Melaka History

Discover how Melaka (Malacca) got its name and its rich hostory 

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Melaka is known to be The Historical State amongst locals in Malaysia. This small state was once one of the oldest Malay sultanates, and has influences of not only the Malays and Chinese, but also the Portugese, Dutch and British.

 

Melaka was just an ordinary fishing village in the 14^th century, until it caught the attention of Parameswara, a Srivijayan prince of Palembang from Sumatra. He fled to Temasek (modern-day Singapore) following a Majapahit attack in 1377, until his development provoked a Siamese attack in 1398.  

Parameswara was then forced to flee to Melaka, where he established his new headquarters. Under him, Melaka soon became a popular port and trading centre for boarding ships from all over the East, passing through the strategic Selat Melaka. Parameswara converted to Islam and changed his name to ‘Raja Iskandar Shah.’ 

In 1405, the Chinese Muslim Admiral Cheng Ho arrived in Melaka, bringing along gifts from the Ming emperor and an offer to provide protection from Siamese enemies. This brought about the Chinese settlers, who intermarried with local Malays and are now known as the Baba-Nonya, Straits Chinese, or Peranakan. 

Melaka became a very powerful and prosperous trading state by the time of Parameswara’s death, also adopting the Islam religion.  

The Portugese arrived in Melaka in 1509, wanting the wealth of the trades. But after what seemed to be an initial friendly welcome, the Malaccans attacked the Portugese fleet retained a number of prisoners. This sparked an outrage of the Portugese, and in 1511, Alfonso de Albuquerque took over the city, forcing the sultan to flee to Johor. 

Under the Portugese, the A’Famose fortress was built to defend Melaka. Missionaries like St Francis Xavier came to Melaka to spread Catholicism. However, their coming did not bring about as much abundance as they had previously hoped for.  

Other ports in the area started growing and became more popular than Melaka. While the Portugese settled there, Melaka suffered attacks from rulers of neighbouring states, Johor and Negeri Sembilan, as well as Aceh in Sumatra. 

In 1641, the Dutch took over Melaka after an eight-month war. They ruled Melaka until 1795 as a trading centre, although they placed more focus on Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) in Indonesia as their administrative centre. While they ruled, the Dutch built many buildings, amongst which is the landmark Stadthuys (or Red Building). 

When the French were occupying Holland in 1795, the British, which were the Dutch allies, temporarily took over the administration of the Dutch colonies. But the British administrators saw the potential wealth in Melaka and in 1807, began demolishing the A’Famosa fortress and forced the Dutch population to Penang.  

However, potential war and destruction was avoided when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, stepped in. In 1824, Melaka was permanently ceded to the British under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, in exchange for the Sumatran port of Bencoolen. 

Under the British East India Company, Melaka became a part of the Straits settlement along with Singapore and Penang, which are the three British centres – the Straits Settlements - for expanding their territories in the Peninsula.  

Melaka’s thriving settlements were later overshadowed by other Straits Settlements and quickly became a less popular trading port, especially with the growing commercial importance of Singapore. Melaka became part of the Malayan Union along with Penang, after a disagreement of its crown colony, which later became merely part of Malaysia. 

Except for a short-lived upturn in the early 20^th century when rubber became an important crop, Melaka returned again to being a quiet, normal state, where it would then become a major tourist attraction.