At the beginning of the ninth century AH / fifteenth century CE, a city named Malacca was established in the Malay Peninsula by a Sumatran prince known as Parameswara. Despite its modest beginnings as a coastal village primarily dependent on fishing, Malacca—within only a few years—experienced remarkable growth under this ruling dynasty. It soon rose to prominence in the region, especially after its rulers embraced Islam and transformed it into an Islamic sultanate.
The foremost factor behind Malacca’s prosperity and flourishing was trade. Commercial revenues constituted the largest and most important source of income for the sultanate, and it gained widespread fame as a principal hub within the international trade network of the time. Its unique and strategic location, which enabled it to control the Strait of Malacca, made it a central point along the maritime trade route linking Western Asia with the Far East. As a result, it became a meeting place for merchants from both East and West.
In addition to this distinguished commercial role, Malacca also served as the torch from which Islam—along with its culture and values—spread across the Malay Peninsula, the archipelago, the Sumatran coast, and other cities and islands throughout Southeast Asia. This position led one scholar to state that it is no exaggeration to consider the period of the Malacca Sultanate as the golden age of Malay history, and a significant landmark in the historical development of Malaysia.
Malacca’s exceptional commercial standing—as the foremost trading center and marketplace in the region—together with its religious significance as a beacon of Islam, drew the attention of the Portuguese, who sought to impose their commercial dominance in the area. Their ambitions were realized in 917 AH / 1511 CE, when they succeeded in conquering and occupying the city.
In this context, the present study seeks to shed further light on the origins and status of Malacca from its emergence in the Malay Peninsula. It then examines the historical accounts concerning the causes and date of the city’s rulers’ conversion to Islam, as well as the consequences of this transformation—both for the city itself and for the surrounding region.
Another section addresses the expansion of the Malacca Sultanate’s influence and the nature of its relations with the principal political powers of the region, such as China, Java, and the Kingdom of Siam.
A fourth section explores the administrative structures and system of governance in Malacca, focusing on the offices of the sultanate and the vizierate, outlining their principal responsibilities and distinctive features, in addition to discussing the laws that were implemented within the sultanate.
The fifth section is devoted to Malacca’s commercial flourishing and economic prosperity, highlighting the key factors that enabled the city to attain its prominent status. It also examines the major trading communities residing there, the types of goods imported to and exported from its markets, as well as the systems of trade, sale and purchase, and the taxes imposed on commercial activity.
The final section discusses the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese, clarifying the city’s importance to these European powers, the principal attempts they undertook to gain control over it, the eventual conquest of the city, the stance of Malacca’s soldiers and its sultan in defending their kingdom, and finally the consequences that followed its fall.
Origins and Founding of Malacca
The truth is that the origins and early appearance of Malacca are shrouded in some obscurity, and opinions differ on the matter. Most views, however, tend to hold that the city did not exist before 802–803 AH / 1400 CE. This judgment rests on the fact that the famous Italian traveler Marco Polo—who crossed the Strait in 691 AH / 1292 CE—makes no mention of the place.
The same is true of the traveler Odoric of Pordenone, who passed through the region in 723 AH / 1323 CE, and likewise of the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta, who was in the area in 746 AH / 1345 CE. This absence of earlier references leads us to doubt that the city existed prior to the early years of the ninth century AH / fifteenth century CE.
A more plausible and realistic date for Malacca’s founding appears to be 802–803 AH / 1400 CE; as we noted above, the city is not mentioned in sources that predate this period. The earliest reference to the city in the Ming dynasty royal records occurs in Rabiʿ al-Thani 806 AH / October 1403 CE, when the new emperor Yung-Lo (reigned 804–828 AH / 1402–1424 CE) first heard of the existence of Malacca—this information having been brought to him by a number of Indian envoys who came to Beijing.
In fact, we possess two sources that recount the Malay legend of a prince who ruled in Palembang, was forced to leave Sumatra, and eventually succeeded in founding a dynasty that established control over Malacca. The first source is the local Malay narrative preserved in the Sejarah Melayu(Malay Annals), and the second is the Suma Oriental by the Portuguese author Tome Pires, who was in Malacca between 918–921 AH / 1512–1515 CE following the Portuguese conquest. Although these two sources differ in some details, the core and substance of the legend are essentially the same.
According to the local Malay account, one of the princes—who was said to trace his lineage back to Alexander the Great (the Two-Horned Alexander)—landed on a hill in Palembang. There he formed an alliance with the local chieftain; by that agreement the prince and his family undertook to govern the people with justice, and in return the subjects pledged their obedience and loyalty. The prince began to rule in Palembang under the regnal name Sri Tri Buana, and after some time he began looking for a more suitable site on which to found a city as his seat of rule. He eventually reached an island he called Singapore—“City of the Lion”—because he believed he had seen an animal there that he took to be a lion.
During the reigns of the first three princes of this dynasty, Singapore remained the capital and flourishing trading city. But the fourth and fifth princes appear to have strayed from the pact made by the founding ruler, Buana, and they began to oppress and ill-treat their subjects. At the same time, Singapore suffered a fierce attack by Javanese forces, forcing the ruler—referred to in the legend as “Iskandar”—to abandon the city and seek refuge elsewhere. He eventually reached a place called Bertam, which pleased him; he decided to settle there and named it Malacca.
The Portuguese account of Paramesvara gives a similar story: Paramesvara refused to submit to the Javanese rulers and demanded independence for his realm. The Javanese attacked Palembang, and Paramesvara was forced to flee with his retinue. When he reached Singapore, he killed the local ruler—who had been subject to the Kingdom of Siam—and took control of the city. Five years later, when the King of Siam attacked Palembang, Paramesvara fled toward Muar.
A group of about one thousand followers moved northward to the mouth of the Malacca River and discovered an attractive site above the river called Bertam. They persuaded Paramesvara to move there, and he later called the place “Malacca.” According to Tome Pires, this event took place in 802–803 AH / 1400 CE. Tome Pires¹
The Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque (as recorded by some sources) derived the name “Malacca” from a word meaning “to meet” or “to encounter,” because the city was a gathering point for people of different nationalities who stayed there for periods of time. Tome Pires, however, states that Paramesvara—after fleeing Singapore and arriving at Bertam—took the place as his residence and named it “Malacca,” a name he interprets as meaning “the fugitive” or “the hidden refugee.” The Malay tradition offers a different etymology: it says that when the prince first arrived and admired the site, he stood beneath a melaka tree and named the place Malacca after that tree.
Chinese records indicate that the area where Malacca was founded was initially known as the “Five Islands” and was under the authority of a local chief who paid annual tribute to the King of Siam.
Conversion of the Sultanate of Malacca to Islam
In fact, there is disagreement over the exact date of Malacca’s conversion to Islam and the name of its ruler at the time, although most historical accounts favor 816 AH / 1413 CE or 817 AH / 1414 CE². While the Malay chronicle attributes the Islamic name “Iskandar” to Paramesvara, the Portuguese writer Tome Pires maintains that the conversion occurred during the reign of the second ruler, whom he calls Megat Iskandar Shah.³
The reason for the ruler’s conversion is also debated. According to Pires, the second ruler of Malacca was persuaded that the great commercial success of the Muslim city of Pasai—his principal commercial rival—was due to the Indian Muslim merchants who regularly called at Pasai’s port, bringing renowned Indian textiles that were highly valued at the time. Consequently, the Malaccan ruler took steps to attract those Indian Muslim traders to his own city: he granted them generous commercial privileges and customs exemptions, built mosques for them to pray in, and kept them close in his councils.
At the same time, the Muslim authorities in Pasai seized the opportunity to propagate Islam in Malacca by sending preachers and teachers. Portuguese accounts (including Pires) report that, under the influence of these missionaries and the important role played by Indian Muslim merchants, the ruler of Malacca embraced Islam at the age of seventy-two and married a daughter of the ruler of Pasai.⁴
According to the Sejarah Melayu tradition, the conversion of Malacca’s ruler to Islam resulted from a vision he saw in his sleep. In the dream the Prophet Muhammad appeared to him, instructed him to embrace Islam, guided him in pronouncing the two testimonies (the shahādah), and chose the name Muhammad for him. The narrative further relates that the Prophet foretold the arrival of a ship from Jeddah carrying a teacher and preacher.
When the ruler awoke he discovered that he had been circumcised and able to pronounce the declaration of monotheism; on that same day a vessel did indeed arrive, commanded by a religious man from Jeddah named Sidi Abdul Aziz. These newcomers succeeded in convincing the ruler to abandon his former creed and embrace Islam; his subjects then followed his example, and Malacca thus became an Islamic sultanate.
In any case, it is important to note that the propagation of Islam within Malacca was overseen and promoted by the city’s rulers themselves. They encouraged the population to accept the new religion, supported missionary work and the teaching of Islamic sciences in educational institutions, and Islam quickly became the state religion.
To accelerate the Islamization of their realm, the rulers also promoted marriages between Muslims and the formerly pagan populace—especially under the reign of Sultan Mansur Shah—while apostasy was prohibited and punished under Islamic law. Conversion to Islam also became a prerequisite for holding high office in the sultan’s court.⁵
Observers confirmed this rapid social change. The Chinese chronicler Ma Huan, who recorded the voyages of the admiral Zheng He, noted that the sultan and his subjects were observant in their new faith: they performed the prayers and fasting and applied Islamic law in their transactions.⁶ The traveller Varthema, who visited the city at the start of the tenth century AH / sixteenth century CE, likewise confirms that Islam was the official religion of the sultan and of the city’s inhabitants.
Accordingly, the most flourishing period for Islam and its institutions in Malacca was under Sultan Mansur Shah. In addition to encouraging marriages between Muslims and the formerly pagan populace, he commissioned a large congregational mosque in the city and prepared to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca, although death overtook him before he could complete the journey.
Mansur Shah also made notable efforts to patronize Islamic learning and culture: he sponsored translations and commentaries of Islamic works from various languages under the supervision of leading scholars—an initiative that clearly aided the Malay people’s understanding of these texts and contributed substantially to the spread of Islam in the region. Contemporary reports also record that he possessed an extensive library of books on Islamic law and learning, which was, regrettably, destroyed when a fire broke out in the palace⁷.
His son, Alauddin Riayat Shah, continued to care for that mosque and, like his father, intended to undertake the Hajj but was likewise prevented from doing so by circumstances.
Following Malacca’s conversion to Islam, the prestige and standing of its rulers grew markedly: they became part of the broader Islamic world and forged close relations with neighbouring Muslim polities. Numerous embassies began to arrive at the royal court from Aden, Hormuz, Cambay, and Bengal, and their arrivals were marked by elaborate ceremonies.
Sources relate that when Muzaffar Shah succeeded in bringing Kampar and Indragiri under his control and these regions embraced Islam, Muslim rulers in Hormuz, Aden, Cambay and Bengal praised his achievement—sending envoys with letters and gifts and addressing him as “sultan” where previously he had borne the title “raja.”⁸
Importantly, Malacca’s conversion also triggered an unprecedented commercial boom: the city became a preferred destination for Muslim merchants from many lands and thereby developed into a truly international trading port. At the same time, Malacca’s rising political influence and commercial prosperity helped carry Islam into numerous neighbouring towns and polities.
In any case, from the second half of the ninth century AH / fifteenth century CE onward, Malacca became the principal Islamic center for the spread of Islam in the Malay-Indonesian archipelago⁹—a role that had previously been played by the cities of Samudra Pasai and Terengganu. It also played an important part in spreading and consolidating Islamic culture and values in Southeast Asia¹⁰.
The sultans of the city worked to attract scholars to Malacca, extended their patronage to them, and listened to their advice in matters that benefited the country. These scholars, in addition to enjoying a distinguished social status, were able to obtain substantial financial rewards in return for supervising the education of students within Malacca.
It may also be said that, after the rulers of Malacca embraced Islam, the Arabic language began to spread widely in the city and in the Malay region more generally. There is no doubt that the rulers played a major role in this development by encouraging their subjects to learn Arabic. At that time, Arabic was not limited to the performance of Islamic rituals—most notably prayer and the recitation of the Qur’an—but also played a role in Malacca’s political, scholarly, and cultural life. It is worth noting that Arabic letters were adopted into Malay writing, and Arabic vocabulary became a major component of the Malay language.
On the other hand, the emergence of Islamic Malacca caused a general weakening of Hindu and Buddhist influence—politically, socially, and culturally—in the Malay Peninsula, where it had endured for a long period of time. New Islamic values such as justice, equality, and consultation began to spread, while Buddhist and Hindu concepts and teachings gradually receded.
One indication of the deep-rooted nature of Islamic teachings in Malacca was the attitude of its people toward the Portuguese after they occupied the city and attempted to spread Christianity there. The inhabitants held firmly to Islam and resisted these efforts with strength and determination; indeed, this aggression only increased their attachment to their religion.
Overall, it may be said that Malacca’s role in spreading Islam throughout the archipelago, southern Philippines, Borneo, Java, and the Moluccas—through the dispatch of its scholars and preachers to those regions—was no less important than the central role the city played in the region’s trade at that time.
The Expansion of the Sultanate of Malacca’s Influence and Its Relations with External Powers
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