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Most people judge the 'glory' of an Empire by its conquests.Melaka was certainly an imperial power and had its share of conquests.It dominated almost the whole of the peninsula and the eastern coast ofSumatra. But not all of these 'conquests' were done by warshipsbristling with cannon and filled with men armed to the teeth withkrises, spears and swords, led by heroic laksamanas. Some lands wereacquired by marriage. Some kingdoms actually begged to be vassal states- for protection against bigger enemies. Some were prizes fromsuccessful wars with the two exisitng regional powers - Siam andMajapahit. Melaka's fleet was not very large - just large enough tohave full control of the Straits and small enough not to antagonise itsmuch bigger, more established Siamese and Majapahit neighbours. Interms of trade, it was certainly the centre of commerce in SoutheastAsia - the largest marketplace in the world for goods from India andthe West, China and the Spice islands.

But Melaka's greatest glory was not in its miltary prowess orits prosperity and riches - it was in the flowering of Malay culture,literature and society. It was a remarkably cosmpolitan society -Malays, Muslim Indians, Hindus, Chinese, Javanese, Turks, Arabs,Burmese, Siamese, all flocked to share in its peace, stability andprosperity. The stories (some myth, some historical) of the SejarahMelayu, Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Tun Teja, have lasted 500 years ofpersecution and suppression by foreign powers and colonial rule. It wasthe first and most memorable civilisation to have emerged from thepeninsula - and none have equalled it since - and the first trulynational identity, in the modern sense of the word, the peninsula had.The spirit of Melaka still exerts its influence today.

How did this great empire come into being?

About 1400 A.D., the Hindu ruler Parameswara, of the theninsignificant island of Singapore known in history as Temasek, ran awaywith a handful of followers after constant attacks on Singapore byraiders from Majapahit. From the Seletar river, Parameswara fled toMuar and later moved further north and founded the kingdom of Malaccain about the year 1402 AD. He became a Muslim when he married aPrincesss of Pasai and took the fashionable Persian title "Shah",calling himself Iskandar Shah. Records of Admiral Cheng Ho's visit toMelaka in 1409 indicate that Parameswara was then still ruler ofMalacca, and there are references to the ruler and the people ofMalacca as being already Muslims.

At the beginning of the 15th century, Malacca was just aninsignificant fishing village inhabited by a handful of Malayinhabitants from Singapore or Temasek, from Muar, Sungei Ujong and by anumber of Orang Laut or sea-gypsies. During that early period of itsexistence, its rulers were in constant fear of Thai attacks, and yearlysent forth tahils of gold to the King of Thailand. Parameswara carriedout reforms that made Malacca the centre of trade in this part of theworld. Traders from Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the Celebes, from theMoluccas, Burma, Siam, Cambodia, India, Arabia and China traded in theport. He laid laid the foundation of the Malay court procedures, thatwere to be adopted by succeeding Malay royalties all over peninsula incenturies to come. Among these were the royal regalia of the Nobat, andthe custom of having ceremonial white and yellow umbrellas for royalty.He also started the system of administration based on a hierarchy ofcourt officials. These chief officials were the Bendahara (equivalentto the post of prime minister), Temenggong, Laksamana (Admiral),Shahbandar (Harbour master), Panglima Perang Darat, Bentara Dalam andBentara Luar. Each official had specific responsibilities in theadministration. With this stream lining of administration, trade andcommerce rapidly developed in Malacca.

Chinese chronicles mention that in 1414, the son of the firstruler of Malacca came to China to inform the Chinese Emperor that hisfather had died. A "symbolic" grave of Iskandar Shah is at presentworshipped as a "Keramat" or shrine, near Fort Canning in Singapore. Irefer to this grave as a "symbolic" because it is generally acceptedthat he died in Malacca and was buried at Tanjung Tuan, near PortDickson. His was then made the second ruler of Malacca by the ChineseEmperor. His name is believed to have been Megat Iskandar Shah, orSultan Megat Iskandar Shah, and he ruled Malacca from 1414 to 1424.

The third ruler of Malacca is known among the Malays as RajaTengah or Radin Tengah. He took the title Seri Maharaja but, accordingto the Sejarah Melayu, he then embraced Islam and took the titleMuhammad Shah. Other scholars believe this could also have been due tohim marrying a Tamil Muslim wife. On his death, he was succeeded by theson of a Princecess of Rokan, Raja Ibrahim. By this time, there couldhave been some tension in Melaka between the growing Tamil Muslimcommunity and the traditional Hindu Malays, for Raja Ibrahim does notseem to have embraced the new religion but instead adopted the titleSri Parameswara Dewa Shah. He ruled for less than seventeen months - in1445, he was stabbed to death. He had an elder half-brother, by a TamilMuslim mother, called Raja Kasim. He assumed the throne, taking thename Sultan Mudzafar Shah - signalling a new golden era for the MelakaSultanate.