In the C16th, the Portuguese apothecary Tome Pires, in a document considered so secret it was hidden for hundreds of years, described Melaka (also known as Malacca):
"Melaka is a city that was made for merchandise, fitter than any other in the world, the end of monsoons and the beginning of others. Melaka is surrounded and lies in the middle, and the trade and commerce between the different nations for a thousand leagues on every hand must come to Melaka."
The conquest of Melaka by the Portuguese led to its creation as great emporium of trade in subsequent centuries. Today, it remains a vital part of trading patterns in the region and the Malacca Straits are regarded as of considerable strategic importance. Yet its genesis was not entirely promising. As Ma Huan describes the city in its early years, during his voyages with the great Chinese admiral Cheng Ho:
"On the south-east of the country is the great sea; on the north-west the sea-shore adjoins the mountains. All is sandy, saltish land. The climate is hot by day, cold by night. The fields are infertile and the crops poor; the people seldom practice agriculture.
There is one large river whose waters flow down past the front of the king's residence to enter the sea; over which river the king has constructed a wooden bridge, on which are built more than twenty bridge-pavilions, all the trading in every article takes place on this [bridge]."
Even before irrigation had enabled rice planting to begin, the discovery and production of tin had stimulated the growth of trading in Melaka. Crucially, the presence of tin enabled local traders to have goods of their own to offer so that the town, as it then was, did not just represent an entrepôt area which could be transferred elsewhere when a more attractive offering provided itself.
The city was reputedly founded by the prince Parameswara, who was previously ensconced in a city in South Sumatra on the River Musi. He rebelled against his Javanese overlords and, defeated, fled to Tai controlled Temasek, where he was given refuge. Despite this, Parameswara managed to kill and displace the ruler of Temasek but had to flee again when a Tai army was dispatched to bring him to justice. This time he ran northwards and found the estuary of the River Bertam which, free from mangroves, he deemed suitable for the founding of a new trade emporium.
The conquest of Melaka by the Portuguese led to its creation as great emporium of trade in subsequent centuries. Today, it remains a vital part of trading patterns in the region and the Malacca Straits are regarded as of considerable strategic importance. Yet its genesis was not entirely promising. As Ma Huan describes the city in its early years, during his voyages with the great Chinese admiral Cheng Ho:
There is one large river whose waters flow down past the front of the king's residence to enter the sea; over which river the king has constructed a wooden bridge, on which are built more than twenty bridge-pavilions, all the trading in every article takes place on this [bridge]."
Even before irrigation had enabled rice planting to begin, the discovery and production of tin had stimulated the growth of trading in Melaka. Crucially, the presence of tin enabled local traders to have goods of their own to offer so that the town, as it then was, did not just represent an entrepôt area which could be transferred elsewhere when a more attractive offering provided itself.
The city was reputedly founded by the prince Parameswara, who was previously ensconced in a city in South Sumatra on the River Musi. He rebelled against his Javanese overlords and, defeated, fled to Tai controlled Temasek, where he was given refuge. Despite this, Parameswara managed to kill and displace the ruler of Temasek but had to flee again when a Tai army was dispatched to bring him to justice. This time he ran northwards and found the estuary of the River Bertam which, free from mangroves, he deemed suitable for the founding of a new trade emporium.
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