Makam (Tomb of) Dato' Keramat, Pulau Pinang

Bersambung dari Masjid jamek (Main mosque of) Teluk Bahang.

Continued from Masjid jamek (Main mosque of) Teluk Bahang.

Seterusnya kami mencari makam seorang peneroka awal Pulau Pinang yang dikenali sebagai Dato' Keramat. Kami diberitahu ia terletak di tanah perkuburan Islam di Jalan Perak, dalam bandar raya Georgetown.

Next we went looking for the tomb of an early settler of Pulau Pinang who is known as Dato' Keramat. We were told that it is located within the Muslim cemetery area at Jalan Perak, within the city of Georgetown.

Kalau tak salah ia adalah tanah perkuburan tertua di Pulau Pinang. Batu-batu nesan yang sangat rapat menunjukkan beberapa generasi penduduk telah disemadikan di sini sehingga kubur jadi berlapis-lapis.

If not mistaken this is the oldest cemetery in Pulau Pinang. The tombstones which are very close to each other shows many generations of the population have been laid to rest here such that the graves are layered.

Dato' Keramat dikatakan seorang pemimpin masyarakat dari Aceh yang sangat dihormati. Maka itu makam beliau didirikan terserlah.

Dato' Keramat is said to be a very respected community leader from Aceh. Thus his tomb is erected to stand out.

Ada yang kata beliau telah membuka penempatan di Pulau Pinang seawal tahun 1705, hampir seabad sebelum wakil British, Francis Light datang mengambil-alih kekuasaan 1786.

There are those who said he opened settlement in Pulau Pinang as early as the year 1705, almost a century before British representative, Francis Light came to take over power 1786.