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| | Malacca
1520's |  |
| | Parameswara,
Founder of Malacca |  |
| | Sultan
Mansur Shah (1456- 1477) |  |
| | Cloves |
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| | Nutmeg |
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| | Gold
coin, the currency of Malaccan Empire |
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1400
Malacca, a city on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, is founded by a Hindu
Prince from Palembang by the name of Parameswara. Parameswara later becomes a
Muslim and takes on the name of Iskandar Shah (1400-1424), and becomes the first
ruler of Malacca.
Early 1400's Because of Malacca's
strategic location at the mouth of the river, with a hill and wide hinterland,
it becomes a busy port and trading center.
From 1456
During the reign of the 4th ruler of Malacca, Sultan Mansur Shah (1456- 1477),
Malacca is rich and confident enough to develop an active and often aggressive
foreign policy and build up an empire - defeating many of its enemies and uniting
all the feuding states in Malaysia.
Its empire expands to the Moluccas
Islands in the East, Java in the South, Sumatra in the West and Thailand (Siam)
in the North.
Sultan Mansur Shah sends envoys on a mission of peace to
the Ming Emperor in China, and receives recognition of his reign and Empire. The
Chinese also give him protection, and he eventually marries a Chinese Princess
by the name of Hang Li Po.
Malacca becomes the most important port for
exchange of trade between the West and the East. From the Red Sea and Persian
Gulf come Persians, Arabs, Armenians, and Turks. From around the African Continent,
came the Portuguese. From India, come the Gujeratis and Indians. From the East
and South, come the Chinese, the Filipinos and Javanese.
With the precedent
set by Sultan Mansur Shah, and as a result of the cosmopolitan environment of
Malacca, mixed-marriages and multiculturalism became the norm in the Malaccan
Empire.
Major goods from traders from the Eastern sea-routes include
Venetian and Bohemian glass and metal ware, opium, perfumes, incense pearls and
dyes. Important goods from the East include silk; spices like pepper, nutmeg,
cinnamon and cloves; scented timber, porcelain, damasks, and other items including
birds from the Banda Islands, whose feathers have found a market among the Arabs
and Turks. Gold, silver and tin become currency in Malacca.
1500's
Malacca becomes known as the Venice of the West.
1514
Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese writer and traveler, writes: Whoever is Lord of Malacca
has his hands on the throat of Venice.
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