[ Introduction ] [ History of Malaysia ] [ The Land ] [ The People ] [ Transportation and Communications ] [ Way of Life ] [ Acknowledgement ]
We bring you back to the golden age of
Melaka
(also spelled Malacca).
Melaka
- a city steeped in history - was founded in 1400 by a
fleeing Palembang prince named Parameswara. Its rise from a village of royal
refugees to a wealthy kingdom and international center for the spice trade was
swift. During the middle and late 1400's,
Melaka gained control
over much of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and the key shipping route through
the Strait of Malacca. It attracted traders from throughout the world.
Perfectly located for trade, within 50 years it was the most
influential port in Southeast Asia. At any one time, ships from a dozen kingdoms
great and small could be seen in the harbor. In the mid-1400's,
Melaka
became a Muslim kingdom. The traders brought with them the Islamic religion, and
Malacca's rulers now referred to themselves as "sultans." Islam spread
throughout the Malay Peninsula and to other parts of Southeast Asia.
Melaka's
prosperity drew the attention of the Europeans, who
wished to gain control of the valuable spice trade. At the height of its power,
however, fate would ruin the city as quickly as it built it up. In 1511, the
Portuguese seized the commercial kingdom of
Melaka
from the Malays but were unsuccessful in conquering other areas on the Malay
Peninsula. Thus began a colonial legacy that would last well into the 20th
century.
In 1511, a Portuguese fleet led by Alfonso de
Albuquerque - and lured by the spice trade - sailed into
Malacca's harbor, opened fire with cannons, and captured the city from the
Malays. Malacca's golden age had come to an end. The Malays soon moved their
center to Johor
at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula. Descendants of the ruling
family of Melaka also founded other kingdoms on the peninsula. The Portuguese
constructed a massive fort in Malacca - A Famosa
which the Dutch captured in turn in 1641 and ruled there for the
next 150 years. This would give the Dutch an almost exclusive lock on the spice
trade. Minangkabau peoples from
Sumatra migrated to Malaya during the late 17th century, bringing with them a
matrilineal culture. In the 18th century the
Buginese from the island of Celebes invaded Malaya and
established the sultanates of Selangor
and Johore.
Golden age of
Melaka and colonialism
Malaysia is
born
1990's &
the new Millennium