01-06-2005, 09:18 AM
Please move the post as necessary.
<b>The Hindu Kingdom of Malacca</b>
It was Parameswara a fleeing Hindu prince from Acheh, Northern Sumatra that started the Malacca kingdom that later grew to an empire.
After fleeing Sumatra, Parameswara was in Singapore then known as Temasik for a short period. He fled from Temasik and came to Malacca and became its ruler. Either Parameswara (about 1400 AD.) the founder, or his own son, was converted to Islam (about 1414 AD) by marriage to a Pasai ( in Aceh) princess. Aceh was the first part of Sumatra that became Muslim around the
same period due to influence of Arab traders and it was swiftly imposed on the Minangkabau area in central Sumatra where Shaivism and Mahayana Buddhism had flourished in the 14th century. The Batak people of the interior resisted further spread of Islam in Sumatra then.
The real advent of Islam in Malacca began in earnest with the murder of Parameswara's great grandson Sero Parameswara Dewa Shah in a coup de etat by his elder half-brother. This half-brother was born of a Tamil Muslim mother and his Hindu Malay King of Malacca. The half brother became the new Sultan and was known as Raja Kassim. Until then all the Hindu Kings of Malacca were of Malay origin.
Regards.
Pathma
Source:http://www.semabokinn.com/location01.html
How did this great empire come into being? ... About 1400 A.D., the Hindu
ruler Parameswara, of the then insignificant island of Singapore known in
history as Temasek, ran away with a handful of followers after constant
attacks on Singapore by raiders from Majapahit. From the Seletar river,
Parameswara fled to Muar and later moved further north and founded the
kingdom of Malacca in about the year 1402 AD. He became a Muslim when he
married a Princesss of Pasai and took the fashionable Persian title "Shah",
calling himself Iskandar Shah. Records of Admiral Cheng Ho's visit to
Melaka in 1409 indicate that Parameswara was then still ruler of Malacca,
and there are references to the ruler and the people of Malacca as being
already Muslims.
At the beginning of the 15th century, Malacca was just an insignificant
fishing village inhabited by a handful of Malay inhabitants from Singapore
or Temasek, from Muar, Sungei Ujong and by a number of Orang Laut or sea-
gypsies. During that early period of its existence, its rulers were in
constant fear of Thai attacks, and yearly sent forth tahils of gold to the
King of Thailand. Parameswara carried out reforms that made Malacca the
centre of trade in this part of the world. Traders from Java, Sumatra,
Borneo, the Celebes, from the Moluccas, Burma, Siam, Cambodia, India,
Arabia and China traded in the port. He laid laid the foundation of the
Malay court procedures, that were to be adopted by succeeding Malay
royalties all over peninsula in centuries to come. Among these were the
royal regalia of the Nobat, and the custom of having ceremonial white and
yellow umbrellas for royalty. He also started the system of administration
based on a hierarchy of court officials. These chief officials were the
Bendahara (e quivalent to the post of prime minister), Temenggong,
Laksamana (Admiral), Shahbandar (Harbour master), Panglima Perang Darat,
Bentara Dalam and Bentara Luar. Each official had specific responsibilities
in the administration. With this stream lining of administration, trade and
commerce rapidly developed in Malacca.
Chinese chronicles mention that in 1414, the son of the first ruler of
Malacca came to China to inform the Chinese Emperor that his father had
died. A "symbolic" grave of Iskandar Shah is at present worshipped as
a "Keramat" or shrine, near Fort Canning in Singapore. I refer to this
grave as a "symbolic" because it is generally accepted that he died in
Malacca and was buried at Tanjung Tuan, near Port Dickson. His was then
made the second ruler of Malacca by the Chinese Emperor. His name is
believed to have been Megat Iskandar Shah, or Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah,
and he ruled Malacca from 1414 to 1424.
The third ruler of Malacca is known among the Malays as Raja Tengah or
Radin Tengah. He took the title Seri Maharaja but, according to the Sejarah
Melayu, he then embraced Islam and took the title Muhammad Shah. Other
scholars believe this could also have been due to him marrying a Tamil
Muslim wife. On his death, he was succeeded by the son of a Princecess of
Rokan, Raja Ibrahim. By this time, there could have been some tension in
Melaka between the growing Tamil Muslim community and the traditional Hindu
Malays, for Raja Ibrahim does not seem to have embraced the new religion
but instead adopted the title Sri Parameswara Dewa Shah. He ruled for less
than seventeen months - in 1445, he was stabbed to death. He had an elder
half-brother, by a Tamil Muslim mother, called Raja Kasim. He assumed the
throne, taking the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah - signalling a new golden era
for the Melaka Sultanate.
In 1456, Raja Kasim assumed the throne of Melaka after the murder of his
half-brother Raja Ibrahim. This was a momentous turning point in Melaka
history - a real palace revolution. The son of a Sumatran princess who took
a Hinduised title was murdered and replaced by his Muslim half brother, the
son of a Tamil common woman. His Tamil Muslim uncle Tun Ali Sri Nara diraja
was made Bendahara after the Malay Bendahara Sriwa Raja poisoned himself -
either in fear that he was no longer trusted by the ruler or in anguish at
the growing power of the New Guard. Raja Kasim adopted the title Sultan and
called hinself Muzaffar Shah.
The small city state was now to become Sultanate and Empire. Sultan
Muzaffar Shah married the daughter of the dead Bendahara Sriwa Raja, Tun
Kudu. This was a shrewd move, for Tun Kudu's brother was Tun Perak - a man
deeply respected by the Sultan's Malay subjects and a man he knew had the
charisma, ability and courage to build his Empire. To avoid unrest and
civil war, Muzaffar attempted to oust his tamil Bendahara and replace him
with Tun Perak. Tun Ali had a heavy price for resignation - he wanted the
Sultan's wife, Tun Kudu, in marriage. Tun Kudu made the ultimate sacrifice,
divorced the Sultan and her brother was free to shape Melaka history for
the next 40 years and serve as Bendahara under four Sultans.
<b>The Hindu Kingdom of Malacca</b>
It was Parameswara a fleeing Hindu prince from Acheh, Northern Sumatra that started the Malacca kingdom that later grew to an empire.
After fleeing Sumatra, Parameswara was in Singapore then known as Temasik for a short period. He fled from Temasik and came to Malacca and became its ruler. Either Parameswara (about 1400 AD.) the founder, or his own son, was converted to Islam (about 1414 AD) by marriage to a Pasai ( in Aceh) princess. Aceh was the first part of Sumatra that became Muslim around the
same period due to influence of Arab traders and it was swiftly imposed on the Minangkabau area in central Sumatra where Shaivism and Mahayana Buddhism had flourished in the 14th century. The Batak people of the interior resisted further spread of Islam in Sumatra then.
The real advent of Islam in Malacca began in earnest with the murder of Parameswara's great grandson Sero Parameswara Dewa Shah in a coup de etat by his elder half-brother. This half-brother was born of a Tamil Muslim mother and his Hindu Malay King of Malacca. The half brother became the new Sultan and was known as Raja Kassim. Until then all the Hindu Kings of Malacca were of Malay origin.
Regards.
Pathma
Source:http://www.semabokinn.com/location01.html
How did this great empire come into being? ... About 1400 A.D., the Hindu
ruler Parameswara, of the then insignificant island of Singapore known in
history as Temasek, ran away with a handful of followers after constant
attacks on Singapore by raiders from Majapahit. From the Seletar river,
Parameswara fled to Muar and later moved further north and founded the
kingdom of Malacca in about the year 1402 AD. He became a Muslim when he
married a Princesss of Pasai and took the fashionable Persian title "Shah",
calling himself Iskandar Shah. Records of Admiral Cheng Ho's visit to
Melaka in 1409 indicate that Parameswara was then still ruler of Malacca,
and there are references to the ruler and the people of Malacca as being
already Muslims.
At the beginning of the 15th century, Malacca was just an insignificant
fishing village inhabited by a handful of Malay inhabitants from Singapore
or Temasek, from Muar, Sungei Ujong and by a number of Orang Laut or sea-
gypsies. During that early period of its existence, its rulers were in
constant fear of Thai attacks, and yearly sent forth tahils of gold to the
King of Thailand. Parameswara carried out reforms that made Malacca the
centre of trade in this part of the world. Traders from Java, Sumatra,
Borneo, the Celebes, from the Moluccas, Burma, Siam, Cambodia, India,
Arabia and China traded in the port. He laid laid the foundation of the
Malay court procedures, that were to be adopted by succeeding Malay
royalties all over peninsula in centuries to come. Among these were the
royal regalia of the Nobat, and the custom of having ceremonial white and
yellow umbrellas for royalty. He also started the system of administration
based on a hierarchy of court officials. These chief officials were the
Bendahara (e quivalent to the post of prime minister), Temenggong,
Laksamana (Admiral), Shahbandar (Harbour master), Panglima Perang Darat,
Bentara Dalam and Bentara Luar. Each official had specific responsibilities
in the administration. With this stream lining of administration, trade and
commerce rapidly developed in Malacca.
Chinese chronicles mention that in 1414, the son of the first ruler of
Malacca came to China to inform the Chinese Emperor that his father had
died. A "symbolic" grave of Iskandar Shah is at present worshipped as
a "Keramat" or shrine, near Fort Canning in Singapore. I refer to this
grave as a "symbolic" because it is generally accepted that he died in
Malacca and was buried at Tanjung Tuan, near Port Dickson. His was then
made the second ruler of Malacca by the Chinese Emperor. His name is
believed to have been Megat Iskandar Shah, or Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah,
and he ruled Malacca from 1414 to 1424.
The third ruler of Malacca is known among the Malays as Raja Tengah or
Radin Tengah. He took the title Seri Maharaja but, according to the Sejarah
Melayu, he then embraced Islam and took the title Muhammad Shah. Other
scholars believe this could also have been due to him marrying a Tamil
Muslim wife. On his death, he was succeeded by the son of a Princecess of
Rokan, Raja Ibrahim. By this time, there could have been some tension in
Melaka between the growing Tamil Muslim community and the traditional Hindu
Malays, for Raja Ibrahim does not seem to have embraced the new religion
but instead adopted the title Sri Parameswara Dewa Shah. He ruled for less
than seventeen months - in 1445, he was stabbed to death. He had an elder
half-brother, by a Tamil Muslim mother, called Raja Kasim. He assumed the
throne, taking the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah - signalling a new golden era
for the Melaka Sultanate.
In 1456, Raja Kasim assumed the throne of Melaka after the murder of his
half-brother Raja Ibrahim. This was a momentous turning point in Melaka
history - a real palace revolution. The son of a Sumatran princess who took
a Hinduised title was murdered and replaced by his Muslim half brother, the
son of a Tamil common woman. His Tamil Muslim uncle Tun Ali Sri Nara diraja
was made Bendahara after the Malay Bendahara Sriwa Raja poisoned himself -
either in fear that he was no longer trusted by the ruler or in anguish at
the growing power of the New Guard. Raja Kasim adopted the title Sultan and
called hinself Muzaffar Shah.
The small city state was now to become Sultanate and Empire. Sultan
Muzaffar Shah married the daughter of the dead Bendahara Sriwa Raja, Tun
Kudu. This was a shrewd move, for Tun Kudu's brother was Tun Perak - a man
deeply respected by the Sultan's Malay subjects and a man he knew had the
charisma, ability and courage to build his Empire. To avoid unrest and
civil war, Muzaffar attempted to oust his tamil Bendahara and replace him
with Tun Perak. Tun Ali had a heavy price for resignation - he wanted the
Sultan's wife, Tun Kudu, in marriage. Tun Kudu made the ultimate sacrifice,
divorced the Sultan and her brother was free to shape Melaka history for
the next 40 years and serve as Bendahara under four Sultans.