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Malacca

Type Object Region Asia Time c. 1400–1511

Malacca, at the throat of the Strait of Malacca at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, was Southeast Asia's most important international trade p…

Timeline

  1. c. 1400–1450Malacca River mouth · Malay PeninsulaParameswara (also called Balamusura) founded the Malacca kingdom here, developing the port using the strait's monsoon and channel advantages. Early contacts with Ming China were established through tribute and trade, attracting merchants from surrounding regions to anchor.
  2. 1450–1500Malacca · MalaysiaUnder Sultan Mansur Shah (r. 1459–1477) the city expanded into an international commercial port, implementing tariffs and port administration, with Islam as the state religion. Trading houses from Gujarat, Arabia, China, and Java lined the city, whose population exceeded 50,000.
  3. 1501–1510Malacca · MalaysiaMalacca remained a key transshipment point for eastern spices bound for the Indian Ocean and Europe. Portuguese explorers had begun penetrating the Indian Ocean; Sultan Mahmud Shah reigned, the city maintained prosperity, but faced strategic pressure from western maritime powers advancing eastward.
  4. 1510–1511Malacca · MalaysiaIn 1511 Afonso de Albuquerque led a Portuguese fleet to besiege and capture Malacca, ending the Malacca Sultanate. The port passed into the European colonial trade system, marking a major turning point in Southeast Asia's traditional maritime commercial order.

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