Perai

Perai is an urban settlement in the city of Seberang Perai, Penang, Malaysia. It lies at the southern bank of the Perai River and borders Butterworth to the north. Perai gave its name to the city of Seberang Perai, the mainland half of the State of Penang. The area now known as Perai was obtained by the British East India Company in 1800, with the Perai River serving as the boundary between the newly-acquired British territory and Kedah to the north. A nascent railway line was built between Perai and Perak in the 1890s, transforming Perai into a transit point for the export of tin. Perai became heavily industrialised in the late 20th century. Today, Perai is home to an eponymous industrial estate, as well as the adjacent township of Seberang Jaya. The town is connected to Penang Island via the Penang Bridge and contains several facilities of the Port of Penang. Perai, situated at the estuary of the Perai River, lent its name from the waterway. Upon the acquisition of the area by the British East India Company in 1800, the river was known in Thai as plai (ปลาย), which meant "the end", as it formed the border between British Province Wellesley and the Siamese vassal state of Kedah; the Perai River thus marked the southernmost limit of Siamese influence. British maps of the era referred to the southern banks of the Perai River as Prye. The settlement of Perai was formed in the early 19th century, following the acquisition of the area by the British East India Company. In its early years, agriculture formed the mainstay of Perai's economy, with sugar plantations being established within the settlement. Perai was developed into an entrepôt towards the end of the 19th century. At the height of a tin-mining boom in the Malay Peninsula, a nascent rail line was built between Perai and the neighbouring state of Perak in the 1890s. Perai then became a transportation hub, where tin imported from Perak was loaded onto vessels to be shipped to George Town.