CHAPTER I9

THE MALAY POWERS FROM THE FALL OF MALACCA

(ISII) TO THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
ToME PIRES, who came to Malacca in the year after its conquest by
Albuquerque, describes conditions there and throughout the Penin-
sula in the sixth book of his Suma Oriental. He says that from Malacca
up to Kedah are the tin lands, all of them previously subject to its
sultan. In describing them he mentions Sungei Jugra, Selangor,
Klang, Bernam, Mimjam, Bruas and a village called Perak. To the
south are Muar and Singapore, the latter of which, he says, consists
of only a few villages of Cellates, and is 'nothing much'. On the east
coast, he says, Pahang and its tributary state Trengganu are in the
land of Siam; but Pahang is also in the empire of Malacca and con-
stantly at war with the Siamese.
When Sultan Mahmud lost the battle for Malacca he and his son
fled across country to Pahang, whence he sent an emissary to China
beseeching aid against the Portuguese. The Ming emperor, however,
pleaded that with a war against the Tartars on his hands he was in no
position to fight the Portuguese. Mahmud therefore had to search
for a site for a new capital where he could re-establish his sway over
the Peninsula and be reasonably safe from the Portuguese. His first
settlement was at Sayong Pinang on the upper reaches of a tributary
of the Johore river. This turned out to be too far from the sea, and in
I52I he removed to the island of Bintaog, south-east of Singapore.
Here, however, he was repeatedly attacked by the Portuguese. In
I 52 3 and I 524 he beat them off with heavy loss, and even sent a force
to lay siege to Malacca.
But in 1526 the Portuguese counter-attacked, destroyed his capital
and gave the island to the Raja of Lingga. Mahmud himself fled to
Kampar in Sumatra, where he died in I528. His younger son
Ala'ud-din succeeded him and planted his capital on the Johore
river. There for a time he was a serious thorn in the flesh of
the Portuguese, until at last in 1536 Dom Estavao da Gama led
an expedition which forced him to make peace and take up his
residence at Muar.

D. G. E. Hall, A History of South-East Asia

© D. G. E. Hall 1981
CH. 19 THE MALAY POWERS FROM THE FALL OF MALACCA

In the meantime his elder brother Muzaffar Shah had made his
way up to Perak, where he founded the dynasty which still reigns
there. For a time Perak, Johore and Pahang were content to remain
on friendly terms with the Portuguese. They were watching with
considerable alarm the rapidly rising power of Acheh, on the north-
western tip of Sumatra, which under Sultan Ali Mughayat Shah had
gained control over the pepper ports of Pedir and Pasai and was carry-
ing on a rich trade with Gujerat and China. Under his son Ala'ud-din
Ri'ayat Shah (153o-68) Acheh became the tough rival of Portuguese
Malacca and for many years made repeated efforts to capture the city.
Her ambitious policy threatened not only Malacca but also the Malay
states of Sumatra and the Peninsula. The Portuguese drove off a
surprise attack in 1537. Two years later the Achinese fleet captured
Deli in Sumatra. In reply J ohore, together with Perak and the
Sumatran state of Siak, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the upstart
power.
The Achinese setback was only a temporary one. By 1547 they had
recovered sufficiently to launch another attack on Malacca. It came
perilously near to success, and their Malay rivals were tempted to try
their hand at the game. The combined fleet of J ohore, Perak and
Pahang sailed into the Muar estuary and waited to see what the out-
come of the struggle with the Achinese would be. When the Portu-
guese at last beat off the Sumatran flotilla the Malay fleet sailed away.
In 1551 it returned and for three months laid siege to Malacca. An
attempt to storm the city was repelled with such determination that
it was not repeated. In the end the Portuguese forced the besieging
fleet to give up the enterprise by sending a fleet to harry the home
harbours of the allies.
Acheh's bid for dominance over the Malay world assumed formid-
able proportions before the death of the second of the great sultans,
Ala'ud-din Ri'ayat Shah, in 1568. He built up a league of states against
the Portuguese, obtained gunners, guns and ammunition from Turkey,
and amassed a bigger fighting force than ever before. Before striking
at Malacca he dealt a staggering blow to his rival, the Sultan of Johore.
In 1564 his armada sacked Johore Lama and took away Sultan
Ala'ud-din a captive to Sumatra. For some years after this a bitter
feud raged between J ohore and Acheh, and J ohore swung over to the
Portuguese side. So much so that in 1568, when Acheh's great attack
was made on Malacca, the Portuguese sought Johore's aid. This was
granted, but when the J ohore fleet of sixty vessels arrived the Portu-
guese had already beaten off the Achinese. By way of retaliation an