Melaka History
If Malaysia is a melting pot, then Melaka is its cultural crucible - where six hundred years of warfare and ethnic intermarriage have formed the core of what has evolved into the modern nation.
In the 14th century, Melaka was just another fishing village – until it attracted the attention of Parameswara, a Hindu prince from Sumatra. Parameswara had thrown off allegiance to the Majapahit empire and fled to Temasek (modern-day Singapore), where his piracy and other exploits provoked a Siamese attack in 1398, forcing him to flee to Melaka, where he established his new headquarters.
Under Parameswara, Melaka soon became a favoured port for waiting out monsoons and resupplying trading ships plying the strategic Strait of Melaka. Parameswara was a clever man. He watched as traders from India, Arab and China came and went. He convinced the local fishermen to plant crops as it would be more profitable than piracy. In so doing he abolished piracy and made safe the passageway for trading ships. With a guarantee of pirate-safe passageways, and a supply of jungle products and gold from the interior, merchants began to take notice of this new deep sea port.
Malacca was also successful because its own Malay traders travelled and traded with the rest of the archipelago. Halfway between China and India, and with easy access to the spice islands of Indonesia, Melaka attracted merchants from all over the East. Eventually, it became the collection centre for priceless spices from the rest of the Archipelago. Cloves, nutmeg, aromatic woods, exotic bird feathers, sea cucumbers, tortoise shells etc, were traded in and out. Parameswara ultimately embraced Islam, bringing that religion to the region.
During this time a warrior named Hang Tuah, became the ultimate Malay hero and symbol of honor, courage and loyalty. Malaccan officials were jealous of Hang Tuah's favor with the Sultan. They cooked up a story that he had slept with the Sultan's favorite consort. Indignant, the Sultan ordered Hang Tuah to be put to death. However, a minister by the name of Tun Perak hid him away instead, believing in his innocence. One of Hang Tuah's friends, Hang Jebat was so angered by his friend's 'demise,’ he ran amok, killing many officials. Even the Sultan ran away in fear. Eventually, Tun Perak brought Hang Tuah back, and the Sultan pardoned him, but ordered him to execute his friend, Hang Jebat. Hang Tuah obeyed, the two fought for a month until Hang Jebat lost. It is the local equivalent of the biblical story of Cain and Able.
In 1405 the Chinese Admiral Zheng He, the ‘eunuch prince’, arrived in Melaka offering protection from Siamese enemies. Chinese settlers followed, who intermarried with local Malays and came to be known as the Baba-Nonya (also called Straits Chinese or Peranakan). The longest-settled Chinese people in Malaysia, they grafted many Malay customs to their own heritage. Melaka became a powerful trading state. Its position was consolidated by the state’s adoption of Islam in the mid-15th century.
Zheng He played a large role in the history of Southeast Asia. Born with the name Ma He, he was only eleven years old when he was captured by the Ming Muslim troops and made a eunuch. He was sent to the Imperial court,and eventually became a trusted adviser of the Yongle Emperor, assisting him in deposing his predecessor. In return for meritorious service, the eunuch received the name Zheng He.
Between 1405 and 1433, the Ming government sponsored a series of seven naval expeditions throughout the area. The Yongle emperor placed Zheng He as the admiral in control of the huge of fleet 317 ships holding almost 28,000 sailors, marines, translators, and other crew members. Incredibly, the largest ships in the fleet (called baoshan, or "treasure ships") were likely between 440 and 538 feet long by 210 feet wide. These 4-decked baoshan had an estimated displacement of 20-30,000 tons, roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the displacement of modern American aircraft carriers. They were the largest ships ever built until WWII, over 500 years later.
The size of Zheng He's fleet was unprecedented and sailed as far as the Indian Ocean and the Arabian peninsula. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor decided to stop the voyages. At this time Ming China faced a growing threat to its land borders in the west from the Mongols. This forced the Ming rulers to concentrate their attention and their resources on securing the country's inland borders, fortifying the Great Wall for the next 200 years until it ultimately covering 7,300 kilometers (4,536 miles). Ming China stopped sending out the magnificent Treasure Fleet. However, it is still tempting to ponder the "what if" questions.
- What if the Chinese had continued to patrol the Indian Ocean?
- What if Vasco da Gama's four little Portuguese caravels had run into a stupendous fleet of more than 250 Chinese junks of various sizes - all of them larger than the Portuguese flagship?
- How would world history have been different, if Ming China had ruled the waves in 1497-98?
Then, on September 1st, 1509, a Portuguese fleet under Admiral Diego Lopez De Sequeira sailed into Melaka harbor - the first European fleet to have ever dropped anchor into Malay waters. In 1511 the Portuguese Alfonso de Albuquerque took the city, forcing the sultan to flee to Johor. Under the Portuguese, the fortress of A’Famosa was constructed, and missionaries like St Francis Xavier strove to implant Catholicism. While Portuguese cannons could easily conquer Melaka, they could not force Muslim merchants from Arabia and India to continue trading there, and other ports in the area grew to overshadow Melaka. The period of Portuguese strength in the East was shortlived, as Melaka suffered harrying attacks from the rulers of neighbouring Johor, Negeri Sembilan,and Sumatra.
The Portuguese attempted to turn Melaka into an impregnable fortress, bristling with seventy cannon and equipped with all the latest anti-siege technologies. These, however, proved insufficient to keep out the Dutch, who starved the city into submission in 1641 after a six month siege, during which the residents were reduced to eating cats, then rats, and then finally each other. The Dutch ruled Melaka for only about 150 years, but Melaka again became the center for peninsular trade. In Melaka they built fine public buildings and churches, which remain the best examples of European presence int the area to this day.
When Holland was overrun by the French in the Napoleonic wars, the Dutch Prince of Orange ordered all his overseas possessions to surrender to the British, who were their trading partners. The British began demolishing A’Famosa fortress and forcibly removing Melaka’s Dutch population to Penang to prevent Melaka rivalling Singapore.
Fortunately Sir Stamford Raffles, the far-sighted founder of Singapore, stepped in before these destructive policies went too far, preserving much of the Dutch heritage and architecture, and in 1824 Melaka was permanently ceded to the British.
Melaka, together with Penang and Singapore, formed the three British territories known as the The Straits Settlements, that were the centers for later expansion into the peninsula. Great Britain established colonies in Malaysia and ruled them, with the exception of the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, until 1948.
In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963. Singapore originally joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. It subsequently became one of the world's most prosperous countries.
During the 22-year term of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad (1981-2003), Malaysia transformed itself from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. Local “folk wisdom” says that "Mahati’s" push to make Malaysia a first-world country was sparked by looking down the peninsula at Singapore, and angrily saying “Hey, we can be like that too!”
Melaka’s importance as a port was eclipsed during this period by the rapidly growing commercial importance of Singapore. Melaka returned again to being a quiet backwater, quietly awaiting its renaissance as the historic tourist drawcard. It is today. --
2010. The US GDP grew 2.8%.
Malaysia Facts
- Malaysia’s total area is 329,750 sq km, making it slightly larger than New Mexico.
- More than 27,000,000 people live in Malaysia.
- Life expectancy is 72.76 years.
- Birth rate is 22.65 births per 1,000.
- Literacy rate is 88.7%.
- Bahasa Malaysia is the country’s official language: English, Chinese, and Tamil are also spoken.
- Ethnic Groups: Malay, Chinese, indigenous, Indian.
- Religion: More than 70% of the population is Muslim religion; the remainder composed of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Taoists, and other traditional Chinese religions.
- Capital: Kuala Lumpur. Putrajaya is the new capital: a planned government center, much like Washington DC in concept, in suburban KL
- Government: Democracy
- The head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), who is elected from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years.
- The government is headed by the Prime Minister
- A bicameral Parliament consisting of a nonelected upper house and an elected lower house.
- Malaysian states have hereditary royalty rulers (Sultan’s) in all but 5 states, where Governors are appointed by the federal Government. Melaka has a Governor.
- Legal system: Based on English common law.
- Economy: Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years, and 7.1% for
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