Portuguese Malacca
Encyclopedia
Portuguese Malacca was the territory of Malacca
that, for 130 years ( 1511–1641 ), was a Portuguese
colony
.
, fruit-bearing trees along the banks of a river called Airlele (Ayer Leleh). The Airlele river was said to originate from Buquet China (Present day Bukit Cina). Eredia cited that the city was founded by Permicuri (i.e. Parameswara) the first King of Malacca
in 1411.
's attention and he sent Admiral Diogo Lopes de Sequeira
to find Malacca, to make a trade compact with its ruler as Portugal's representative east of India. The first European to reach Malacca and Southeast Asia, Sequeira arrived in Malacca in 1509. Although he was initially well-received by Sultan Mahmud Shah trouble however quickly ensued. The general feeling of rivalry between Islam and Christianity was invoked by a group of Goa Muslims in the sultan's court after the Portuguese had captured Goa
. The international Muslim trading community convinced Mahmud that the Portuguese were a grave threat. Mahmud subsequently captured several of his men, killed others and attempted to attack the four Portuguese ships, although they escaped. As the Portuguese had found in India, conquest would be the only way they could establish themselves in Malacca.
In April 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque
set sail from Goa to Malacca with a force of some 1200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships. The Viceroy made a number of demands – one of which was for permission to build a fortress as a Portuguese trading post near the city. All the demands were refused by the Sultan. Conflict was unavoidable, and after 40 days of fighting, Malacca fell to the Portuguese on 24 August. A bitter dispute between Sultan Mahmud and his son Sultan Ahmad also weighed down the Malaccan side. The Portuguese was helped by Guy Arojo, Chinese Capitans who supplied small ships to enter the Port of Malacca.
Following the defeat of Malacca Sultanate in 15 August 1511 in the Capture of Malacca, Afonso de Albuquerque
sought to erect a permanent form of fortification in anticipation of the counterattacks by Sultan Mahmud. A fortress was designed and constructed encompassing a hill, lining the edge of the sea shore, on the south east of the river mouth, on the former site of the Sultan's palace. Albuquerque remained in Malacca until November 1511 preparing its defences against any Malay counterattack. Sultan Mahmud Shah was forced to flee Malacca.
. Later, the sultan sailed to Bintan Island and established a new capital there. With a base established, the sultan rallied the disarrayed Malay forces and organized several attacks and blockades against the Portuguese's position. Frequent raids on Malacca caused the Portuguese severe hardship. In 1521 the second Demak campaign to assist Malay Sultan to retake Malacca was launched, however once again failed with the cost of Demak Sultan life. He was later remembered as Pangeran Sabrang Lor or the Prince who crossed (the Java Sea
) to North (Malay peninsula
). The raids helped convince the Portuguese that the exiled sultan's forces must be silenced. A number of attempts were made to suppress the Malay forces, but it wasn't until 1526 that the Portuguese finally razed Bintan to the ground. The sultan then retreated to Kampar
in Riau, Sumatra where he died two years later. He left behind two sons named Muzaffar Shah and Alauddin Riayat Shah II
.
Muzaffar Shah was invited by the people in the north of the peninsula to become their ruler, establishing the Sultanate of Perak. Meanwhile, Mahmud's other son, Alauddin succeeded his father and made a new capital in the south. His realm was the Sultanate of Johor, the successor of Malacca.
Several attempts to liberated Malacca from Portuguese power were rallyed by the Sultan of Johor. By sending request to Java, in 1550, Queen Kalinyamat
, the regent of Jepara
sent 4,000 soldiers in 40 ships to meet Johor sultan request to free Malacca. Jepara troops were later joined forces with the Malay alliance and manage to rally around 200 warships. The combined forces attacked from the north and captured most of Malacca. But the Portuguese managed to retaliate and draw back the invading forces. Malay alliance troops were drawed back to the sea, while the Jepara troops remained on shore. Only after their leader were slain, the Jepara troops withdrawn. The next battle is still going on the beach and in the sea that killed more than 2,000 Jepara soldiers. The storm came stranded two Jepara ships back to the shore of Malacca, and they fell prey slained by the Portuguese. Jepara soldiers who made it back to Java is numbered not more than a half of which managed to leave Malacca.
In 1567, Prince Husain Ali I Riayat Syah from Sultanate of Aceh launched naval attack to ousted Portuguese from Malacca, but once again ended in failure. In 1574 the combined attack from Aceh Sultanate and Javanese Jepara tried again to capture Malacca from Portuguese, but ended in failure due to poor coordination.
Competition from other ports such as Johor
saw Asian traders bypass Malacca and the city began to decline as a trading port. Rather than achieving their ambition of dominating it, the Portuguese had fundamentally disrupted the organisation of the Asian trade network. Rather than a centralised port of exchange of Asian wealth exchange, or a Malay state to police the Straits of Malacca that made it safe for commercial traffic, trade was now scattered over a number of ports amongst bitter warfare in the Straits.
was a tributary state and ally to Ming Dynasty
China. When Portugal conquered Malacca in 1511 and committed atrocities against the Malay Sultanate, the Chinese responded with violent force against Portugal.
The Chinese Imperial Government imprisoned and executed multiple Portuguese envoys after torturing them in Guangzhou
. The Malaccans had informed the Chinese of the Portuguese seizure of Malacca, to which the Chinese responded with hostility toward the Portuguese. The Malaccans told the Chinese of the deception the Portuguese used, disguising plans for conquering territory as mere trading activities, and told of all the atrocities committed by the Portuguese.
Due to the Malaccan Sultan lodging a complaint against the Portuguese invasion to the Chinese Emperor, the Portuguese were greeted with hostility from the Chinese when they arrived in China. The Malaccan Sultan, based in Bintan after fleeing Malacca, sent a message to the Chinese, which combined with Portuguese banditry and violent activity in China, led the Chinese authorities to execute 23 Portuguese and torture the rest of them in jails. After the Portuguese set up posts for trading in China and committed piratical activities and raids in China, the Chinese responded with the complete extermination of the Portuguese in Ningbo
and Quanzhou
Pires, a Portuguese trade envoy, was among those who died in the Chinese dungeons.
(Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) began contesting Portuguese power in the East. At that time, the Portuguese had transformed Malacca into an impregnable fortress, the Fortaleza de Malaca
, controlling access to the sea lanes of the Straits of Malacca and the spice trade there. The Dutch started by launching small incursions and skirmishes against the Portuguese. The first serious attempt was the siege of Malacca in 1606 by the third VOC fleet from Holland with eleven ships, led by Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge
that lead to the naval battle of Cape Rachado
. Although the Dutch were routed, the Portuguese fleet of Don Martin d'Alphonso de Castro, the Viceroy of Goa; suffered heavier casualties and the battle rallied the forces of the Sultanate of Johor in an alliance with the Dutch and later on with the Aceh Sultanate.
In early 17th century, the Sultanate of Aceh grew into a regional power with formidable naval force and regarded Portuguese Malacca as potential threat. In 1629, Iskandar Muda
of Aceh Sultanate sent several hundred ships to attack Malacca, but the mission was a devastating failure. According to Portuguese sources, all of his ships were destroyed along with 19,000 men.
The Dutch with their local allies assaulted and finally wrested Malacca from the Portuguese in January 1641. This combined Dutch-Johor-Aceh efforts effectively destroyed the last bastion of Portuguese power, reducing their influence in the archipelago. The Dutch settled in the city as Dutch Malacca
, however the Dutch had no intention to make Malacca their main base, and concentrated on building Batavia (today Jakarta
) as their headquarter in the orient instead. The Portuguese ports in spice producing area of Mollucas were also fell to Dutch in following years, with the last Portuguese colony were remained and confined only in East Timor
until 20th century.
s per side with a height of 40 fathoms. It was constructed at the foot of the fortress hill, next to the sea. To its east was constructed a circular wall of mortar and stone with a well in the middle of the enclosure.
Over the years, constructions began to fully fortify the fortress hill. The pentagonal system began at the farthest point of the cape near south east of the river mouth, towards the west of the Fortaleza. At this point two ramparts were built at right angles to each other lining the shores. The one running northward toward the river mouth was 130 fathoms in length to the bastion of São Pedro while the other one ran for 75 fathoms to the east, curving inshore, ending at the gate and bastion of Santiago
.
From the bastion of São Pedro the rampart turned north east 150 fathoms past the Custom House Terrace gateway ending at the northern most point of the fortress, the bastion of São Domingos. From the gateway of São Domingos, an earth rampart ran south-easterly for 100 fathoms ending at the bastion of the Madre de Deus. From here, beginning at the gate of Santo António, past the bastion of the Virgins, the rampart ended at the gateway of Santiago.
Overall the city enclosure was 655 fathoms and 10 palms (short) of a fathom.
Of these four gateways only two were in common use and open to traffic, the Gate of Santo António linking to the suburb of Yler and the western gate at the Custom House Terrace, giving access to Tranqueira and its bazaar.
After almost 300 years of existence, in 1806, the British, unwilling to maintain the fortress and wary of letting other European powers taking control of it, ordered its slow destruction. The fort was almost totally demolished but for the timely intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles
visiting Malacca in 1810. The only remnants of the earliest Portuguese fortress in Southeast Asia is the Porta de Santiago, now known as the A Famosa
.
Erédia described the houses as made of timber but roofed by tiles. A stone bridge with sentry crosses the river Malacca to provide access to the Malacca Fortress via the eastern Custome House Terrace. The center of trade of the city was also located in Tranqueira near the beach on the mouth of the river called the Bazaar of the Jaos (Jowo/Jawa i.e. Javanese).
In the present day, this part of the city was still called Tengkera.
Tanjonpacer or Tanjung Pasir (in Malay) was later renamed Ujong Pasir. A settlement of Portuguese descent community is located there in present day Malacca. This suburb of Yler is now known as Banda Hilir. Land reclamations in modern time (for the commercial district of Melaka Raya) however have denied Banda Hilir access to the sea.
In later periods of Dutch, British and modern day Malacca, the name of Sabba was made obsolete. However, its area encompassed parts of what is now Banda Kaba, Bunga Raya and Kampung Jawa; the modern city center of Malacca
to administer the native Muslims and foreigners under the Portuguese jurisdiction.
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
that, for 130 years ( 1511–1641 ), was a Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
colony
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
.
History
From the writing of the Portuguese historian Emanuel Godinho de Erédia in the middle of the 16th century, the site of the old city of Malacca was named after the MyrobalansMyrobalans
The common names myrobalan or myrobalans can refer to several unrelated fruit-bearing plant species:*Cherry plum myrobalan plum *Amla Amalaki, emblic myrobalans...
, fruit-bearing trees along the banks of a river called Airlele (Ayer Leleh). The Airlele river was said to originate from Buquet China (Present day Bukit Cina). Eredia cited that the city was founded by Permicuri (i.e. Parameswara) the first King of Malacca
Malacca Sultanate
Established by the Malay ruler Parameswara, the Sultanate of Malacca was first a Hindu kingdom in 1402 and later became Muslim following the marriage of the princess of Pasai in 1409. Centered in the modern town of Malacca, the sultanate bordered the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Siam in the north to...
in 1411.
The capture of Malacca
The news of Malacca's wealth attracted the king of PortugalManuel I of Portugal
Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...
's attention and he sent Admiral Diogo Lopes de Sequeira
Diogo Lopes de Sequeira
Diogo Lopes de Sequeira was a Portuguese fidalgo, sent to analyze the trade potential in Madagascar and Malacca, he arrived at Malacca on 11 September, 1509. He left the next year when he discovered that Sultan Mahmud Shah, the local leader, was devising his assassination...
to find Malacca, to make a trade compact with its ruler as Portugal's representative east of India. The first European to reach Malacca and Southeast Asia, Sequeira arrived in Malacca in 1509. Although he was initially well-received by Sultan Mahmud Shah trouble however quickly ensued. The general feeling of rivalry between Islam and Christianity was invoked by a group of Goa Muslims in the sultan's court after the Portuguese had captured Goa
Portuguese Conquest of Goa (1510)
The Portuguese Conquest of Goa occurred in 1510 on behalf of the Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque. Goa was not among the cities Albuquerque had received orders to conquer: he had only been ordered by the Portuguese king to capture Hormuz, Aden and Malacca.The city of Goa had been...
. The international Muslim trading community convinced Mahmud that the Portuguese were a grave threat. Mahmud subsequently captured several of his men, killed others and attempted to attack the four Portuguese ships, although they escaped. As the Portuguese had found in India, conquest would be the only way they could establish themselves in Malacca.
In April 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque[p][n] was a Portuguese fidalgo, or nobleman, an admiral whose military and administrative activities as second governor of Portuguese India conquered and established the Portuguese colonial empire in the Indian Ocean...
set sail from Goa to Malacca with a force of some 1200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships. The Viceroy made a number of demands – one of which was for permission to build a fortress as a Portuguese trading post near the city. All the demands were refused by the Sultan. Conflict was unavoidable, and after 40 days of fighting, Malacca fell to the Portuguese on 24 August. A bitter dispute between Sultan Mahmud and his son Sultan Ahmad also weighed down the Malaccan side. The Portuguese was helped by Guy Arojo, Chinese Capitans who supplied small ships to enter the Port of Malacca.
Following the defeat of Malacca Sultanate in 15 August 1511 in the Capture of Malacca, Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque[p][n] was a Portuguese fidalgo, or nobleman, an admiral whose military and administrative activities as second governor of Portuguese India conquered and established the Portuguese colonial empire in the Indian Ocean...
sought to erect a permanent form of fortification in anticipation of the counterattacks by Sultan Mahmud. A fortress was designed and constructed encompassing a hill, lining the edge of the sea shore, on the south east of the river mouth, on the former site of the Sultan's palace. Albuquerque remained in Malacca until November 1511 preparing its defences against any Malay counterattack. Sultan Mahmud Shah was forced to flee Malacca.
Portuguese port in hostile region
As the first base of European christian trading kingdom in Southeast Asia, surrounded by numerous emerging native muslim states. Also with hostile initial contact with local Malay polity, Portuguese Malacca would faced severe hostility and must endure battles for many years to come, launched by Malay sultans that tried to get rid of Portuguese and reclaimed their land. The sultan made several attempts to retake the capital. He rallied the support from his ally the Demak Sultanate in Java, that in 1511 agreed to send naval forces to assist the effort to retake Malacca. Led by Pati Unus, the Sultan of Demak, the combined Malay-Java effort were failed and fruitless. The Portuguese retaliated and forced the sultan to flee to PahangPahang
Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...
. Later, the sultan sailed to Bintan Island and established a new capital there. With a base established, the sultan rallied the disarrayed Malay forces and organized several attacks and blockades against the Portuguese's position. Frequent raids on Malacca caused the Portuguese severe hardship. In 1521 the second Demak campaign to assist Malay Sultan to retake Malacca was launched, however once again failed with the cost of Demak Sultan life. He was later remembered as Pangeran Sabrang Lor or the Prince who crossed (the Java Sea
Java Sea
The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...
) to North (Malay peninsula
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
). The raids helped convince the Portuguese that the exiled sultan's forces must be silenced. A number of attempts were made to suppress the Malay forces, but it wasn't until 1526 that the Portuguese finally razed Bintan to the ground. The sultan then retreated to Kampar
Kampar Regency
Kampar is a regency of Riau, Indonesia. It has an area of 11,707.64 km² and population of about 415,344.The regency is divided into 13 subdistricts . The seat of the regency is located at Bangkinang.Bordered with:...
in Riau, Sumatra where he died two years later. He left behind two sons named Muzaffar Shah and Alauddin Riayat Shah II
Alauddin Riayat Shah II of Johor
Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II was the first Sultan of Johor. He ruled Johor from 1528 to 1564. He founded the Johor Sultanate following the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511. He was the second son of Mahmud Shah of Malacca. Thus, Johor was a successor state of Malacca and Johor's sultans...
.
Muzaffar Shah was invited by the people in the north of the peninsula to become their ruler, establishing the Sultanate of Perak. Meanwhile, Mahmud's other son, Alauddin succeeded his father and made a new capital in the south. His realm was the Sultanate of Johor, the successor of Malacca.
Several attempts to liberated Malacca from Portuguese power were rallyed by the Sultan of Johor. By sending request to Java, in 1550, Queen Kalinyamat
Kalinyamat
Queen Kalinyamat is the daughter of Demak Sultan Trenggana and appointed as the ruler of Kalinyamat area in Jepara, Indonesia, according to Portuguese source she was a woman of courage. The original name of Queen Kalinyamat is Retna Kencana, daughter of Trenggana, Demak king . During her youth, she...
, the regent of Jepara
Jepara
Jepara is a small town in the province of Central Java, Indonesia.Jepara is on the north coast of Java, north-east of Semarang, not far from Mount Muria. It is also the main town of the district of Jepara, which has a population of about 1 million. Jepara is famous as the center of Javanese teak...
sent 4,000 soldiers in 40 ships to meet Johor sultan request to free Malacca. Jepara troops were later joined forces with the Malay alliance and manage to rally around 200 warships. The combined forces attacked from the north and captured most of Malacca. But the Portuguese managed to retaliate and draw back the invading forces. Malay alliance troops were drawed back to the sea, while the Jepara troops remained on shore. Only after their leader were slain, the Jepara troops withdrawn. The next battle is still going on the beach and in the sea that killed more than 2,000 Jepara soldiers. The storm came stranded two Jepara ships back to the shore of Malacca, and they fell prey slained by the Portuguese. Jepara soldiers who made it back to Java is numbered not more than a half of which managed to leave Malacca.
In 1567, Prince Husain Ali I Riayat Syah from Sultanate of Aceh launched naval attack to ousted Portuguese from Malacca, but once again ended in failure. In 1574 the combined attack from Aceh Sultanate and Javanese Jepara tried again to capture Malacca from Portuguese, but ended in failure due to poor coordination.
Competition from other ports such as Johor
Johor
Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...
saw Asian traders bypass Malacca and the city began to decline as a trading port. Rather than achieving their ambition of dominating it, the Portuguese had fundamentally disrupted the organisation of the Asian trade network. Rather than a centralised port of exchange of Asian wealth exchange, or a Malay state to police the Straits of Malacca that made it safe for commercial traffic, trade was now scattered over a number of ports amongst bitter warfare in the Straits.
Chinese Military retaliation against Portugal
The Malay Malacca SultanateMalacca Sultanate
Established by the Malay ruler Parameswara, the Sultanate of Malacca was first a Hindu kingdom in 1402 and later became Muslim following the marriage of the princess of Pasai in 1409. Centered in the modern town of Malacca, the sultanate bordered the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Siam in the north to...
was a tributary state and ally to Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
China. When Portugal conquered Malacca in 1511 and committed atrocities against the Malay Sultanate, the Chinese responded with violent force against Portugal.
The Chinese Imperial Government imprisoned and executed multiple Portuguese envoys after torturing them in Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
. The Malaccans had informed the Chinese of the Portuguese seizure of Malacca, to which the Chinese responded with hostility toward the Portuguese. The Malaccans told the Chinese of the deception the Portuguese used, disguising plans for conquering territory as mere trading activities, and told of all the atrocities committed by the Portuguese.
Due to the Malaccan Sultan lodging a complaint against the Portuguese invasion to the Chinese Emperor, the Portuguese were greeted with hostility from the Chinese when they arrived in China. The Malaccan Sultan, based in Bintan after fleeing Malacca, sent a message to the Chinese, which combined with Portuguese banditry and violent activity in China, led the Chinese authorities to execute 23 Portuguese and torture the rest of them in jails. After the Portuguese set up posts for trading in China and committed piratical activities and raids in China, the Chinese responded with the complete extermination of the Portuguese in Ningbo
Ningbo
Ningbo is a seaport city of northeastern Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 3,089,180 in the built up area made of 6 urban districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay,...
and Quanzhou
Quanzhou
Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two and faces the Taiwan Strait...
Pires, a Portuguese trade envoy, was among those who died in the Chinese dungeons.
Dutch conquest and the end of Portuguese Malacca
In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India CompanyDutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) began contesting Portuguese power in the East. At that time, the Portuguese had transformed Malacca into an impregnable fortress, the Fortaleza de Malaca
A Famosa
A Famosa is a Portuguese fortress located in Malacca, Malaysia. It is among the oldest surviving European architectural remains in Asia. The Porta de Santiago, a small gate house, is the only remaining part of the fortress still standing....
, controlling access to the sea lanes of the Straits of Malacca and the spice trade there. The Dutch started by launching small incursions and skirmishes against the Portuguese. The first serious attempt was the siege of Malacca in 1606 by the third VOC fleet from Holland with eleven ships, led by Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge
Cornelis Matelief de Jonge
Cornelis Matelief , was a Dutch admiral who was active in establishing Dutch power in Southeast Asia during the beginning of the 17th century . His fleet was officially on a trading mission, but its true intent was to try to destroy Portuguese power in the area. The ships had 1400 men on board,...
that lead to the naval battle of Cape Rachado
Battle of Cape Rachado
The Battle of Cape Rachado, off the present day Malaccan exclave of Tanjung Tuan in 1606, was an important naval engagement between the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie and Portuguese fleets....
. Although the Dutch were routed, the Portuguese fleet of Don Martin d'Alphonso de Castro, the Viceroy of Goa; suffered heavier casualties and the battle rallied the forces of the Sultanate of Johor in an alliance with the Dutch and later on with the Aceh Sultanate.
In early 17th century, the Sultanate of Aceh grew into a regional power with formidable naval force and regarded Portuguese Malacca as potential threat. In 1629, Iskandar Muda
Iskandar Muda
Iskandar Muda was the twelfth Sultan of Aceh, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, and was the strongest power and wealthiest state in the western Indonesian archipelago and the Strait of Malacca. "Iskandar Muda" literally means "young Alexander," and his conquests...
of Aceh Sultanate sent several hundred ships to attack Malacca, but the mission was a devastating failure. According to Portuguese sources, all of his ships were destroyed along with 19,000 men.
The Dutch with their local allies assaulted and finally wrested Malacca from the Portuguese in January 1641. This combined Dutch-Johor-Aceh efforts effectively destroyed the last bastion of Portuguese power, reducing their influence in the archipelago. The Dutch settled in the city as Dutch Malacca
Dutch Malacca
Dutch Malacca was the longest period of Malacca under foreign control. The Dutch ruled for almost 183 years with intermittent British occupation during the Napoleonic Wars . This era saw relative peace with little serious interruption from the Malay kingdoms due to the understanding earlier on...
, however the Dutch had no intention to make Malacca their main base, and concentrated on building Batavia (today Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
) as their headquarter in the orient instead. The Portuguese ports in spice producing area of Mollucas were also fell to Dutch in following years, with the last Portuguese colony were remained and confined only in East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
until 20th century.
Fortaleza de Malaca
The early core of the fortress system was a quadrilateral tower called Fortaleza de Malaca. Measurement was given as 10 fathomFathom
A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems, used especially for measuring the depth of water.There are 2 yards in an imperial or U.S. fathom...
s per side with a height of 40 fathoms. It was constructed at the foot of the fortress hill, next to the sea. To its east was constructed a circular wall of mortar and stone with a well in the middle of the enclosure.
Over the years, constructions began to fully fortify the fortress hill. The pentagonal system began at the farthest point of the cape near south east of the river mouth, towards the west of the Fortaleza. At this point two ramparts were built at right angles to each other lining the shores. The one running northward toward the river mouth was 130 fathoms in length to the bastion of São Pedro while the other one ran for 75 fathoms to the east, curving inshore, ending at the gate and bastion of Santiago
A Famosa
A Famosa is a Portuguese fortress located in Malacca, Malaysia. It is among the oldest surviving European architectural remains in Asia. The Porta de Santiago, a small gate house, is the only remaining part of the fortress still standing....
.
From the bastion of São Pedro the rampart turned north east 150 fathoms past the Custom House Terrace gateway ending at the northern most point of the fortress, the bastion of São Domingos. From the gateway of São Domingos, an earth rampart ran south-easterly for 100 fathoms ending at the bastion of the Madre de Deus. From here, beginning at the gate of Santo António, past the bastion of the Virgins, the rampart ended at the gateway of Santiago.
Overall the city enclosure was 655 fathoms and 10 palms (short) of a fathom.
Gateways
Four gateways were built for the city;- Porta de Santiago
- The gateway of the Custom House Terrace
- Porta de São Domingos
- Porta de Santo António
Of these four gateways only two were in common use and open to traffic, the Gate of Santo António linking to the suburb of Yler and the western gate at the Custom House Terrace, giving access to Tranqueira and its bazaar.
Destruction
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore . He is often described as the "Father of Singapore"...
visiting Malacca in 1810. The only remnants of the earliest Portuguese fortress in Southeast Asia is the Porta de Santiago, now known as the A Famosa
A Famosa
A Famosa is a Portuguese fortress located in Malacca, Malaysia. It is among the oldest surviving European architectural remains in Asia. The Porta de Santiago, a small gate house, is the only remaining part of the fortress still standing....
.
The town of Malacca during the Portuguese Era
Outside of the fortified town center lies the three suburbs of Malacca. The suburb of Upe (i.e. Upih), generally known as Tranqueira (modern day Tengkera) from the rampart of the fortress. The other two suburb were Yler (i.e. Hilir) or Tanjonpacer (i.e. Tanjung Pasir)and the suburb of Sabba.Tranqueira
Tranqueira was the most important suburb of Malacca. The suburb was rectangular in shape, with a northern walled boundary, the straits of Malacca to the south and the river of Malacca (Rio de Malaca) and the fortaleza's wall to the east. It was the main residential quarters of the city. However, in war, the residence of the quarters would be evacuated to the fortress. Tranqueira was divided into a further two parishes, São Tomé and São Estêvão. The parish of S.Tomé was called Campon Chelim (Kampung Keling in Malay). It was described that this area was populated by the Chelis of Choromandel. The other suburb of São Estêvão was also called Campon China (Kampung Cina).Erédia described the houses as made of timber but roofed by tiles. A stone bridge with sentry crosses the river Malacca to provide access to the Malacca Fortress via the eastern Custome House Terrace. The center of trade of the city was also located in Tranqueira near the beach on the mouth of the river called the Bazaar of the Jaos (Jowo/Jawa i.e. Javanese).
In the present day, this part of the city was still called Tengkera.
Yler
Yler (i.e. Hilir) roughly covered Buquet China (Bukit Cina) and the south-eastern coastal area. The Well of Buquet China was one of the important water source for the community. The Church of the Madre De Deus and the Convent of the Capuchins of São Francisco. Another notable landmark included Buquetpiatto (Bukit Piatu). The extreme boundaries of this unwalled suburb were said to be as far as Buquetpipi and Tanjonpacer.Tanjonpacer or Tanjung Pasir (in Malay) was later renamed Ujong Pasir. A settlement of Portuguese descent community is located there in present day Malacca. This suburb of Yler is now known as Banda Hilir. Land reclamations in modern time (for the commercial district of Melaka Raya) however have denied Banda Hilir access to the sea.
Sabba
The houses on this suburb was built on the water edges of the river. Some of the original Muslim Malay inhabitants of Malacca lived in the swamps of Nypeiras tree, where they made Nypa (i.e. Nipah) wine by distillation for trade. This suburb was considered the most rural, being a transition to the Malacca hinterland, where timber and charcoal traffic passed through into the city. Several parishes also lies outside the city along the river; São Lázaro, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Hope, and Muslim Malays farmlands deeper into the hinterland.In later periods of Dutch, British and modern day Malacca, the name of Sabba was made obsolete. However, its area encompassed parts of what is now Banda Kaba, Bunga Raya and Kampung Jawa; the modern city center of Malacca
Portuguese administration of Malacca
Malacca was administered by a Governor (Captains-Major) appointed for three-years, a Bishop and church dignitaries representing the Episcopal See, municipal officers, Royal Officials for finance and justice and a local native BendaharaBendahara
Bendahara is an administrative position within classical Malay kingdoms before the intervention of European powers during the 19th century. A bendahara was appointed by a sultan and was a hereditary post. It was the office that is held by bendahara family...
to administer the native Muslims and foreigners under the Portuguese jurisdiction.
| Captains-major | From | Until |
|---|---|---|
| Rui de Brito Patalim | 1512 | 1514 |
| Jorge de Albuquerque (1st time) | 1514 | 1516 |
| Jorge de Brito | 1516 | 1517 |
| Nuno Vaz Pereira | 1517 | 1518 |
| Afonso Lopes da Costa | 1518 | 1519 |
| Garcia de Sá (1st time) | 1519 | 1521 |
| Jorge de Albuquerque (2nd time) | 1521 | 1525 |
| Pero de Mascarenhas | 1525 | 1526 |
| Jorge Cabral | 1526 | 1528 |
| Pero de Faria | 1528 | 1529 |
See also
- Portuguese Settlement, MalaccaPortuguese Settlement, MalaccaThe Portuguese Settlement is a Kristang community in Ujong Pasir, five km from Malacca City, Malaysia.The Kristang are a Malaysian ethnic group with mixed Portuguese and Malay and for some possibly Indian or Chinese ancestry, which arose during the Portuguese colonial period .In 1933, 11 hectares...
, a contemporary KristangKristang peopleThe Kristang are a creole ethnic group of people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore. People of this ethnicity have strong Dutch heritage, some British as well as Chinese and Indian heritage due to intermarriage, which was common among the Kristang...
community in Malacca