Late 18th Century If you turn back time, to the very start of George Town, you will note that when George Town was established, it pretty much drew some trading activities away from Aceh, which was already an established trading hub in northern Sumatra. To ensure that the new trading port survives, Captain Francis Light set up the prototype of a "free trade zone". He managed to attract Tengku Syed Hussain Al-Aidid, an Arab trader who was also a member of the Acehnese royal house, to move to Penang. He did this by making a very attractive offer to this very powerful Acehnese leader: that he and his entire clan may live above British laws, and that within Tengku Syed Hussain's jurisdiction, Mahomedan Laws (that is to say, Syariah Law) prevails over colonial laws. From the time of his arrival in 1792 until his death in 1840, Tengku Syed Hussain transformed the character of Acheen Street. He founded the Acheen Street Mosque in 1808, so that his people have a permanent place of worship. His properties include the four-storey warehouse, now called Gudang Acheh, at the junction of Acheen Street and Beach Street (Lebuh Pantai).