Shah) now ruled the people, because his father was very old, and in order to avail
himself of the sea through which he hoped to attain eminence, he resolved to make
Malaca a city, to which he gave this name in memory of the banishment of his father
from his native country. For, in his own language (Javanese) it means an exile
(homem desterrado), and hence, also, the people call themselves Malaios.”—Decade 1,
Book 6, Chap. 1. In the Commentaries of Alboquerque, the founding and naming of
the town are ascribed, not to the son, but to the 'fugitive Javanese himself, and the
account they give is this. “ Parimisura gave the town the name of Malaka,
because, in the language of Java, they call Palimbao (Palembang, which the writer in
another place says is in Java, instead of Sumatra), to which he fled, Malayo, and
because he came a fugitive from the kingdom of Palimbao, of which he was king, he
named the place Malaca. Others say it was called Malaca on account of the many
peoples that came to it from one or other country in so brief a time, for Malaca
also means to meet or assemble (encontrar).”
In the Javanese language the word malayu signifies not only Malay, but also “ to
run,” and “ a fugitive;” and this is, no doubt, the source of the derivation at which
the Portuguese writers, imperfectly instructed by their informers, were aiming, while
in all probability Malacca, from a certain similarity of sound, is made to be a derivative
from Malayu. The derivation of the name of the Malay people, from the
Javanese verb “ to run,” or its participle, “ fugitive,” is very likely only fanciful, yet
it is more reasonable than that of the Malayan manuscript adopted by Mr. Marsden,
which traces it from “ the river Malayu, which flows by the mountain Maha-meru,”
seeing that no such river as the Malayu is known in Sumatra, to which it is thus
ascribed, and that the mountain alluded to is no other than the Olympus of Hindu
mythology.
The great probability, then, is, that the founders, both of Malacca and Singapore,
were not Malays, but Javanese, the only nation that, in comparatively early times, is
proved by monuments to have attained such an amount of civilisation as would be
equal to the formation of commercial communities of a reasonable prosperity. This
view receives some countenance from the numbers, wealth, and consequence of the
Javanese settlers of Malacca at the time of the conquest. De Barros states that they
were Bubject only to their own chiefs, two in number, one of which had under his
authority 10,000 persons. He gives the names of these chiefs, and even enumerates
the provinces of Java from which they emigrated. The Malays, whether “men of
the sea,” or “ men of the land,” were either half savage and very rude, as, indeed,
are those among them who continue their original modes of life, down to this
day. The foundation of the civilisation which they eventually attained was laid by
the first Javanese colonists, and improved and extended by intercourse with the maritime
nations of Arabia, Persia, and Hindustan.
But the language of the people of Malacca was not Javanese but Malay, and it may
be asked how this is to be accounted for. The obvious explanation seems to be that
in a mixed population the easy language of the majority prevailed over the more
difficult one of the minority. What took place in our own country, and also in
northern India, in both of which the languages of the few were absorbed or displaced
by those of the many, are examples in illustration. Castaghneda’s account of the
Malay, as a language of intercommunication, is perfectly accurate. “ The people ”
(of Malacca), says he, “ speak a language called Malaya, which is very sweet (muy
doce), and easy to acquire.”—Vol. ii. p. 335. The Malay spoken at Malacca contains
a large infusion of Javanese, as English does of Horman-French, and Hindi of
Persian.
Of the supposed expulsion of the founders of Malacca from Singapore by the
Javanese of Majapait, there is no allusion in the Portuguese writers, and certainly
there is no mention of it in the native chronicles of Java. Both De Barros and the
author of the Commentaries of Alboquerque, state that the expulsion was effected by
the Siamese, and the latter expressly asserts that the prince of Patani, at present the
next Malay state to Siam on the eastern side of the peninsula, was the instrument
employed, as he was the brother of the king of Singapore who had been assassinated
by the future founder of Malacca. The subjection of Malacca to Siam seems, indeed,
to be admitted by all parties. Four of the most northerly of the states of the
peninsula are still subject to it, while a claim of supremacy is made for, at least,
three more. The author of the Commentaries of Alboquerque giving a greater
extension to Malacca than De Barros, thus describes it and its subjection to Siam.
“ The kingdom of Malacca on one side borders on Queda, and on the other on Pam
(Pahang). I t has 100 leagues of coast, and inland extends to a chain of mountains
where it is parted from Siam, a breadth of 10 leagues All this land was ancicntly
(Sultans)f which among the«, i . <•
^ f ’th tu nS h f'w h ich theMahommediHi religion was embraced hy the t i f f » *
Oi the time inw statement. The Malay account assigns the event to the
S ° o f a prince, called Sultan Mahomed Shah, who ascended the throne in 1276,
andrthis seems probable, since so remarkable an event is likely enough to have been
chronicled (as indeed it has been in other countries of the Archipelago), by a people
proud of the event, and now in possession of an era to reckon by. The Javanese
founders might, indeed, have possessed the era of Salivana, but certainly no mention
s made of ft in this case if they did. The statement of De Barros respecting the
conversion is as follows : “ The greatness of Malacca induced the kings, who followed
Xaquem Darsa (Sekandar Shah), to throw off their dependency on the kings of Siam,
and this chiefly, since the time when induced by the Persians and Gujrati Moors, w o
came to Malacca and resided there, for the purpose of trade, from Gentiles, to
become converts to the sect of Mahoinmed.”—Decade II., book vi. chap. 1.
The amount given by the Portuguese historian Diogo De Cauto differs materially
from all the other statements. He says that the conversion of the King of Malacca
was effected by a cazee from Arabia, who gave him the name of Mahommed after the
prophet adding that of s5 (shah) to it, and that this took place m the year 1388,
or 112 years later than the date assigned to this event by the Malay manuscript.
Including the converted prince, he gives the names of the five kings who reigned
down to Alboquerqne’s conquest, and these agree substantially with those of the
other statements. This account, then, which would give from 22 to 23 years to each
reign is, after all, perhaps, the most probable. Decade IV. book ii. chap 1.
The flourishing condition of Malacca, at the time it was attacked by the Portuguese,
has no doubt, been much exaggerated, but making every abatement, enough will
remain to show that it was a place of considerable commercial importance, judging
it by the ideas of the beginning of the 16th century, and by the peculiar value then
attached to some of the commodities of which its trade consisted. <cIn matters of
trade,” says De Barros, “ tbe people (the Malays) are artful and expert, for, in general,
they have to deal with such nations as the Javanese, the Siamese, the Peguans, the
Bengallis, the Quelijo (Chulias or Talugus), Malabaris, Gujratis, Persians and Arabians,
with many other people, whose residence here has made them very sagacious. Moreover,
the city is also populous; owing to the ships that resort to it from the country
of the Chijs (Chinese), the Lequios (Japanese), the Lujoes (people of Luzon in the
Philippines), and other nations of the Orient. All these people bring so much
wealth, both of the East and the West, that Malacca seems a centre at which are
assembled all the natural products of the earth and all the artificial ones of man.
On this account, although situated in a barren land, it is, through an interchange of
commodities, more amply supplied with every thing than the countries themselves
from which they come.” Decade II. book vi. chap. i.
The same author, in the same place, describes the general aspect of the town as
follows. “ Our people, although they did not see majestic structures of stone and
mortar, or ramparts, or towers, or, indeed, any other kind of defence, beheld, notwithstanding,
a town, extending along the beach for a good league, and ranged along
the shore, many merchant vessels. But if the town was almost entirely built of
wood, and the houses thatched with palm-leaves, in other places there were towers,
walls, and some examples of a better architecture. Its real defences were a numerous
people, and a multitude of ships.”
The account given of Malacca by the author of the Commentaries of Alboquerque
is less moderate. Thus, he asserts that the predecessor of the last king had accumulated
a treasure of 140 quintals of gold, and that the town, in his time, contained
40.000 dwellings (vezinhos). According to him, it contained, including its precincts,
100.000 dwellings, when Alboquerque attacked it. “ It is truly believed,” says he,
“ according to the information we have of Malacca, that if another world and other
navigations were discovered, all parties would still resort to it, for here come every
sort of drugs and spices of the world that can be named, because its port is the most
convenient in all monsoons of any from and within Cape Comorin.” Chap. 18.
Castaghneda’s account is less extravagant. “ The city,” says he, “ at the time of its
capture, was as long as from Dexobragas to the monastery of Belem, but narrow. It
might contain about 30,000 hearths (fogos). The river divides it into two parts, the