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Malacca: History

The first Sultanate, or Malay Kingdom in Peninsular Malaya, started here in Malacca. The story begins like this. According to the 16th century Malay Annals, the city was founded in 1400 by Parameswara, a Srivijayan prince, who was a Hindu and political fugitive from nearby Java Island across the straits. Fighting for control of territory was common then.

Parameswara’s hunting trip
The legend goes that Paramswara who later became Raja Iskandar Shah was out on a hunt in the region and had stopped to refresh himself near what is now the Malacca River. Standing near a melaka (Indian gooseberry) tree, he was surprised to witness one of his hunting dogs so startled by a mouse deer that it fell into the river. Parameswara, who was wondering what to do, took this as a propitious sign of the weak overcoming the powerful. He then decided to build the capital of his new kingdom where he stood, naming it for the tree under which he had been resting. It was important that he set up his base so that he could at least regain part of kingdom that he lost in the south.

Another account says Malacca is derived from the Arabic word Malakat, meaning market. The Arabs began to use this half way house to trade with China in silk and spices, and there were the people who made Malacca known to the Europeans, who were beginning to explore the world outside their homelands then. To them, this was the 'market' to be in as they came here to source for luxurious items to sell to a burgeoning market in Arabia and a Europe that was eager to buy luxuries like silk and spices.

Malacca had a navigable harbor sheltered by nearby Sumatra Island across the narrow straits, ample supply of fresh water, enjoyed a prime location relative to the shifting monsoon winds, and had a central location in regional trade patterns. This soon made it a prosperous trading center. Malacca was the place to rest and replenish for food and water for those indomitable sea farers at that time. Its fortunes increased with the sultan embracing Islam which was introduced by Indian traders of Gujarat in western India.

The Sultanate of Malacca was soon attracting Arab traders from far afield. However, Malacca continued to trade with merchants of all races and religions. After the visit of the Chinese Muslim Admiral Zheng He in the mid15th century, contact between China and Malacca intensified.

At this time, there were many jealous forces all eyeing Malacca’s prime trading position. There were the powerful Siam kingdom in the north and the Majapahit Empire to the south.

Restored Malacca Sultanate Palace 9 The Malacca sultanate was therefore worried about being attacked and taken over by her neighbors. In exchange for protection against Siam (Thailand) Malacca became a vassal state to the Ming Dynasty of China. The Chinese were seen as more of a trader, and with their large fleet of ships, was a good reason to be friendly with.

In collaboration with allies from the sea-people the wandering proto-Malay privateers of the Straits, the Sultan established Malacca as an international port by compelling passing ships to call there, and establishing fair and reliable facilities for warehousing and trade. Mass settlement of Chinese followed, mostly from the imperial and merchant fleet during the reign of Parameswara. They were settled in the vicinity of the Bukit Cina area.

Sultan Iskandar Shah died in 1424 and was succeeded by his son, Sri Maharaja also called Sultan Muhammad Shah. The power of the Malays began to rise through the 15th century. In the Malay Annals, Sultan Mansor Shah was mentioned as having 6 wives and the fifth was stated to be a sibling of the third Ming Emperor. However, in the Chinese chronicles, no such event was recorded.

During its prime Malacca was a powerful Sultanate which extended its rule over the southern Malay Peninsular and much of Sumatra. Its rise helped to hold off Siam’s southwards encroachment and arguably hasten the decline of the rival Majapahit Empire of Java in the south, which was in decline then.

Malacca was also central in the spread of Islam in the Malay Archipelago, Sumatra and Java islands. Malacca was so coveted by the European powers that the Portuguese writer Barbarosa wrote "Whoever is Lord in Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice." It was a major port along the spice-route, and its harbor bristled with the sails and masts of Chinese junks and spice-laden vessels from all over the hemisphere.

Things started to change with the arrival of the Portuguese in 1509. They were at first welcomed, but Indian traders incited the sultan to turn against the Portuguese who were later driven out. The Portuguese were infuriated and in 1511 they returned, lead by Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque who set sail from Goa (the Portuguese base in the coast of eastern India) to Malacca with a force of some 1200 men and seventeen battle ships. This time, they were successful in wresting control.

The Malacca river bridge where many battles took place as securing it will mean the splitting up of the enemy camps into two. Many Malay and Portuguese died fighting here.

This gate wall is the only remaining part of the great ‘A Formosa’ and is today the most photographed monument in Malacca.

Malacca in the early 16^th century

Malacca became a strategic base for the Portuguese expansion in the East Indies. Sultan Mahmud Shah, the last Sultan of Malacca took refuge in the hinterland, but made intermittent raids both by land and sea, causing considerable hardship to the Portuguese. In the meantime the Portuguese built a fort to defend Malacca with its famous A Famosa (also called Porta de Santiago) gate.

Finally in 1526, a large force of Portuguese ships, under the command of Pedro Mascarenhas, was sent to destroy Bintan, where Sultan Mahmud was based. Sultan Mahmud fled with his family across the Straits to Kampar in Sumatra, where he died two years later. It soon became clear that Portuguese control of Malacca did not mean they now controlled the lucrative Asian trade. Their Malaccan rule was severely hampered by administrative and logistical difficulties.

Portuguese booty ship Flo de La Mar leaving Malacca with gold bullions. It ultimately sank near the river mouth.

Rather than achieving their ambition of dominating Asian trade, the Portuguese had fundamentally disrupted the organisation of the network. The centralised port of exchange of Asian wealth had now gone, as was a Malay state to police the Striats of Malacca that made it safe for commercial traffic. Further more, trade was now scattered over a number of ports amongst bitter warfare in the Straits.

Portuguese invaders were constantly harassed by local Malay fighters hiding in the surrounding jungles.

The Jesuit missionary Fancis Xavier spent several months in Malacca in 1545, 1546 and 1549. This marked the start of the formation of a large Eurasian community. The Portuguese turned the city into a massive walled fortress complete with a tower bristling with cannons. It was believed that such fortifications could withstand the encroachments of other European (Spanish and Dutch) powers eager for a slice of the Asian luxury trades.

An alliance between the Dutch and the Sultanate of Johor saw Malacca loose much of its power. In 1641 the Dutch navy put a blockade on Malacca and they seized the city after six months. During the siege much of the Portuguese city was destroyed (many died of starvation)

Only after 150 years did the Dutch lose their hold on Malacca. In 1795 The Netherlands was conquered by the French, and the British were keen to take over the Dutch holdings in Malacca. By that time, Malacca had lost most of its former importance although it remained an important part of Asian trade routes. The A Famosa gate is all that remains of the Old Portuguese and Dutch forts.

As the Napoleonic Wars wound down the British knew Malacca would be returned to Dutch control. In order to make the city indefensible the city walls were blown down. A last minute intervention by Stamford Raffles (the founder of Singapore), a British officer saved the gate. Shortly after its return to Dutch rule, the Dutch and British governments swapped colonies - British Bencoolen in Sumatra for Dutch Malacca. Malacca was ceded to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for Bencolen on Sumatra.

From 1826 to 1946 Malacca was governed, first by the British East India Company and then as a Crown Colony. It formed part of the Straits Settlement (later to become Malaya) together with Singapore and Penang. After the dissolution of this crown colony, Malacca and Penang became part of the Malayan Union which later became Malaya.

Malacca is a center of Peranakan culture. When Chinese settlers originally came to Malacca as miners, traders and coolies, they took local brides ( Javanese, Batak, Achenese) and adopted many local (malay) customs. The result of this is an interesting mix of local and Chinese cultures. The men are addressed as Babas and the women Nonyas by their servants meaning Master and Mistress.

A small group of Eurasians of Portuguese descent continues to live and speak their unique Creole, known as Cristao or Kristang. They became fishermen and settled on a plot of land called Portuguese Settlement. Although cut off from their Portuguese motherland, most of them still retain some of their forefather’s culture.