Teh / Zulfaqar J. Def. Mgt. Soc. Sci. Hum.

2 (2) 2019

Zulfaqar J. Def. Mgt. Soc. Sci. Hum. Vol.2 Issue 2 (2019) 86-95

ZULFAQAR Journal of
Defence Management, Social Science & Humanities
Journal homepage: https://zulfaqar.upnm.edu.my/

RISE AND FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF MALACCA IN THE CONTEXT OF IBN KHALDUN’S
CYLICAL THEORY

Wan Hashim Wan Teha

a Faculty of Defence Studies & Management, National Defense University of Malaysia, Sg. Besi Camp, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: hashim@upnm.edu.my

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history: Malacca which had a humble beginning as a fishing village of a mixed population of
Received local Malays and ‘orang laut’ was transformed to become the most significant
01-11-2018 trading emporium and entreport after the arrival of a ‘fugitive prince’
Received in revised Parameswara or ‘Permai-Suara’ later re-named as Iskandar Shah from Temasik
28-10-2019 (Singapore) having his origins from Palembang. This had attracted not only
Accepted regional traders of the Malay world but also those engaged in long distance trade
30-11-2019 like the Indians, Arabs, Chinese and especially the European powers. Under the
Available online capable leadership of Tun Perak, also known as Bendahara Seri Maharaja during
31-12-2019 Sultan Muzaffar, Sultan Mansur and Alauddin Riayat Shah, it became a regional
centre to supply products from the spice islands as well as iron and gold from the
Keywords: hinterland that were in great demand in Europe, the Middle East, India and China.
Parameswara, entreport The capability of its defence was further enhanced with the protection it received
trade, Ibn Khaldun’s
from the Ming dynasty of China which had a symbiotic and affective diplomatic
cyclical theory, Ming
relationship with Malacca. The coming of Portuguese fleet in 1509 lead by Diego
Lopez de Sequira had radically changed its fate and future. Two years later, a
dynasty, Alfonso de
Portuguese Admiral Allfonso de Albuquerque arrived with a bigger fleet with a
Albuquerque
determination to crush the trading monopoly of the Muslims in the East, and finally
able to take over control of Malacca which led to its final downfall as an Empire and
e-ISSN: Kingdom that had the image as the centre of world trading activities which lasted
Type: Article for approximately 110 years. The paper will analyse both the beginning of Malacca
and its rise as well as its final downfall in the context of Ibn Khaldun cyclical theory
on the rise and fall of civilizations.

© 2020 UPNM Press. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Malacca has been widely acknowledged as founded by a Prince from Palembang Parameswara or
Permai-Suara (lit. a pleasant voice) who migrated to Temasik (modern Singapore) after his revolt to obtain
independence from the Majapahit empire failed as Palembang was then a tributary of the Majapahit Empire
centred in Java (Muhammad, 2008). Some sources suggest that Parameswara who was married to the
daughter of a Majapahit ruller had a problem with his father in-law and decided to vacate his position as a
local ruler in Palembang to migrate to Temasik (Mohd Yusoff, 2014). While in Temasik, he managed to
declare himself as the ruler after killing a Siamese representative, Temagi. Some three or five years later,
he had to flee northwards because of problem with the Siamese state in the north that wanted to take
revenge against him for killing her representative.

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It was partly Permai-Suara’s wisdom and partly his fortune that he decided to settle down among
the Orang Laut villagers at the estuary of the Bertam, later re-named as Malacca river which some years
later became among the busiest port in the world handling a huge activity of entreport trade, and being
well known as the largest seaport in the East. After approximately five years establishing the Kingdom of
Malacca, Permai-Suara was converted from Buddhism (but not Hinduism as claimed by some writers) to
Islam and adopted the little Sultan Iskandar Shah. Also during this early years, he was able to establish a
strong diplomatic ties with China which became the protector of Malacca Sultanate at least in the first half
of the 15th century.

The world famous Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho (Zheng He) or his Muslim name Ma Sam Poh in all his
seven voyages overseas had each time stopped at Malacca to pay homage to the Sultan as well as to obtain
fresh water and replenish food items for the long journey into the Indian Ocean and sometimes reaching
the Middle Eastern ports of the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt which were then under the Uthmaniyyah. This
special diplomatic ties between Malacca Sultanate and the Ming dynasty has been well documented in Liang
Liji’s work, Lembaran Sejarah Gemilang – Hubungan Melaka Dinasti Ming Pada Abad Ke-15 (Liang, 1996).

Under a tributary relationship between the two kingdoms, Malacca was able to develop peacefully
without threats and interference from her neighbours, especially the Siamese Kingdom in the north who
was envious of Malacca’s prosperity. This lasted for more than a hundred years until the arrival of the first
colonial power in the Malay world, the Portuguese in the first decade of the 16th century. By the end of the
15th century, Malacca had grown to become an empire which controlled the whole of Malay Peninsula and
most of the Malay States and Kingdoms on the Island of Sumatera.

Theories on the Rise and Fall of Empires

There are several theories on the rise and fall of empayers or civilizations (Wan Hashim, 1996). But the two
that interest us most and also relevant to this discourse are that by an Arab scholar of the 15th century, Ibn
Khaldun, and another by a renowned British historian, Arnold Toynbee. Ibnu Khaldun had studied on the
rise and fall of empires or civilizations like Rome, Turkey, Constantinople and some others including
research on the social and economic life of people living in the city. He finally produced what is now known
as a cyclical theory on the rise and fall of civilizations which can be divided into three phases (Dawood,
1978).

First is the early stage or its Birth where the spirit of assabiyah which can be literally translated as
‘solidarity’, ‘esprit d’corps’ or integration, which is akin to the concept of ‘organic solidarity’ by Emile
Durkheim, is high. The society lives in harmony in an organization led by the elite class who are also united.
The situation makes it possible to enter into the second phase that gives rise to the Development of Cities
which is characterised by division of labour and the high possibility of producing surplus goods for the
larger community, both rural and urban. Unlike the theories proposed by others, Ibn Khaldun proposes the
importance of religion that binds the people together. This second phase is strengthened by the
establishment of a governing body or political system headed by the elites of that particular society.

But unfortunately, argued Ibn Khaldun, the powerful elite class will not be able to sustain it if they
are indulged in pleasures and worldly affairs and began to distance themselves from religion. This will be
followed by disintegration or the erosion of the spirit of assabiyah or ‘social solidary’ among both the ruling
class and the subject class. The civilization will then enter the third phase which is Weakening and the Fall.
Members of the elite class are still indulging themselves with pleasures and worldly affairs, while political
and economic foundation are weakened and plagued by divisiveness. People will be downgraded into
poverty while corruption will be rampant. The key factor in this situation is the total erosion of assabiyah
or social integration and solidarity. That will result in the down fall of an empire or a civilization.

The renowned British historian Arnold Toynbee who was a great admirer of Ibn Khaldun and his
work seemed to have a total agreement with Ibn Khaldun’s cyclical theory and ideas. Being a scholar who
was religious himself, and through his work in Toynbee (1954), he proposed the role of a group of creative
elites who were capable of developing its society to a higher stage of its development. To Toynbee, religion
played a very important part in the development of a civilisation. A religion which was born among the
community which was weak would be capable to act as a catalyst for the development of a civilisation.

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Likewise, a civilization would ultimately fall when the society began to move away from religion and
discarded religious values. This was what was termed as ‘civilizational crisis’.

In the theory above, both scholars seem to be emphasising on the importance of internal factors that
are crucial in bringing down a civilization. In so far as this paper is concerned, we shall put forward an
argument on the importance of both the internal and external factors that brings down a civilization or the
down fall of an empire and in our case study, the Malacca empire of the 15th century.

Parameswara and the Rise of Malacca Kingdom

Parameswara or Sri Tri Buana or Iskandar Shah in Sejarah Melayu deserves to be credited for selecting the
estuary of the Bertam or Malacca river as his final abode after a long, arduous and adventurous journey
from his original homeland Palembang. As a prince from the declining empire of Sriwijaya, he was forced
to abdicate and migrate to avoid an unnecessary war with the uncle of his consort who was the ruler of the
Javanese kingdom of Majapahit (Mohd Yusoff, 2014a). This happened as Parameswara was said to have
refused to submit to the authority of the latter by sending tribute acknowledging Majapahit’s overlordship.
Travelling northwards with a bunch of his loyal followers including Deman Lebar Daun the chieftain in
Palembang, being described by the writer of Sejarah Melayu “wanting to explore into the open sea”, he
arrived and decided to settle temporarily on the island of Bintan which was another centre of gravity within
the declining kingdom of Sriwijaya but often regarded as an important focal point of Malay hegemony in
the region.

In Bintan, the local ruler Wan Seri Benin was kind enough to allow Parameswara to take her place
and regarded Parameswara as his adopted son. However, Parameswara was moving towards a more
strategic location which was Temasik, the present day Singapore. After his request to have some followers
from Wan Seri Benin among the Bintanese mostly the hardworking ‘orang laut’ or the sea gypsies was
fulfilled, he left the Island of Bintan and founded that Temasik was most suitable as a new abode.
Approximately a week later, Parameswara had the local ruler, or another source mentioned as
representative of the Siamese Kingdom Temugi, murdered and declared himself as the new ruler of
Temasek. Somehow, Temasek did not give him the peace he wanted rather badly to manage a territory
which might rise to become a kingdom to replicate the kingdom of Palembang which he had left behind.
There was always a fear of attack and invasion by the Majapahit ruler which he had offended or from the
Siamese cum Patani state in the north whose ruler was a relative of Temugi who may take revenge on the
death of the latter.

Some five years later, Parameswara decided to leave Temasek and migrate into the Malay Peninsular
towards north. He, with a relatively large follower, settled briefly on the Muar river but finally found a
more suitable place at the estuary of the Bertam and later re-named as Malacca river. The Malay Annals or
Sejarah Melayu tells the story of Iskandar Shah (Parameswara) who was resting under a tree witnessed a
white deer that passed by and kicked his hunting dog into the river and disappeared. Iskandar Shah realised
the significance of this place and asked the name of the tree under which he was resting. Its name was
Melaka (Malay spelling) and so this place which ought to become his new abode should be named as Melaka.
Another version on the place name suggested that Melaka cames from the Arabic word ‘Malakat’ to refer to
‘the place of gathering’. Before the arrival of Parameswara and his entourage, this area already had a settled
population of fishermen and peasants and was recorded in the Chinese document as Five Islands (Chong,
2016). Having a hardworking and skilful orang laut as his followers, Parameswara managed to develop
Malacca into a seaport-of-call for trading merchant ships to stop over initially to replenish with water and
agricultural products from the hinterland but later developed to become a trading station for exchange of
commodities including those from the spice islands, India the Middle East and more importantly China.

Relationships with the Ming Dynasty

It must have been a great fortune for Parameswara that after some years of its foundation, Malacca
attracted notice from the second Ming emperor Yongle or ZhuDi who, since the formation of Ming dynasty
in the middle of the 14th century, the emperor had embarked an open door policy of having a strong
friendship ties and trading activities with all the neighbouring states and especially those kingdoms in the
Malay World of Southeast Asia. Even during the earlier dynasties like the early and later Han Dynasties
(206 BCE – 9 CE, 25 – 220 CE), Sui Dynasty (589 – 618), Yang Dynasty (618 – 907) and Sung Dynasty (969
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– 1279) Chinese imperial government always had a trade link with ancient states and cities of the Malay
world (Kong, 2010).

This was in line with the Chinese imperial political ideology which regarded China as the centre of
the world whereby its ruler or emperor received a mandate or authority from heaven. Even the Chinese
ruler regarded himself as ‘The Son of God’, though rather different from its concept in Christianity (Kong,
2010). This belief was combined with the teaching of the Great Master Confucius that preached harmonious
relations but asymmetrical between one group and the other, and in this case between states, in order to
establish peace and prosperity in this world. This could be accomplished through payment of tribute in the
form of gift giving. By doing so, the tributary states showed their recognition of China as the central power
and superior in terms of sovereignty. Likewise, China would recognised the sovereignty of tributary states
by offering protection and recognition that enabled trading links to be established and sustained. At the
early days of Malacca’s foundation, the second Ming Emperor Yongle had sent its Minister of Interior Yin
Qing as its ambassador to Malacca twice, in 1403 and again in 1405 which resulted in mutual recognition
of one another. Malacca and other states were encouraged to send tributes in the form of gifts in return for
China’s recognition of their sovereignty and protection. Since then, the name ‘Malacca’ or Ma La Jia
appeared in the map of Admiral Zheng He and in all Ming’s documents. The purpose of the visit was to
announce to the world of the Emperor’s rise to the throne (Kong, 2010).

After Admiral Yin Qin’s two visits, the famous Admiral Zheng He or Sam Poh Kong (Muslim name Ma
Sam Poh) was sent in 1409 who brought many luxury items as special gifts to the reigning ruler like the
royal seal made of silver, a royal crown, luxurious silk dress for the ruler, and many others which sometimes
include the horse’s saddle although Malacca did not have horses but elephants. Also, as documented by Ma
Huan the palace intepretor and chronicler, a monument was constructed as a symbol of friendship between
the two kingdoms. Zheng He’s maiden visit and first voyage to overseas was in 1409 after the Ming Emperor
had officially recognised Parameswara as the rightful ruler of Malacca to further strengthen the earlier ties
established by Admiral Yin Qing. By now, Parameswara had embraced Islam and adopted the Muslim name
of Sultan Iskandar Shah.

In one of Ming’s official letter to the Sultan, it was put in a passionate language by the writer of the
Malay Annals or Sejarah Melayu, “We know that the ruler of Malacca is a great king. Therefore, we like to
have a passionate relationship with the ruler as we too like the ruler is a descendant of the great ruler
Iskandar Zulkarnain” (Sbellabear, 1967), supposedly Alexander the Great though some later researcher
had identified it as the Persian King Cyrus the Great” (Afareez, 2009). Sometimes approximately twenty
years ago, the writer came across an article which appeared in the national daily ‘Utusan Melayu’ titled
“The Secret Will from the Ming Emperor” (Wasiat Sulit dari Maharaja Ming). It claimed to be from a highly
secret folder of the Dynasty which addressed to Admiral Zheng He to perform the Haj on his behalf as one
of the five tenants in Islam compulsory for those who could afford it materially and health wise. It was more
of a popular writing which did not disclose where the sources were from.

Recently, this writer came across a detailed research work on the same subject which claimed to
have consulted the ‘confidential folder’ of the Ming Dynasty. Basically, it claimed that the Ming emperors
were Muslim but this had to be kept highly secret for some obvious reasons; that a Muslim could not be
accepted as a ruler of China as Muslims formed a very small and insignificant minority group and religion
(Yusof, 1988). The writer also claimed that officially Confucianism was the practical ideology and religion
of the Dynasty together with Buddhism. If what was claimed by Dr. Hj Yusuf Chang was true, it did explain
firstly, why a Muslim like Zheng He was chosen to be the special ambassador of China to the distant country
overseas, most of which were Islamic states and communities; and secondly, why Malacca and the rulers
were treated as special in comparison with many other states in the Malay World of South Asia, India and
the Middle East. From the viewpoint of the security and defence of Malacca at this initial phase, it was well
under the protection of the Ming emperor. There were evidences to show that the Emperor had ordered its
Minister and including Zheng He to warn the Siamese state in the north of the Malay Peninsular not to
harass or invade Malacca because of its strong and special tributary relationships with the latter.

It would be necessary to note that the climax of this early ‘diplomatic relationship’ between Malacca
and China was the official visit made by Parameswara and all his family members to the Ming Court in
Nanjing in 1409 which consisted of 540 Malaccans. The reception as described by Liang Liji was
magnificent and grandeur as if Malacca was one of the most significant kingdoms to maintain an official
and trading link continuously. Also, the guests were very well treated with gifts of expensive dress and
clothings made from silk, a crown, gold and silver, pearls, horses complete with saddles, and some other
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valuable items including money. One writer noted that China needed to establish this tributary relationship
with as many states as possible so as to prove to the world that the Chinese Kingdom was the centre of the
world and also the Emperor was a representative of god in the world. It was beyond doubt that a strong
diplomatic ties between the Chinese Kingdom and Malacca was to the advantage of the latter as it was able
to preserve peace and almost free from the threat from the Siamese state in the north. While with the
Chinese protection, the number of ships that made a stopover at Malacca had significantly increased

Development of Malacca during the three Sultans

Parameswara or his Muslim name Sultan Iskandar Shah and his heirs Megat Iskandar Shah (1414 - 1424),
Muhammad Shah (1424 - 1444) and Abu Shahid @ Raja Ibrahim (1445 - 1446) who were his sons and
grandsons had been fortunate at the early stage of Malacca’s development for approximately forty years
between 1400 and 1443 as Malacca was give protection by the mighty power of the Ming dynasty. During
this period, Malacca was placed over and above all other tributary states in the Malay World gulf of Siam,
Burma and India. The mighty Chinese naval fleet was able to maintain peace and tranquility almost free
from menace created by piracy and inter-state rivalry. Also, the much needed human resource was made
available by the hardworking orang laut (sea gypsies) who became a settled population, while some were
already there before the arrival of Iskandar Shah.

Meantime, Malacca had gradually developed to become the biggest trading seaport in the East that
provided merchandise from both the East as far as China and Japan, and also the much sought after spices
and minerals from the Malay World as well as goods from Europe, the Mediterranean and India.
Appropriately, as one Portuguese writer wrote, “this trade made Malacca one of the richest and most
opulent states in the world” (Cortesao, 1994). Sometimes towards the end of the first half of the 15th
century, China suddenly changed its existing policy towards the overseas tributary states by cutting down
to the minimum voyages to the southern seas, although the diplomatic linkage was continued and
maintained. This happened after the demise of the well known admiral-cum-ambassador Zheng He in 1433,
following the rise to power of Ming’s fifth emperor Yingzong (1435 - 1449) and emperor Jingtai (1449 -
1457), which ended almost half a century of closed diplomatic ties between the two great empires in the
east, Malacca and China. With no protection from the mighty Ming, Malacca had to equipt itself with a strong
defence force to be able to repell any attack from the neighbouring states especially Siam centred at
Sukhotai which still harboured her ambition to dominate the whole Malay Peninsular in the south.

After the demise of Emperor Xuande in 1435, there was a big debate regarding the policy of sending
the Chinese armada which constituted a total of some 300 ships and 27,000 manpower for 18 months per
voyage which was very costly and a waste of the imperial treasure. More so, those officials favoured to
become ambassadors were mainly the Hui or Muslims. Also by then, China had to focus her attention more
on the threat of invasion from the Mongols in the north. During the reign of Sultan Muzaffar Shah (1446 -
1456), Siam which was envious of the great success of Malacca had prepared a relatively large troop to
punish Malacca led by her capable leader Awi Cakeri, for not paying the annual tribute in the form of bunga
mas or ‘golden flower’ which Malacca had negleced for sometimes. However, the Siamese were defeated
and the writer of Sejarah Melayu gave a special credit to one of the most capable leaders of the war, Tun
Perak, then the Penghulu of the province of Klang who had planned an effective strategy that led to the
victory of the Malaccans (20). After this decisive war, Tun Perak’s status was elevated to become one of the
top court officials and sometimes later promoted to become the Bendahara or ‘Prime Minister’, playing the
role of an adviser to the Sultan with the highest title of ‘Paduka Raja’.

While in office as an official ‘next to the King’, Siam came again by sea route trying to make a second
attack from the sea. By then, Tun Perak was also holding the post of an Admiral commanding a strong
Malacca’s naval fleet. Again, through his tactics and war strategy, the Siamese fleet decided to turn back
after reaching Batu Pahat where a larger number of Malaccans infantry were waiting to be engaged in the
battle. After this incident, Tun Perak sent an emissary to the Siamese court in Ayuthia to conduct a peace
treatry for the purpose of establishing a long lasting friendship ties with Malacca with a minumum of
cleavages until the end of the 15th century. This action enabled the state of Pahang previously a vassal state
of Siam to be under the Kingdom of Malacca again.

Another important development in Malacca’s relationship with the outer territories was with the
state of Perlak in north of Sumatera which was among the earliest region to receive Islam from its
birthplace of Mecca and Medina; brought by the ulamas and merchants. After some years and particularly
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through the active role played by one of its ulama Maulana Abu Bakar, Malacca gradualy developed to
become the centre of Islamic learning. This had further enhanced the prestige of Malacca. Beginning from
the second half of the 15th century during the reign of Sultan Mansor Shah (1456 - 1477) and Sultan
Alauddin Riayat Shah (1477 - 1488), the expansion of its maritime trading activities was enhanced and
strengthened by the establishment of a strong foundation of good governance through the constitution of
the Malacca Canon Laws that had partly assimilated some elements of the Islamic principles. This laid the
foundation of almost all Malay states constitution after the fall of Malacca in 1511. By early 16th century,
Malacca had begun to attract Europeans and the pioneer that was first to enter the Straits of Malacca in
early 16th century was the Portuguese.

Arrival of The Portuguese in Malacca

The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by Bartolomew Diaz followed by its circumnavigation by Vasco Da
Gama had opened up a new history in the linkage and trading activities via the sea between the East (Malay
World) and the West (Europe). It also marked a new epoch in the world history at large; the coming of
Western colonialism to the East and the spreading of its tentacles to other parts of the world too. As
mentioned elsewhere above, the port of Malacca had become a special attention to the colonial powers and
especially to the Portuguese who pioneered exploration and trading activities among the European
countries. The motive for the Portuguese coming to the East has been summarized in three words, or
popularly known as three Gs, namely Gold, Gospel and Glory. Gold represents the interest to do trade with
the Eastern countries, Gospel was regarded as ‘a civilizing mission’ or, ‘the white man’s burden’ and Glory
was more of becoming the winner in a competition with other European countries. This motivational factor
had a strong backing and being facilitated by King Manuel I who was keen to see Portugal, with a small
population as well as the small sized of its country, to became the winner in the race for Glory.
With a well-equipped armada that brought with it a well-trained soldier with experienced in
battlefields, particularly against the Muslims in a series of crusades, the Portuguese managed to negotiate
to open up a trading station in Goa which later became its first colony in the East, i.e. India. This had created
fear and animosity among the Arab and Gujerati Muslim traders. Going through the old Portuguese
documents which have been made available in English since some years ago, we noted that the strategic
thinking of leaders of the Portuguese armada as well as King Manuel himself was that the Portuguese must
break up the trade monopoly by the Muslims (Arab and Indian) and be the dominant power that controlled
trading activities between Europe and the East. Therefore, after establishing a trading station in Goa, the
next task was to open a similar trading post in Malacca which had been recognized as the largest trading
port in the East controlling that part of spice trade routes.
The first expedition in Malacca consisted of 18 ships with Captain Diego Lopez de Sequiera as the
leader. This initial attempt was a failure as the powerful Sultan Mahmud whose decision was very much
influenced by the Gujerati merchants from India, turned down the offer. More than this, the Portuguese
were attacked by the Malaccan soldiers and nineteen were captured and imprisoned including their famous
leader, Ray de Araujo who later on supplied useful information regarding the strength and weakness of
Malacca defence. It was partly Araujo’s secret report that encouraged Alfonso de Albuquerque to prepare
for an attack on Malacca.

Portuguese’s Perception of Malacca and The Malays

The Portuguese as one of the pioneers during The Age of Exploration had the habit and useful tradition of
taking with them writers or chroniclers when sailing abroad. We are very fortunate and must be thankful
to them to have these writers who had left useful documents or travel journals to describe both the place
of significance and its people during their exploration. More so, when they were the first European to have
travelled and reached the Eastern shores.

One of them was Duarte Barbosa who had provided us a brief but vivid description of the early 16th
century Malacca as a seaport:

“……..This city of Malacca is the richest sea-port with the greatest number of wholesale merchants
and abundance of shipping and trade that can be found in the whole world” (Barbosa, 2008).

A similar note but more forceful was the description of Malacca provided by another well-known
Portuguese explorer cum chronicler, Tome Pires:
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“There is no doubt that the affairs of Malacca are great honour. It is a land that cannot depreciate, on
account of its position, but must always grow. No trading port as large as Malacca is known, nor anywhere
they deal in such fine and highly priced merchandise…. Like a rich and colourful pageant under the blazing
tropical sun. this busy eastern market made an indelible impression on the first Europeans who visited
Malacca…..” (Cortesao, 1994).

And below is Tome Pires much quoted phrase;

“Whoever is Lord of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice”

Barbosa too, not only gave a vivid description of Malacca in late 15th or early century, but also among the
earliest European who had attached an identity of the Malays as a racial stock referring to those who were
living in the city of Malacca:

“These Malaios (Melayu = Malays) hold the Akoram (Al-Quran) of Mahamede in great veneration.
They have their mosque; they bury their dead; their sons are their hirs; they lived in large house outside
the city with many orchards, gardens and tanks where they have separate houses for their trade within the
city. They posess many slaves, with wives and children who live apart and obey all their orders”. They are
polished and well-bred, fond of music and given to love” (Barbosa, 2008).

On a slightly different note, John Tiffany possibly more from his own imagination rather than from
observation, had attempted to construct an early ‘ancient’ history of the Malays and the Polynesian peoples,
possibly some hundred years earlier than the existence of Malacca empire;

“The Melayu people might reasonably be called the Vikings of the orient. Magnificent instinctive ship
builders, renowned among the world’s sailors, they take to the water like fish and conquered a godly
portion of the globe before being themselves ‘discovered’ by Europeans.

Indeed they crossed the Indian Ocean to discover and settled in the island of Madagascar at a time when
Europeans, by and large, were still steering fearfully clear of the open ocean. Mighty mariners and master
traders many of these seafaring tribes possess the amazing art of psycho-navigation, finding a sort of six-
sense” (Zaharah et al., 2016). Similarly, an anthropologist Gathercole wrote;

“The Malay-Polynesian people are the world’s greatest colonizers spreading eventually as far
westwards as Madagascar, eastwards to Easter island, northwards to Hawaii and as far south as New
Zealand” (Sbellabear, 1967).

The last two descriptions of the Malays and Malay-Polynesian above conceived them from an
historical and anthropological perspective that place the Malays as a racial stock that had populated the
Malay world and the island of the Pacific for some centuries ago. They were the ancestors of the Malays in
Malacca as described by Tome Pires in the 16th century. The Portuguese were interested not just in
merchandise for trading but also in many other aspects of the indigenous cultural life. One of the interesting
passage we discovered was on Malay ship in the 15th century as described below:

“Her sides were so high that no one dare to board her from any of the Portuguese ships, naos,
caravellas and gales and she remained unscathed by the Portuguese fire because she had four layers of
sheeting and the largest Portuguese artillery could only penetrate two. At length, the governor sent out his
own Nao, the Flor de La Mar. In spite of this, the jong manage to fend off the Portuguese attacks for two
days and two nights and only succumb when the Portuguese succeeded in removing her rudders which she
carried outside as the barges of Riba teja” (Correla, 1993).

The Conquest by Albuquerque and the Downfall of Malacca

When Alfonso de Albuquerque set sail for Malacca in April 1511, he had a vast experience of winning wars
and battles in the Middle East, North Africa as well as on the West Coast of India. The newly appointed King
Manuel I of Portugal had appointed him as the new and second Viceroy of India after Almeida’s term
expired. Strongly attached to his personality profile was his ambition for the glory of his country Portugal,
his selfless service to the King, and last but not least his ‘civilising mission’ of spreading Christianity and
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“doing service to Our Lord”, Jesus Christ (Pintado, 1982). Embedded with it was the economic motive of
destroying the monopoly of spice trade by the Muslims and capturing the trade route to the East which will
ultimately put Portugal to be master of the seas east of Europe and Africa. After the establishment of trading
station in Goa, this mission had been partly accomplished.

Initially, it has been Diogo Mendes de Vasconcelos that was given the task by Lisbon to head for
Malacca with a limited number of fleet. But Albuquerque himself took over the leadership and combined
with those he had in Goa so as to ensure of superiority at sea and victory while the mission would be made
possible and accomplished. Even in the mind of King Manuel, it should be of a diplomatic mission to open
up trading stations along the sea route from the Persia Gulf through and including India, connecting it with
Malacca and further East with the Malay Archipelago or the spice islands. But, Alfonso de’Albuquerque
being a general-cum-warrior and an ambitious leader would choose to go beyond diplomatic ties. He was
encouraged by a letter sent by the Portuguese prisoner Rui de Arujo in Malacca who insisted that the
Portuguese should come back to Malacca and captured it. It was Arujos and an India Nina Chantu, who had
been taking good care of the Portuguese prisoner in Malacca, that provided much information about the
strength and weakness of Malacca’s defence and strategy, or the lack of it.

When de Albuquerque arrived in Malacca well equipped with 900 professional soldiers and 200
Indian mercenaries with eighteen ships, Sultan Mahmud and the newly elected Bendahara Paduka Tuan
(nicknamed Bendahara Tepok) could not imagine that it would turn out to be a warfare between the
Portuguese and the Malaccans. The Bendahara was quoted making a remark that …. “after destroying part
of our city, the Portuguese would leave for home” (Yusof, 2017). What took place was just the opposite. The
city of Malacca was divided into two sectors, the north which formed the city and commercial area and the
south which was for residence and including the Sultan’s palace and the mosque. In the centre was the
Malacca river which connected both sectors by a bridge which had a strategic significance in defending the
Malacca city. Albuquerque and his captains were well aware about this. When the first day of the battle for
Malacca which took place at dawn 25th July, 1511 the aim was to secure the bridge from the defenders, the
Malaccan soldiers.

After fighting a tough battle with a strong resistance from the Malaccan Malays, the bridge fell to the
Portuguese. The battle continued the next day on both sides of the river and casualties were high on both
sides, especially on the Malays. The Sultan himself with his son Raja Ahmad were directly engaged in the
fierce battle. But in the end, the defender had to flee from the city while the victors and conqueror, the
Portuguese took the opportunity to burn down both the palace and the mosque which were important
symbols of power of the Malacca Sultanate.

Internal and External Factors

The following is an analysis on both the strength of the Portuguese as well as the weakness of Malacca
Sultanate in facing an enemy of whom she never had experienced in war before. Recent research work on
the subject had concluded that Malacca had the experience of fighting wars with Siam and the surrounding
states or provinces in which she always appears to be victories. But in this first experience of facing a
Western power, Malacca had to succumb to defeat. We shall begin by examining the weakness of Malacca
in its defence strategy and other related factors that were crucial for her to win battles in facing an invasion
from an enemy of a Western European country. Undoubtedly, this was the first experience for Malacca to
face such an attack from a Western colonial power.

At the outset, Malacca was a city state which had expanded to become an empire but with special
interest in a long distance trade. As one Portuguese writer observed, “it was made for merchandise…” and
for this reason, the defence of the city was neglected. The barricades or “fortress” were generally made of
wood or earth and not of stones or bricks as in Europe. In any case, since the last hundred years, there was
never any attempt by any neighbouring states to attack and capture the city. Secondly, the nature of
Malaccan community in early 16th century was plural and socio-culturally divided. Political power was
shared by the indigenous Muslim-Malay aristocrats (bangsawan) with some India-Muslims who were
favoured by the ruler as compared with other communities like the Javanese, Tamils and Chinese. The
second last Bendahara Tun Mutahir was a Malay mixed with India blood and was often described as
favouring the Indian Muslims in all his dealings.

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Apart from the Malays, there was a large number of Javanese population headed by the rich and
powerful Utimutiraja. The Javanese, whose loyalty to the Malay ruler was rather doubtful, formed the
largest mercenary soldiers in the service of the Sultanate. Going through both the indigenous and especially
Portuguese sources, it was mentioned that Ultimultiraja sent flowers to welcome Albuquerque on the
later’s arrival (Mills, 1997). Both the Chinese and Indians which formed a small minority was in favour and
supportive of the Portuguese. The Chinese offered the invader to use their junks while an India leader Nina
Chatu negotiated to make peace with the Portuguese so as to protect their properties and trading goods in
the city.

In addition, our research in both indigenous and Portuguese documents didn’t come across any
evidence to show that Malacca had a full-time standing army. This was in contrast to the Portuguese with
a smaller number of only 800 but they were full-time and professional soldiers with experiences in battles
before they arrived in Malacca. From another viewpoint, Malacca did not have the leadership she needed
like the famous Bendahara Tun Perak during the reign of Sultan Muzaffar and Sultan Mansor Shah who was
well known as a capable leader in war and a diplomatic strategist. The Malay Annals (Sejarah Melayu)
mentioned Laksamana Khoja Hassan who should lead battles. But the later was well known for his
weakness and incapability. The Portuguese sources did not mention any Malaccan personality of high
calibre, but mentioned only three personalities namely Sultan Mahmud, his son Sultan Ahmad and the
newly married son-in-law from Pahang who were directly engaged themselves in the last battle.

If should be mentioned that the last Bendahara Seri Maharaja or ‘Bendahara Tepok’ was described
by both the Malay Annals and Portuguese sources as among the most incapable as a leader and war
strategist. He did not take seriously on warning threats from the Portuguese who came to fight a war. Both
Malay as well as Portuguese sources we consulted came to a general agreement that Sultan Mahmud
himself was not a popular and well respected ruler as compared with all his predecessors. Even Islamic
religion as a way of life had been cast aside and not in the mainstream of court culture in social and cultural
activities. Moral values based upon Islamic tradition were not adhered to. For these reasons, the court
officials were often divided rather than united. In other words, both the ruler as well as the laksamana
(warrior chief) and some other court officials were not of a high calibre and well respected by Malaccan
citizens and the general public. They were being described as plagued with the practice of corruption.
Everyone was concerned with enriching themselves and less with the welfare of the people and subscribing
fully to the Islamic tenets.

Finally, Alfonso de Albuquerque was made aware by reports from Arujo, Nina Chantu and others that
the weapons used by the Malays in general were of inferior quality as compared to what the Portuguese
had. The artillery, canons, muskets, etc used by the Portuguese were of a higher quality than that used by
the Malays. In war, apart from strategic planning and operational capability of the leader, the quality of
weapons used would decide who would be the winner and the looser (Adam Leong, 2018). In the final
analysis, it is imperative to note that in a situation of conflict and warfare like the case of Malacca in the
early 16th century and that of between two states and peoples of different traditions and different level of
development of technology especially in weaponry, the victory would go to that which was superior in
weaponry or armaments, in war strategy and leadership, and last but not least the morale of those involved
in the war or conflict. It was obvious that the Portuguese invaders were inferior in numbers between 1,200
to 1,300 but professional combat troops as compared to approximately between 15,000 – 20,000 non-
committed mercenary soldiers who had the tendency of desertion. In addition, the capable and charismatic
leadership of Alfonso de Albuquerque who had a vast experience of fighting many battles in a diverse
situation in Africa, the Middle East and India in most cases was in his favour.

Conclusion

The theory put forward by Ibn Khaldun on the rise and fall of empires or civilizations had emphasised on
one important factor, that is assabiyah or ‘esprit de’corp’, integration, and unity of the people. It is obvious
that Malacca, as a plural and diversified community, lacked the spirit of assabiyah among its people as well
as among the political elites in the centre of power. Secondly, Ibn Khaldun pointed out on the tendency of
the people and especially the elites to indulge themselves in luxuries and pleasure. This was also true of the
Malaccan society of the later period. Both Ibn Khaldun and Arnold Toynbee emphasised the importance of
religion that would keep a society or community intact and united. As for Malacca during the reign of Sultan
Mahmud, this was not the case as Islamic religion was not at a centre stage in their daily life. Both the crisis
of moral and internal weakness had invited the enemy of foreign power to seize the opportunity to conquer
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and destroy the existing state and set up a new one. Finally, in order to safeguard an existing territory and
to preserve its integrity and sovereignty, a nation or state must always attempt to improve its weaponry
and defence technology as well as to bring the people together as a united and integrated society whose
loyalty is absolute to the leadership of the day. The downfall of Malacca as an empire and a rich emporium
to the Portuguese in 1511 should serve as a lesson to a young nation like Malaysia or any other country at
all for that matter.

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