Slide 1

A presentation for Malaysian Studies by Prem and Thenivaalaven Vimal

Slide 2

Why did the Portuguese take interest in it?

Slide 3 • Silk Road – Malacca is situated in

between the famous Silk Road
that connects the West and China
• Sea Route: Malacca is also in the
middle of the sea route between
the East and the West, and in the
shallower seas of the Malacca
Straits
• A Strong Entreport nation: A
nation that is built on being a
trade-driven nation whereby it
facilitates merchants to trade
their goods and obtain raw
materials from the nearby Agraria
nations
• Malacca has strong civil and legal
structure. Hukum Kanun Melaka
(Constitutional Punishment Laws),
largely based on Muslim idealogy,
provides national Governance and
 security while the Maritime Laws
(Undang=Undang Laut Melaka)
provide protection and facilitation
for traders, merchants and
travellers
• Military Might and Territories”:
Malacca has a strong military,
primarily founded by Tun Perak,
that helped strengthen Malacca
interna;; yand externally. Malacca
also increased its territories by
military, submittance and
marriage royal marriage
• Malacca has a very strategic
locations. Apart from the
aforementioned, Malacca is
protected from Monsoon and
Seasonal Winds and Tides by
being situated in between
Titiwangsa Mountain Range and
the Sumatran Peninsula.
• International Support. Malacca
had inherent enemies from
neighboring countries, making it
requiring a stronger force than its
own to avoid bloodshed. As a
result, Malacca has good
diplomatic ties with China,
whereby royal marriages and
Bunga Emas have been
instrumental to maintain such a
relationship. Territories under
Malacca also need to pay tribute
to the Sultanate annually as well
Slide 4 Arabia, Persia, China, India, Japan,
Indonesia, Ceylon, and Bengal.

Slide 5

The Power that ended Malacca’s independence

Slide 6 The First European Nation to come to

the East and Malacca.
Trade: Portuguese, a western nation
at the time, needed spice. Apart from
its uses in cooking, spice enables the
earlier forms of preservation and
when ingested during winter, it keeps
them warm. At the time, spice was
primarily produced by Agraria Nations
in the East and monopolized by the
Eastern merchants. Apart from
wanting to tap into the spice market,
the Portuguese, as most East-looking
nation at the moment, were looking
for a way to end the Eastern
Merchant’s monopoly and take over
the spice trade themselves
Religion: The West was and
considerably still is a primarily
Christian area. Ever since their loss in
the Crusade, the Western have still
had vengeance in their hearts. And
so, in coming to the East, they hoped
to spread Christianity to the
‘barbarians’ in the East, as per case
study the result of the Spanish
Occupation of the Philippines.
Anyway, in addition to that, they were
also in search of a mythical prophet
or priest that they believed had the
power to end the Islamic teachings,
and they came to the East to look for
him
Royal Encouragement. Portugal was
pretty much a monarchial nation back
then, making the King’s wish as Law.
King Manuel encouraged Portuguese
sailors to sail to the East and find
further unknown places and gold
back to Portugal. He also wished that
Portugal is to be a powerful nation by
having sole control of the East. In any
event, without King Manuel’s
encouragement, Portugal could not
have claimed the glory of being the
first European nation in the East.
Pride. One of the seven sins, Portugal
direly wished pride for its nation. For
in the West of the time, there was
steep competition between Western
nations. Spain, Portugal, Dutch and so
on were all wealthy nations, but were
locked in political competition for the
most territories, wealth and so on. As
a result, Portugal wished pride and
glory from the East in the forms of
Religion, Trade and Territories.
Slide 7 Left: Lopez de Sequira, middle: an old
map of Ancient Malacca, right:
Why and How this Historic Event took place
Alfonso de Albuquerque

Slide 8 Sultan Mahmud can be credited as

the cause of Malacca’s fall from grace.
Old and single at the time, he lacked
wisdom and relied on the Governance
of Pembesar and Bendahara to supply
him endless wealth. However, he was
a man that was easily manipulated
and envious. He was envious when
Tun Mutahir married his only
daughter to another person rather
than to him, the Sultan. This lead to
Tun Mutahir’s death. He also fell to
Tun Mutahir’s words that the
Portuguese were not to be trusted
and ordered Lopez de Sequira’s
entourage to Malacca, despite
warmly welcoming them beforehand.

At the time, there were high amount

of corruption and feud amongst the
Malacca royalty. Pembesars would
stake claims on various taxes
unchecked by the Sultan, and the
appointment of Tun Mutahir as the
Bendahara, a powerful position
similar to the Prime Minister of today,
though the Sultan has higher power
still, sparked the ire of Muslim
Pembesars as Tun Mutahir was an
Tamil Muslim. This lead to the decline
of merchant arrival from two of
Malacca’s main protection and
income: India and China.
 Sultan Mahmud, acting blindly on Tun
Mutahir’s counsel, ordered the
Portuguese entourage to be arrested
immediately. This lead to most of the
entourage be captured, even the
second-in-command Officer Ruy de
Araujo. Lopez de Sequiera, however,
managed to escape to Goa, and when
news reached Lisbon, the fall of
Malacca was set in stone

Slide 9

Slide 10

Arrival of Lopez de Sequira’s convoy

Arrest of the convoy, notably of the second-

in-command Officer Ruy de Araujo

Escape of Lopez de Sequeira and few

Portuguese to Goa

Murder of Tun Mutahir

Wrath of Portugal is amassed and unleashed

Slide 11

Slide 12 • Release the Portuguese prisoners

• Compensation
• Permission to build a Portuguese
base in Malacca

The Sultan denied the demands.

However, the Malacca Sultanate’s
defenses was already breached.
Ruy de Araujo, a captive in
Malacca, however, was a man of
battles and wars as well, and by a
close network of spies and aiders,
he managed to slip out
information regarding Malacca’s
plan of action and strength.

History is a bit blur here. Documents

were discovered to show that
Sultan Mahmud later agreed to
released the captive prisoners,
however, it is unknown whether
this was after the attack by the
Portuguese or before. In any
event, Alfonso de Albuquerque
did not deem enough and
continued with the attack.

The Portuguese received unexpected

help. The Chinese and Indian
merchants provided tong kangs to
enable the Portuguese to invade
much easier.
 In the beginning, the Portuguese
attack managed to siege the
bridge that linked main Malacca
and the Port side. However,
Malacca had the hometown and
number advantage, and drove
them back. However, this only
made the lesser in number but far
equipped and experienced
Portuguese to go all out. They
returned for a second attempt
with far more ferocity and blind
fury. Their attempt was successful,
and the Sultan fled.

Slide 13

Malacca
Portuguese
Sultanate

Slide 14

What does this event mean to us?

Slide 15

The Birth
of Kaum
Serani

Western
Adaptation in
language, arts,
culture,
architecture, etc.

The pathway
The end of the for the
glorious and
colonization of
century-old
Malacca Malay the Dutch
Sultanate other Western
Powers

The birth of
A historical
the Johor and
reference to
Nationalism
Perak Malay
Sultanate

Slide 16

Slide 17
Slide 18

 Yew, C. W. 2002. Revisi Intensif Merit PMR

Sejarah. Petaling Jaya: Sasbadi Sdn. Bhd.

Slide 19 Nope, there is the Dutch