Kapitan Keling Mosque, Historic mosque in George Town, Malaysia

Kapitan Keling Mosque stands at the corner of Buckingham Street and Pitt Street in George Town. Its white plastered walls and cream upper storey sit behind a low white wall with arched openings. Two bulbous domes, the taller dark one with a pointed finial, rise above a reddish-brown tiled roof, and a slender white minaret with a small domed cupola marks the right corner.

The mosque was built in 1801 after Indian Muslim merchants received land from British authorities to establish their place of worship. In the 1930s, the main prayer hall underwent expansion to improve ventilation and allow more natural light.

The name comes from Cauder Mohudeen, a ship foreman from Porto Novo whom the British made Captain of the South Indian community in 1801; "Keling" was then a neutral Malay term for Indians. The mosque anchors the Chulia Tamil Muslim quarter, and its walls carry geometric ornament rather than human or animal forms.

The mosque stands at the corner of Buckingham Street and Pitt Street, in the Tamil Muslim quarter around Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling. The grounds shrank from 18 acres in 1801 to about 8 acres by 1916 as streets and houses were built around it, so the building now sits close to the surrounding shophouses. Visitors enter through the arched gateway; modest dress is expected inside an active prayer hall.

The mosque's name comes from Cauder Mohuddeen, a ship foreman from Porto Novo (Parangipettai) near Pondicherry, whom the British appointed Captain of the South Indian community in 1801. "Keling" was then a neutral Malay term for people of Indian origin, and "Kapitan" mirrored the title Kapitan Cina used for Chinese leaders.