927, 100.57607), also called Pangkor Megalith, is a huge granite boulder with inscriptions located close to the Dutch Fort, near the coast of Pangkor Island. This megalith is called a Batu Bersurat, or inscription stone.

The etchings on this particular Batu Bersurat shows the picture of a tiger carrying away a child, hence the informal name of Pangkor Tiger Rock. Completing the etching are two round-shaped leaves, and the letters, "If Carlo 1743" and "VOC" which probably refers to the Dutch East India Company.

There are several theories as who who did the inscription. According to one, it was the work of soldiers in memory of a Dutch dignitary's son who was snatched by a tiger 1743. One more sinister version of the tale claimed that the Malays and Bugis kidnapped and murdered the boy in revenge of the ill treatment of the the Dutch to the locals. The rock measures about 10.7m long and 4.6m wide and stands at 4.3m tall, and today, there is a pavillion built to shelter it.

Batu Bersurat Pangkor is on the Map of Pulau Pangkor, Perak, Malaysia

Signboard at Batu Bersurat Pulau Pangkor. (20 September 2004)


Façade of Batu Bersurat Pangkor with its inscriptions. (22 September 2020)


View of the Pangkor megalith from the south side. (20 September 2004)


View of Batu Bersurat Pangkor from the side shows that it is a single boulder that has split into two. (22 September 2020)


View of Batu Bersurat Pangkor from the north shows its proximity to the main road, and the pavilion erected to shelter it from the elements. (22 September 2020)

List of Megaliths in Malaysia, back to Pangkor Travel Tips

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