Old Malacca

Book excerpt: Beginning as a fishing settlement long before Parameswara, a renegade prince from Palembeng in Sumatra, arrived in about the year 1400, Malacca was to become one of the world's greatest trading centres, `crammed so full of all kinds of goods that they almost flowed into the river itself' and astrategic port. Its location attracted merchants from China, the East Indies, India and the Persian Gulf, and gave Malacca fame, wealth, and prestige under the Malay sultanate of which it became the centre in its golden age of the fifteenth century.Brought under European control by the Portuguese in 1511, it was captured by the Dutch in 1641 and remained under the Netherlands East Indies Company until 1795 when it was acquired by the British. Finally, Malacca fell into decline as it was overshadowed by the newly established ports of Penangand Singapore.Drawing on travellers' tales, contemporary chronicles, and the work of modern historians, this book introduces the reader to old Malacca and to some of the personalities connected with its history. It concludes with a chapter on modern Malacca and its efforts to build a future and reclaim itspast.