Exploring Malaysia 
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
According to historical records, an exiled prince from Sumatra named Parameswara, discovered Melaka, in 1396. As the story goes, he sought sanctuary in a humble fishing village and decreed that a city be built where he stood. He named it Melaka after the Melaka tree. Melaka which commands a central position on the Straits of Melaka flourished as a port between East and West, with merchants and ships from China, India, Europe and Arabia flocking there to trade in exotic wares like spices and silks, gold, tea, opium, tobacco and perfume.
Melaka’s came and fortune drew the attention of many including expansionist Europeans with the Portuguese becoming the first to conquer it in 1511, and subsequently in 1641, to the Dutch. In 1795, the English took control of the empire to prevent it from falling to the French when the Netherlands was captured during the French Revolution. It was returned to the Dutch in 1818 under the Treaty of Vienna but was later exchanged by the British for Bencoleen in Sumatra. From 1826 it was ruled by the English East India Company, which also controlled Singapore and Penang under the Straits Settlement administration. It eventually became part of Malaya and subsequently Malaysia, which was officially declared independent of British rule in 1957. Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, proclaimed the nation’s Independence at Padang Pahlawan in Bandar Hilir, Melaka, on Feb 20, 1956.
Today Malaka's population of slightly more than half a million people (713,000 in 2005) is a fascinating mix of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Portuguese descendants, Straits-born Chinese (Nyonya and Baba), Chittys (descendants of Indians who intermarried with local women) and Eurasians (mainly blend of Portuguese and Dutch with locals).
