1786年，英屬東印度公司在馬來亞檳榔嶼建埠後，首任監督官法蘭西斯‧萊特（Francis Light）實施自由貿易政策，吸引各地商人前來從事貿易活動。英屬東印度公司為了打破荷蘭獨占香料貿易的局勢，及能與中國有更多貿易來往，因此在新港埠開發香料種植業。由於此項產業需要投入大量勞動力，萊特遂推行招徠華人移民政策。多數人透過「契約勞工制」的途徑來到此地。之後，萊特展開拓墾土地計畫，並從亞齊、明古連等地引進香料苗，在當地嘗試種植胡椒、丁香、豆蔻等作物。這些種植計畫以胡椒最為成功，讓檳榔嶼成為麻六甲海峽的重要貿易據點。1806年以後，胡椒種植業受到法國拿破崙的大陸封鎖政策（Continental System）影響，導致英屬東印度公司的收益有所虧損。新加坡於1819年開埠，為檳榔嶼的胡椒種植業逐漸式微之主因。因此，本文以檳榔嶼香料種植業做為探討要點，對下述議題進行論述：英屬東印度公司對香料種植業所持態度為何，種植香料政策在個人統治與英屬印度時期又有何變化？歐籍與華人種植業者對香料產業的經營所持不同看法為何？檳榔嶼港埠地位之變化對香料種植業造成的影響為何？研究結論指出檳榔嶼開埠後，英屬東印度公司致力於將其改造為「第二個摩鹿加群島」，其中又以胡椒種植業的發展最為成功。儘管該港埠的的商貿地位於1820年代遭新加坡所取代，但萊特推行的自由貿易政策與土地拓墾計畫吸引了大量華人移民前來此地。因此本文檢視檳榔嶼開發香料種植業的發展歷程，做為日後延伸探究華商與華人種植園業主的商貿活動之相關主題。

After the establishment of Penang in 1786, the first superintendent Francis Light instituted a free trade policy in order to attract a large number of merchants engaging in trading activities. The English East India Company intended to break the Dutch spice monopoly and to facilitate their trade with China. Light also started to exploit the spice plantations in the new settlement. The cultivation of spices was a labour-intensive form of agriculture and so Light encouraged the immigration of Chinese labourers. Most of the Chinese labourers were employed on the credit-ticket system. After that, Light started to clear land for the import of spices from Aceh and Bencoolen, and tried to cultivate pepper, cloves, and nutmegs in the settlement. The pepper planting was most successful of those spice cultivations, and turned Penang into an important centre of trade in the Strait of Malacca. However, the pepper plantations were affected by France’s blockade of Continental Europe during the Napoleonic years, which damaged the English East India Company’s revenue streams. The founding of Singapore in 1819 also hastened the decline of pepper plantations in Penang. In this study, the following issues are discussed: What were the English East India Company’ attitudes toward the spice plantations in Penang, and what were the policy changes from the period of personal rule to the Eastern Presidency? What were the different attitudes of European and Chinese planters to the management of spice plantations? How did the recession in the trade of Penang affect its development of spice plantations? This article explores that the East India Company aimed to transform this island into a ‘second Moluccas’ after the establishment of Penang. The pepper cultivation appeared to be the most successful crop. Although Singapore’s trade was surpassed that of Penang in the 1820s, the free trade policy and land development plan promoted by Francis Light brought many Chinese immigrants to Penang. This paper examines the development of spice plantations in Penang and hence proposes some issues important for the study of Chinese merchants or planters’ commercial and trading activities for further research.