The Suma Oriental Tome Pires

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from the Portuguese MS liofnhqus Ite la Bhambre dw IYbputs, Paris,
TOME PIRES
Ih'WOWNT OF THE EAST, FROM THE RED SEA TO CHINA, WE$TTEN IN M&ACCA AND INDIA IN
1512-1515
AND
THE BOOK OF
FRANCISCO RODRIGUES
t
L
?lLS)T-MAJRR OF 'IREARMADA THAT DISCO~D BANDAANDTHE WOLUCW

EWTELt O F AVOYAGE tN.'IRERED S E & NAUTICALRULM,
HXANAEAMDMAPS, WRITTEN AND DUWN IN EASTBEFmEl$15
EDITED BY
i f
ARMANDO CORTESAO
IN 2 VOLUMES VOL. I1
ASIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

NEW DELHI
* CHENNAI * 2005
Scanned for the Sejarah Melayu Library http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/

SUMA ORIENTAL
WHICH GOES FROM THE RED SEA TO CHINA
COMPILED BY TOME PZRES
[SIXTH BOOK]
O F MALACCA
marly history-Neighbouring Lands-Native Administmtion-Trade-Portuguese Occupation]
[EARLY RISTORYJ
HIS is the begiinning of the town of Malacca, according to varic.ue authors, and
the tmth i s gathered from what
titmuldnot be
' + e d ,
wilI fmd here a vast 6Jd for m m h and w n . +29

230 TOM^ P I R E S this way, which is set down in their Lhmnicle and whichis widely
confirmed by them. The Javanese a h that in the year 1360to convert their dates to
ours-there was a king in Java called Raja Quda, which means 'King of the horses',
who had a son called Raja Baya, alias Sam Agy Jaya Baya, which in the Javanese
language means 'Great lord of nations'. This one had a son called Sam Ajy Dmdm
Gimdox, which means 'Greater than his predecessors' in the said language; and this
one had a son called Sam Ajy Jaya Taton, which means 'Lord of all'. This Sum Agy
Jaya Taton died without sons, and the people together set up two chief mandarins
pnd made one king and changed his name of Sam Agy, and he was called Batara, which
means ' P u n king'. This Batma Tm~tl'111 had a son' whom they called Biatura
Cm;Pmr,who succeeded to the kingdom of Java. In his time a quarter of the land of
Java rose up in revolt, and a mandarin' rose up and called himself Biatara
Caripanan Cud4 as will be told in the proper place. This Batara Curipan, in whose
time a quarter of the land of Java was lost, had a son who succeeded in his place
and was afterwards called Baturam MatarZ, and he was a great man of justice. And he
had a son whom they called Bataram Sinagara, and they say that this one was mad and
the kingdom was given to one of his sons, who was called Bataram Matard like his
grandfather. This Bat@&MatarZm had a son who is reigning in Java in our time, who
is called Batmo Y@qia, which means 'The great wise hig'. His captain is the Guste
Pate as will be told at length in the description of Java. The Javanese say that in
the time of Batma Toma~lZ, ring of the lands and lord of the isles, he had as
tributaries: Sam Agy Simgapura who was king of that channel, hi tributary and
vassal, and it ir -bout two hundred and forty leagues from Java to Singapore among
the islands; and that Sum Agi Palimbado-which means 'Lord of all'-was also his
tributary vassal, and it is about a hundred leagues from Palembang (PalimbaZo)to
Java and almost open sea (this is taking the longest distance; because the nearer
'Batamtarnure1 (? Batara of Turnspel)'. Wmstedt, p. 38. See note an Batara
Vo$aya,p. 1 7 4 .
'

MALACCA
23
'
way, bordering on Sunda, is about twenty leagues); and Sam Agy Tamjompura-which
means 'Lord of the precious stones1- was also his tributary vassal, and it is
almost seventy leagues from Java to Tmnjompura. This is the land of diamonds. When
Sam Agi Pdimba2o died, he left a son, a great knight and a very warlike man, whom
they called Paramjpra, which means 'The bravest man' in the Palembang Javanese
tongue. He w a s married to a niece of Batma Tamarill who was called Paramjyure~,
and when he realised how nobly he was married and how great was his power in the
neighbouring islands which were under his brother-in-law's jurisdiction, he rose
against the vassalage and obedience and called himself the Great Exempt. When
Batara Tammill, king of Java, received the news that POI.164". Sam Agy PalimbZo had
changed his name and called himself Mjgura which means 'Exempt', he decided to
descend on him with his power and the help of the king of Tanjong Puting, and take
the land of Palembang from him and kill and destroy him. Having decided this he
coIlected his people in ships and bore down upon the island of Banka which is next
to Palembang and destroyed it, and they say that he killed everyone there because
they were Palembang people, and that he must have killed a thousand inhabitants of
the said island; and from there he went to Palembang, which must be a league or two
away, and began to lay waste the places; and when Paramjgura, king of Palembang,
saw this, he collected about a thousand men and their wives in junks and lancharas,
and embarked them, and he stayed on land with about six thousand men to give battle
to ths king of Java, his brother-in-law. After both sides had engaged in battle,
Paramjfiura fled and took refuge in the junks and fleet he had in the river, and
all the I, people he had to defend him fell into the hands of his brotherin-law,
and [he had] only the people who had embarked with him. He sailed to Singapore
where he arrived with his junks and I people, where he was received by the Sam Agy
Symgapura, and , they both stayed there.
i
1
i
' 'Parameswam meant Prince Consort and was the style of one married to a princess
of higher rank than himself.' Wmstedt, p. 39.Pnramkure or P m merlvori is the
feminine of Paranterwarn. Cf. Ferrand, MolnRn, XI, 414,447.

232
TOMB
PIREB
And eight days after his arrival the Smn Agy of Singaporewas !
dledthroughtheinstrument&ty of Pmamjpa, and the channel and t o m remained under
the sway of Pmamypra, and he was lord of 811 and govemed the channel and the
islands, for through his indusq he was able to have and aquire the land in justice
0);and he had no trade at all except that his people planted r i a and fished and
plundered their enemies, and lived on this in the said channel of Singa re. And the
king of Siam who was ather-in-law to the S a m Agy of Singapore [who was] married
to one of his daughters by one of his concubines-rbs daughter of one of the
principal mandaring of Pad-when he heard the news of his son-in-law, he decided to
attack him, and he gathered people together and made the mid mandarin (father of
the Smn Agy of Sigapore's wife) chief captain, who came in such powerful array that
the said Pmaypa did not dare to wait for him, and fled with about a thousand men
and went up the Muar River, and he had been in Singapore for five years. When the
said Pmamjyura entered into Muar with his wife PmmnJwe and with a thousand men, he
began to cut down the jungk and m a k e fields, to plant trees and make du@es' and
farms to support them; there he remained for six years, and there he planted thinga
to live on; and they used to fish,and sometimes robbed and plundered the sampans
that came to the Muar River to t a k e in fresh water; they used to come in junks
fmm Java and from China, as will be told in the description of each country about
when and where they navigated. Meanwhile, during the reign of Bntma T d ,king of
Java and of many of the islands, in whose time Pm+ptra had fled from Palembang to
Muar, as we have told in describing his formnes, there lived in Malacca the people
we will now describe in order to bring ourselves to the founding of Malacca, its
antiquity and the kind of people who first inhabited it. At this time, according to
the true history of the Jam-
P"
f o r & ' . Fame, Dbth"&e lobt,436. 'The famu idand, whicb chey
um,meam 'villwe, bommde, am-

r
MALACCA
=33
and so it is now a%ed bv the Malavs and all the nei~hbourinn . . peoples-when the ~
e l a & ,who are corsairs in small Gght craft; as we shall tell in their chapter
when we speak of them; they are men who go out pillaging in their boats and fish,
and are sometimes on land and sometimes at sea, of whom there are a large number
now in our time. I They carry blow-pipes with their pol. small arrows of black
hellebore which, as they touch blood, kill, as they often did to our Portuguese in
the enterprise and destmction of the famous city of Malacca, which is very famous
among the nations. These Celates Bugis--men who lived near Singapore and also near
Palembang-when Para&ura fled from Palembang they followed his company and thirty of
them went along together protecting his life. While Paramjgura was in Palemhang
they served as fishermen; after they came to Singapore, they lived in Karimun
(Carjmam),an island near the channel; and at the time when the said Paramjpra came
to Muar these thirty came to live in the place which is now called Malacca, and it
must be five leagues from Muar to Malacca. As these Celates and robbers (who
sometimes fished for their food, with their huts and their wives and children on
the land) lived near the hill which is now called Malacca, where there is the
famous fortress of Malacca, while Pmamjfura lived in Muar -these Celates had
knowledge of the land as men who hoped to live peacefully there. They fished in the
river, which runs at the foot of the fortress, for the space of four or five years,
and they ate, and sought to make a living at it. As they often went up the said
Malacca River fishing, for a distance of a league or two away from the sea, they
saw a large and spacious place nith large fields, and lovely waters, and they saw
how well this place was adapted for a large town, and that they could sow large
fields of rice there, plant gardens, pasture herds; sometimes they used to take
their wives and ch~ldren there, and they used to make merry there; and they decided
to settle there, and they give it the name of Bietam', which means spacious plain.
The same ston. 1s told nith more or Less \anew and detail b? aevenl
1
r65r.
d : rrur+sThrr place, which farther on n e 6nd spelt Bvelh or B r e t m , ia

234 TOM$ PIRES And they all agreed together that before they went to the said place
they would suggest to Paramjpra, who was in Muar, that he should order the said
place to be examined to see if it was convenient for hi,so as not to be in Muar,
because he bad not such a good dwelling-place there. And when they all went to make
this suggestion to him, they took him a basket of fruit, and a tree which was near
the Celates' houses at the foot of the hill where the fortress is; this the said
Paramjpra received from the said Celates with pleasure, and asked them why they had
come, and they told him what they had decided about letting him know about the said
place of Bjetam in case be wanted to move there, for it seemed to them a good place
where the said lord would be able to rest. The said Pmanjprra told the Celates 'You
already know that in our language a man who runs away is called a Malayo, and since
you bring such fruit to me who have fled, let this place b e called Malapa, which
means 'hidden fugitive'; and since your intentions were such that you wished to
find a place for me to rest in, I will order it to be examined, and if it is
suitable, I will go there with my wife and house, and I will leave the fourth part
of my people in Muar to profit from the land where we have devoted so much work to
reclaiming it.' The Celates replied: 'We too belong to thy ancient lordship of
Palembang: we have always gone with thee; if the land seem good to thee, it is
right that thou shouldst give us alms for our good intentions, and that our work
should not be without reward.' Paramjgura told them it should be so, and the
Gelates pd. 1 6 5 ~ 1. said in front of every one that if the land seemed good to
him and that if he wanted to go thers, he should do so and call himself king, and
thus he could give them honour slid assistance. He agreed to this and said that it
was his wish to do this for them. The said Paramjpra ordered the said place of
Bjetgo to be inspected up the river by persons whom he instructed to that effect,
and they saw the said plain surrounded by beautiful
.
b
called Bintda in the Comoltdrws, B~ntatnby Barios, and Breton by Ered~a. The name s
w x v e s in Sungr Bertam, an upper tributary of the Malacfa River, and in Bertam
Ulm, a place on its southern bank, north-west of Malacca, aa it appears accurately
smated on Ered~a'r maps (fols I I-12).

MALACCA
235
'
mountain ranges and abundant waters near the river which comes into Malacca, with
many birds and animals, where there are lions, tigers and others of various kinds,
as in fact there is no doubt that it is not easy to find a beautiful plain like
this extending three or four leagues, and now greatly cultivated. At which all
those who went to see it were very satisfied and so reported to the said
Paramjgura, and he was very pleased, and all his people, at the prospect of living
at greater ease. When the said Paramjpra had moved to the said place of BreiZo, and
had rested, and was beginning to cultivate the land and to enjoy it, the Celates
went to him-being then no more than eighteen--and asked him if he remembered how
they had discovered the said land, and how in their desire for his wellbeing they
had left their wives and children and had gone to Muar to tell him about this place
which he was now enjoying. And they asked him to fulfil his promise and reward them
with some gift of honour, on which petition the said Paramjpra made them mandarins-
which means nobles-both them and their sons and wives for ever. Hence it is that
all the mandarins of Malacca are descended from these, and the kings are descended
through the female side, according to what is said in the country. The said
fishermen having been made mandarins by the hand I, of the said Paramjpra, always
accompanied the said king, and as he advanced them in rank they too recognized the
favour 4 which had been granted to them. They accompanied the king zealously and
served him with great faith and loyalty, their I friendship [being] whole-hearted;
and in the same way the king's love for them always corresponded to the true
service and zeal of the said new mandarins, and they strove to please him, and
their honour always lasted right down to the coming of Diogo b p e s de Sequeira to
Malacca, when their fifth grandson was the #&mma and the Bemdara who ordered the
treachery to the ,M Di.~&o Lopes de Sequeiral, and he was afterwards beheaded
a de Ssqueira wasrhe first European to visit Malseca, where f l e e t of five
Pomguese ships on 1 1 Sept. zgog. It has been that the arrival of the fleet at
Mslacea was on I Aug., but & e i i i ) and G6is (111, i), who are more accurate in
the chmno*rdsnt in the several chronicles-f Sequeira's voyage, both
..
,
TOM^ PIRBS 23'5 by the king himself, who lost Malacca, for the justice of Gad never
fails, and ?reason to the king never goes without pmkhment. The said Prnmn~turadied
in the said place of Bntao fairly happy in a land of such freshness, of such f d t
y and of such good living, as anyone who comes to Malacca today can see, for it b
certainly one of the outapuding things of the world, with beautiful orchards of
trees and shades, many fluits, abundant f m h waters wbich come fmm the enchanted
hills which are within sight of Msloccp, and-according to the &en-with hun&g of m ~
r r wild ~ l dtphgnts, Eons, tigers and other monstrour, adp&, m d with domestic a
n i d , not like ours,
ex@ &far dw.
& ~ ~ g & m m h da son, who had been born in
w h ,d r~ d y almmt a man, married to the principal
iar. 166% & 'Q
mm&Chaquem Dmaoa', and when I he was hunting bne day in the said plaee of &eta,
with dogs, as was his cwmm every day and most times, he was following the dogs and
h i c h are very good in these parts, and the said greyhounds, w dogs were chasing
an animal like a hare with feet like a little buck and a short tail-imals of which
the dogs used to kill ten or twelve every day--chasing it until it reached the sea
by the bill of Malacca (where the fortress of the Kip8 obr lord is now) so that
when the said animal went into the ha it turned on the dogs and they began to run
away. W h e n thb Mid Xapm &va.va saw this thing and that the said animal fiWfW@hed
ao
b ,& w +
&ugh&f srf the mandarin lords who had formerly been Celnicr.
ut few of thc
P o &
killed and nineteen. pripnrn, ISZZ w a s t h c f h t P o m ~ p u ~ v f ~ i n
mm-
mxo, a#.&t
and ruler of a c n , natural History), 0~h00 e h this note forms: ' A
&a different
I Region d t D m s ' t 0 its &end60 m e baing

MALACCA
=37
much strength on the hill that it seemed a ditferent being, he returned to Bretmn
where his father was in order to tell him about it, saying to the said Pmaq'pra his
father: 'Sir, when I w a s hunting today I chased a hare to your mandarin's hill,
where there is the fruit of the Malays, and there an the mountain the hare turned,
either because the sea reached the foot of the hill or because it gained strength
there, and all my dogs turned round and ran away; and as they used to kill ten or
twelve of /these animals every day, how was that one strong enough to defend itself
against a l l the dogs so that they wuld not reach it? Andbecause there must be
some mystery about this I have wme to tell you about it, and I ask you, sir, to go
and inspect this hill, and we will see if we can h d this animal there again, and
it you were willing that I should make my dwelling there, I should rejoice greatly!
P m a n q ~ adid not want to annoy his son and went there, his chief mandarin-his
son's father-in-law--going as his guide to show the way, because of the thick grove
of trees that extends from the said B r e t ~ to the hill of Malacca--as it does
todayalthough it is not more than two leagues, and when the king arrived he saw
three hills almost together, at [a distance of] three or four good shots of a
crossbow, to wit, the h i l l of Bopur Chino with lovely waters and very fresh, and
the hill of the &mas which is on the side of Tuam Colaxcm, the Javanese Moor, and
the hill of the animal ( m e Dalimmin) where this famous fortress now is'. Pmamjpua
said to his son: 'Xaquem Daxa where do you want to settle?' and the son said on
this hill of Malacca. The Father said it should be so. And at the said time he
built his houses on top of the hill where the kings of Malacca have had their
dwelling and residence until the present time. The said Xapem Dmxa having settled
on the said hill w i t h ruy rich houses after the fashion of the wunuy on the hill
and
I &qua
C b ii ~ s Bukit Chmn, d e d BVQVET. China on ErcdL's mqn
(lol. 9) and U t l y situated dase to M&ax on the mat-north-t. E&'s nup (M. pv.)
h .tao bills: BVQVET.PLATO.whiEh eonerponds to Butit PIIN, nodd BVQVET. CHIM,and
bnquct Pipi, which corrwpmda to St. John's Hill, mat of MPLccs. A k a mny W b l y
be a mbaLe fm the
P a -
fr, af ,
word donaus, a hich rnrnru e-wrpmm. The Mmfe do Alinm* t kmodem St. Paul's Hd.See
plate XXM.

k
17
238 TOM^ P I R B S on the ground beyond the bridge, where now are the
customsofficers cellars, his father-in-law with about three hundred inhabitants and
others were settled in Bretam. He endeavoured with hisfather to populate Malacca as
much as he could. People began to come from the Aru side and from other places, men
such as-celates robbers and also fishermen, in such numbers that three years after
h i coming Malacca was a place with hvo thousand inhabitants, and Siam was sending
rice there. At this time Parajpra fell ill and died. The kingdom descended to his
son Xaquem Dwxa, and he ordered the people of Bretam to come, and only left people
llke farmer8 there, and he sent all the Celate mandarins to live on the slopes of
the Malacca hill to act as his guards; and the said places belonged to t h e said
mandarins and knights who guarded his person, until the present day when Malacca
was taken, and he strove to populate the land. He acted justly, wherefore people
came from other places to live and settle there. Fol. d o . As soon as Paramjwa was
dead, and his son Xaqum Dwxa became king, with six thousand inhabitants in Malacca,
he sent a brother-in-law of his to Siam with an embassy, and bade him say how he by
chance had come into possession of that land, and that he had worked so hard there
that he begged him always to help him with foodstuffs as his right, for the land
was his [the king of Siam's], and that, as a man living on his land, he would
always acknowledge him, and that he [the king of Siam] should help him to people
the land which was his. The said king of Siam sent him people and foodstuffs and
merchandise from his country, saying that he was delighted for it to be peopled
like this, and that he would help him if he cultivated the lsnd as he had said, and
lastIy that the ambassador had acquitted himself so well, and he brought back such
a good message that Xuquem Darxa granted the said a m h d o r , who was his
brother-in-law, the privilege that ambassadors should always be members of his
family and of no other from thenceforward-as was the custom down to the present day
when NaIacca was captured by the Portuguese. And no one could be 89 nmbasaador
unles he belonged to that family, and the: ~baaredornof Malacca are not allowed to
do anything but
,

239 present letters, and they cannot say or do anything else, as I have often seen
in their embassies, because that is the custom. At this time Batma Tanrmill, king
of Java, was still reigning in Java, to whom the said Xaqum Darxa sent an
ambassador,
MALACCA
telling him that his father was now dead and asking that they should be friends and
past differences be ended, and as he [Batma TammiZg held the h d of Palembang from
him,-that thenceforward he would be willing to trade in his countly, and there he
would be able to distribute his merchandise, and his country would go on greatly
increasing its population, and it would be continually improving, because he had
known that it must be so and had proved it over ten years, for the monsoons from
either direction ended there, and his junks could navigate there with less risk, on
account of the shallows there were [on the way] to Pase and to other places whither
his people and subjects navigated; and he asked him to do this. The king of Java,
Bafara Tumarill, replied that his junks had been navigating to Pase for a long
time, and that he was closely bound in friendship to the place, where his merchants
received e r e good returns for their merchandise, and honour, and w exempted from
customs duties; and as the said king of Pase was his vassal, let him send there if
such was his [the king of Pase's] wish; and that otherwise he would not go against
it, because he would not break a custom of such long standing as that which had
been agreed between themso long since. When the said ambassador came back he
brought his reply; ' whereupon the said king Xaqut Darxa sent a message to the king
of Pase asking him to be so good as to ac~xde, and not take it ' 4fl that Java
should trade with Malacca, and asking him to be so end his merchants to Malacca
with merchandise aying that there was goM in his country to exchange, at his
country could more than provide for the needs said king of P a y and that he had
written to the king of w h had ~ replied that if [the king of Pase] agreed he would
ry pleased. Whereupon the said king of Pase sent ambas20 the said Xaqueh Darsa
saying that he would willingly t what he had asked I if he would turn Moor, and
For. 167, d let him know in full what he decided, so that he

I
240 TOM$ PIRBS could speedily carry out his wishes. The saidkingXapa Darxa did not
give a good reception to the ambassadors who came from Pase, and he took them
prisoners and kept them in Bretao for a long time, detaining them and treating them
fairly, and important people often came from Pase with messages to the said king of
Malacca about the release of the ambassadors, and also to find out about the
oountry and how the new population had grown so quickly, although the chief place
of residence was in Bretrio, where he used to go for recreation-as he always did
until the day of his capture. He improved greatly in friendship with, [and became]
almost a vassal of Batma T U ~ I king I , of Java, on account of the many junks and
powerful people from that country who used at that time to navigate great distances
(as will be told in the description of Java); and he was always sending him
elephants and gifts; wherefore, although the king of Pa6e had not agreed to it,
some junks used to come to Malacca, although it was nothing much, because the port-
of-call for all the merchandise was in Pase, as will be told when we deal with the
island of Sumatra and the affairs of Pase. At the end of three years the said
Xaquem Darxa allowed the ambassadors to return to Pase with honour, and the kings
made friends, and they traded from Pase in Malacca, and some rich Moorish merchants
moved from Pase to Malacca, Parsees, as well as Bengalees and Arabian Moors, for at
that time there were a large number of merchants belonging to these three nations,
and they were very rich, with large businesses and fortunes, and they had setded
there from the said parts, carrying on their trade; and so having come they brought
with them mollahs and priests learned in the sect of Mohammed--chiefly Arabs, who
are esteemed in these parts for their knowledge of the said sect. When the said
merchants arrived, they told the said king X a p a Darxar that they had heard of
his justice and of the mercy which he had used towarda the people of Pase, and
that, since the kings were friends, they wanted to trade in Malacca from Pase,and
they wanted to come to the country, and, if it was possible, to trade there; and if
a way could be opened up, they would stay there and would pay such duties as were
imposed on

MALACCA
'
1
I
,
'
them, because they had been told that the people of Java wanted '' to trade and to
bring merchandise which they needed, to wit, cloves, mace, nutmeg and sandalwood,
for Java traded in them at this time, as will be told when the island of Java is
dealt with. The said king Xaqum Darxa was very pleased with the said Moorish
merchanw, he did them honour; he gave them places to live in, and a place for their
mosque% and when the said Moors received the said place they built beautiful houses
after the fashion of the land and town. Trade began to grow greatly-chiefly because
the said Moors were rich-and Xaqum Darw, king of Malacca, derived great profit and
satisfaction from it, and he gave them jurisdiction over themselves; and the hwrs
were great favourites with the said king, and obtained whatever they wanted. In the
meantime there flocked thither those merchants who were in Pase, and more Moorish
merchants, and they traded in Malacca, and from Malacca in Pase, and they went on
augmenting the land of Malacca, and this was not felt in Pase because of the large
number of people who were there, as will be told in rhe ?roper place. And people
from other places, from Sumatra, came to work m n d earn their living, and from S i
p o r e and the nieghbouring $ alands of Celates, and other people; and because the
said king Darxa was a man of justice and liberal to the merh t s , they l i e d
him, so that I during this time two junks came Fol. 16.7~. irom Chima, which were
going to Pase, and the said kmg brought pressure to bear on some people so that
they should trade there, and they sold some merchandise to the said merchants and
they took agreat deal more to Pase. At this time kimg Xaqum D m w was already old,
and the land was trading in merchandise; and there were many Moors and many mollahs
who were trying hard to make the said king turn Moor, and the king of Pase greatly
desired it. The said king Xuquem Dmxa did in fact come to want to establish the
said priests and to like them. When this news came, the said king of Paw, on the
advice of the priests he had sent there, secretly wnt others of greater authority
to impose upon him and turn
8
,.
~~

242
TOMSPIRES
him away from his race and heathenry and to convert him, and this by underhand
means and not publicly. Having been persuaded ( I ) either through the priests or
by some other means, king Xaquem Darxa made a covenant with the said king of Pase,
arranging marriages between some of the said king of Pase's daughters and the said
Xaqum Darxa on condition that he should turn bioof l i e him, and that they would
always be at on% and ths eaid mollaha gave him to understand how much honour he
would derive from the said union and relatiomhip with the great !&~g of Psse if he
turned Moor, many messages pawing berwe~a +Am, and the Moon working hard fyr the
said mamiage. At last, when he was seventy-two years old, the said king Xaguan
Darxa ~ r n e d Maor, with all his house, and married the said laing of Pase's
daughter. And not only did he himself turn Moor, but also in the course of time he
made all his people do the same. And in this way thc said king turned Moor, and
from thenceforward they were so until the capture of Malacca; and he lived in
matrimony for eight years surrounded by mollahs, and he left a grown-up son, who
also turned Moor, born of his first wife, who inherited the kingdom and was called
Modafarxal. When this king Xaquem Darxa w a s forty-five years old, he wanted to go
to China in person to see the king of China, and he left the kingdom in the hands
of the mandarins, saying that he wanted to go and see the king to whom Java and
Siam were obedient, and Pase, as will be told at length in the description of
China. And he went where the k i n g was and talked to him, and made himself his
tributary vassal, and as a sign of vassalage he took the seal of China with Malacea
in tha oEntfe (?), as they all have it. He was greatly honoured and sent home with
gifts and greatly entertained. And he returned to Malacca, and the journey going
there and his stay and retutn,twk three years. And the said Xaquem Darxa came i n
the company of a great captain who brought him by command of the eaid king of
China. This captain brought with him a beautiful Chinese daughter, h e said X a p m
Datxa reached ~Malacca,in order to and when t
MbzatTaz Shnh or Mudzafu Shah,
1
I
I
I
I

MALACCA
pm Darsa had a son by this Chinese
Iled R@aputs', from whom are descended and %par and Indragid, as wiU be teld man
and had som and daughters and
s died at the hands of M ~ d a f m ~ his a nephew, as wilt the Efe of rbe said
kingMddafmwd' had many wives, the daughters of say that he was a better king than
all . He greatIy strengthened his ties with the Chhese md Lcipps. Re much care to
thk improve-
of Chepar,whichis on rhe river fi6maso2 beyond Muar on

i.e.,'White Raja'. Ct Fewand, Maloka, XI, 4 1 . o r Rin Pmoro. is the Sungi Sampan$
Ksnan, sls0 called t, fmm the name of the rown near rts zntmnce, whiohmust es'
Gheguuu, The highest p & ofthe hills on t h e east ba&
the tiver is still called Mount Fonnm (rqr6 feet) Radti34) is the Bat to record Rio
fermosro, which afterwwds ly cvcryma~? down m the menteenth cestury.

the Singapore side, a large river where many ships can enter, on which river there
is a little rice, meats and fish; they have wines of the,country; it is a river
with wide meadows; it has fighting men. They say that strong and valiant people
come from Muar and from Cheguaa. One of these places belongs to the Bemdava and the
other to the Lasamana; each of them has civil and criminal jurisdiction-or they had
in their time. And this Madajmxa often used to go out to fight in person, and his
brother Raja Pute remained as Paduca RajaE,which means viceroy. He often fought
against the king of Aru, and took from him the kingdom of Rokan @cam), which is
opposite Malacca in the land of AN. And as Iong as he lived he always made war on
hi,according to what they say. *his king took the Singapore channel with the island
of Bintang (Bimtam) and brought it all under his obedience, up to the present time,
where now he has taken refuge in flight; and he went to war over the said channel
with the king of Pahang, and of Trengganu (Tdimgano) and of Patani, and he always
had the best of it, and therewithal he retained the land and jurisdiction, and he
married one of his elder sisters to the said king of Pahang, who had recently
turned Moor, and this will be about fifty-five or sixty years ago at the most. He
had turned Moor at the request of the said Modafarxa, and [with the promise] that
he would give him his sister in mamage. This king made war on Kampar and Indragiri;
and he fought for a long time against these two kingdoms, which are in the land
' 'Padli+n affectionate epithet; beloved, dear.' Marsden, Dictionmy. According m

Forrand the Malay priduaa is s myal and princely htle, like 'Your Majesty' or 'Your
Highness'. Mnloka, a,46a. ' T h u e used to be in Malacca five primapal dign~ties.T
h e fimt is P v d & ~ @ a which , s~gntfies Vtceroy, and after the king this is one
of the greatest. T h e second is Bendad, who is the controller of the Treasury and
govern the kingdom. Sometunes the Bmdard holds both of these &es of Pudricarajn and
Bcndmd, for two sepsrate persons in these two offices never agree well togetha. The
third is Laramme; this a Admtral of the Sea. The fourth is Tarnungo, who is charged
of justice upon foreigners. T h e fifth IS Xabandnr; and with the adm~n~stration of
these there were four, m e of each n a t i o n a n e of China, another of Java.
mother of Cambaye, another af Bengala. And all the lands were divided among these
four men, and everyone had his portion, and the T m n u was ~ Judge of the Custom
Hause, over all these.' Carnmontarrcs o f Afom Dolboquerpuc, rrr, 8p8. See below
pp. 264-5.

MALACCA
245
I
I
of Menangkabau, whence gold comes to Malacca; and in the course of time the said
Modafnrsa squeeaed them so much, as they were rich, and because differentraces
navigated to hi port, and because he was allied with the Javanese and the Chinese
and the Siamese, and in Pase, that through his own endeavours he married two
daughters of Raja Pute his brother, one to the king of Kampar and the other to the
king of Indragh$ and the said kings and the people nearest to them became Moors,
all the rest still remaining heathens, and so they turned Moors about fifty years
ago at the most. And because of the honour he gained through making these three
kings Moors [and] tributaries, his name became so famous that he had messages and
presents from the kings of Aden and Ormuz and of Cambay, and Bengal, and they sent
many merchants from their regions to live in Malacca, and he was called Sultan, for
in this country any lord is called Raja, only in Pase, Malacca and Bengal are they
called Sultans; and be very careful In this, when a letter wmeg from Portugal for
any king here, to Bay 'from the Sultan of Portugal to thee, Raja So-and-So'. This
king used his powers greatly to see if he could destroy Aru, although the king of
Aru had tumed Moor before any of Y h e others, even before the king of Pase
according to what they say; but because they say he is not a true believer in
Mohammed, m d he lives in the hinterland, he has many people and he has many
pinnaces, they are always out pillaging, and wherever they descend they take
everything, and they live on this, and this can ,never be remedied because the land
of AN is lie this.And from m n they h of AN can are cross preatlv to the feared.
landand of Malacea from thein time oneof day, Modafmslr and the capturcof k c c a b
i the Governor of India theiwere enemies, and they still are today. This Modafwm
sent sadors to Java to the heathen king, and they say that bp means he found a way
through his priests to indud rtant men I from the coastal districts to turn Moors,
and Fol. 1687 are now pufes. This will be dealt tvith in the description of The
said Modafarxa was a vassal of the said king of Java t him elephants and things
from China and rich cloths among those which came to his port, and as long as he
7
.
7.46 TOM$ P I R E S lived he always maintained his friendship with the said king;
and a large quantity of foodstuffs came from Java. He greatly improved the port of
Malacca. In the meantime the king of Pahimg's wife died, and the said Modafmxa,had
him married toione of his nieces, daughter of his brother R q a Pute; and the said
Raja Pute was thus connected with Pahang, Kampar and Indragiri; and the people of
Malacca already believed greatly in Raja Pufe, who was older than Modafarw, so they
say, and he had not inherited because he was the son of a concubine, practically a
wife; othen, say that he was rather the son of the Chinese girl, born somehow or
other. He had great authority. He was a good man, of excellent judgement; he had a
great regatd for the king h i brother. He lived in the place Bretdo of which we
have already spoken, and the kings lived there too; but sometimes they repaired to
the city, where they lived on the hill, as we have already said, because with the
tide they can desqend from Bretao to Malacca in an hour. At this time there was a
large number of merchants of m y nationalities in Malacca, and Pase was already
beginning to he less great than it had been, and the merchants and ~ea-~dciers
realised how much difference there was in sailing to Malacca, because they could
anchor safely there in all weathers, and could buy from the others when it was
convenient. They began to come to Malacca an the time because they got returns. The
king of Malacca dealt kindly and reasonably with them, which is a thing that
greatly attracts merchants, especially the foreigners. He took pleasure in being in
the city much more often than he went hunting, so that he couId hear and decide
about the abuses and tyrannies which Malacca creates on,account of its g r e t
position and trade. This Modqfmxa had by his wife a son, who was called Mansurral.
This boy was under the guardianship of his uncle Pute. He was always taught and
looked after by Raja Pufe aa his tutor; and they were both given to pleasure, and
the father worked at the things which were his duty. And so during this time the
said M&fmxa came to be ill in bed, and his son , ' Mansursa came to stay with his
said father in the city; they
' M m u r Shah.
MALACCA
247
obeyed the boy Mamww. Raja Pute had authority in Brefam; they did what he
commanded. Madafmxa was worried about his illness, and also because he did not know
what changes would talre place on his death in the kingdom where he had worked so
hard. He asked Raja P u t e and charged him to hand it peaceably . P u t e said he
would do so. The youth over to M m ~ n s aRaja was already twenty years old, they
say, or a little less. The father Madufwaa died; the boy began to do his duty,
after his father's death and burial, honourably as w a s right, and also on the
advice of Raja Pute. After the burial, Raja Pute retired to Brei%o and Mamwsa began
to reign wisely over his kingdom, taking counsel of the old men, for virtuous
government in matters of justia and the preservation of the country; he gathered
people together. At this time it seems to have come to the young man's notice that
Raja Pute, his uncle, either because he was old, or because he had so many ties in
the country and outside, was treating him with disrespect in not coming to see him,
being the Ling he w a s . One ' day he paid a surpriseviait to the place where the
said Roja Putc I was, and he found him in a 6alccy (which is l i e a bower, richly
elaborated)~with mandarins and important people who were with him. When the said
Mmnsursa arrived they aU stood up, and he sat r down, and Raja Pute beside him,
which is not the custom here, for the son does not sit down with his father even if
he is the heir, unless the son is a married king, as will be told in the proper
place on the customs of the Malays. The young man said: '%a Pute, it is so many
days since I have seen you. Are you ill?' He I replied: 'I have not been doing very
well.' The young man said: 'Yes, you are not doing very well as a king.' He then
thrust his kris into him three or four times, and then Raja P u t 6 fell dead on
the spot. And for this reason the people always greatly feared the said king
Ai'ansursa, and he was much feared, and respected and helped by his fellow
countrymen whenever he wanted them. King .llamrsa began to follo\v in his father's
footstep, both
Bnlc~ muat correspond to the hI&y bald. 3Iarsdcn mver, among other rnemmp of this
unrd: 'A l o d e or s m r h o w ; a frpmc, m d , s a g e (for litting on, cuing
fish &c.).' D i c t i o ~ I yp .. 34.

248
TOM$ PIRBS
in rulingthe paople and encouraging his men greatly to war. He w a s peaceful to

the merchants and s man of good w i l l . He had the allegiance of Malacca,
Selangor (Cakqm)), Bernam (Vcrfta~~ M ), ym3 P e r & (Pbar),all of which are placea
for tin and belong to the kingdom of Eedah, and he had been at war with Kedah about
this. As it wan a countq of the kingdom of Siam, and aa all the land belonged to
the kingdom of Siam, these p b we= fwud with the choice to whom they would be in
allegiance. aaid: to king Mamww, king of Malacca; and they rmintaid thi8 allegiance
until &e taking of Malacca, paying tributes, nr Willbe told iadedlhter. Through his
aptdna in the kingdom of Aru, the aaid king Manuww took by force the town of Rupnt
which is o p p i t e t o M u k a , and the kingdom of Siak; he made the Sheikh of P
o h his vnseal-all this in the island of Sumatra. These people csme to Malacca as
prisoners, and i n his own good time he sent them back to their countries, and they
always remained obedient to h i m until the day when it w a s taken by the G m t
Captain of India. D u r i n g Mamsursa'r reign, the kings of Pahang and of K a m p
and of Indragiri rebelled against him on account of the death of Putt, their
father-in-law, h o r n he had killed. And in person as well as through his captains
he took them and conquered than and doubled their tributes, and put them under him
as tributaries, and he made peaa with t h e m and [arranged] marriages; and the
said Mamwsa married one of the king of P a h a n g ' s daughters and the king of
Pahang e d e d one of Mummsds s i s t e r s ,and another ofhis slstus m&ed the king
of Menangkabau, who wan a heathen, and made~bim turn Moor. Others a6irm that the
said king is still not a Moor to this day. The truth t that he is a Moor, with
about a hundred of his men; all the other people are heathens. Thia MrnMIIsa had
one of the daugbm of Raja Pnte his uncle as a w n c u b i i and as a wife he had
the daughter of his L c r c . This Mamwsa wa.9 chivalrous and very 1 0 -just,
always a true of the kings of the Chinese and of the kings of Java and of S h , and
the nature of this vassalage will be told later.

IMbLACCA
a49
y say he was a man with a hundred and njznty quintals of
*
gold and quantities of precious stones, and that he had decided to p to M e - with
a large amount of in a jwolr 'which he had ordered to be built in Java, and another
in Pegu of great Pd.169~.size, and that if .& i h e w bad not pmented him I he
would have ~ O Q Cthen. 'He had already spent a great deal of money,
W , & @ j . T& F i g 'M-sa had &o b n s, a d two deu&ei%. The elder son waa catled
Atcwodnl, who suqcetaed him, and the :crtbet BOU~died when he wnc hunthg. Ele
married one of his daughters to the king of Kampar and the other to the k i n g of
Pahang. When he was old be fell ill; he was ill for a long time, and king
Alaoadfnr, his son, ruled over the kingdom, and while he w a s ruling this king
married one of the daughters of a chief mandarin,to his father's satisfaction.
Andking MrnuUTsa died, he was buried in the tomb of the kin@ @ accofdaa& with the
custom, on the hillehere now 8tmds&e@o~'k1 entempt of his vanity and the honour in
whic$thagbi#%e plate. At the beginhing of 'his.rtd&.W , J & g married , ~ a w h i s
daughter of theking of Xangai, m mi pi first tousin. T king added to Mala- n$my
wti# .b&&hg to the Celatcs, who a n corsairs after their'+#:& A.,~ % x .k @ ~ ~. .
o sThrough . his captains he took the islands O f are on this side of Banka. almost
oppixite t .P a l s ; & I @ a n the ca&w knights who cannot be killed b y & ~ ~ ~
told ~in ~ the ~ de- b e h g AIawdln made scription of the L i i isIands.
AdbtEle:mik their king his vassal, as he still .is;[as~iie'%wi]~fled, however, they
do not sa one another, because th6yak.W;rfreidof each othct. .,
~~
~
.,
1 Sulun Abuddin or hl.cdin. ' A l d d h q r ~ k dorms pormpinc du nom nnbe

'Ale'u'd-din, "l'tl6vation do Ib rckion*;'UW Fmwd i n . note to hL &tion of the
bktory of M.LcclUJCM~I~ ia@lCaMU(rlar. Ma&
=,4=.

MALACCA
was not in his right mind. H e was a
'
et court as it were, and Mohammed, because he

had Raja Mafamut' who lost Malacca, and was a son of the h r e e daughters, one was
by the mandarin's daughter; and of the t above mentioned woman from,Pahang, and the
[other] two by the wife who was a daughter of the king of Kampar. Because the sons
were still boys when the said Icing BIooadm died, the Bendme mled the kingdom until
the boys came of age. Some favoured Rqia (h'ehm. T$e.Bm&afavmrmi Rqia Mafannrt, who
was his grandson, Sria ~deughter'sa : but the kingdom belong4 t o Raja &%haw not
zn$ralybc4aune he wa8 a queen's son, for the othet[wiwe] m,of laasc?r atadbg,
although they are taktnso that their sons may Metit. Four or five yeam p d and the
phdpal mandarins began to fcmn factians and arties. Pahang on his part worked for
his grandson to inherit kingdom; the B & a was powerful in the country and could
have had the kingdom for himself if he had not waated it for his grandson. H e held
it rna certainty for Pol. I?*r. Rqia MIlfrrm~r his grandson, and for this I he had
resources and many relations to bring it about, as has been told. Although it says
above that this king Mafmnui was a grandson of the Bnndara they beheaded, he was
only the grandson of his brother, being the son of one of his daughters, and this
is the truth, as I afterwardsmade out=. ThGy raised the said king Mafmnut to bs
king of Maiacca, and at the beginning of his reign, in otda t o make peace with
Pahang, he married one of t h e king of +%hang's dau&terss; and this king was less
jwt than my of the & u s ones, very
tie
Ttut19co.j.,~eof&IItmAL~.~~~~~thcribt Mu& (the Bmd.h.n sfnin h *St* by O & hfi w h

e w Sultan ~ . h m ~ d ~ . b ~ t h o f ~ d t i l d r r n o f r h c ~ ~ ~ ~ s urd T
u k ~ u n d u (firstd e d t a Sultan MutlfRC,%rtt), a ahdu of TU& P d who a uc c e
d d Tum Ali SriDinia u t .eanu the Pira. . ~.~ ---..--.. . . Band.hrt.. I -. ..~
--.. not unnatunlly, mixed up aU (has &ai&ted n*tioaU~&c. Mlhmud WM k fact the
nephew of Tuur MuPhir, the 'Bmdrh.n they Imhdsd' (it i s mom likely t h t he w u
simply Uedwilb the kr*), md the gMd.m,of T u n Ali
~ ~
M h u d Shah. In ordu to und.mmd thh wrqpU~ted idA$hWp hcta be wid that, rcmrding
to WilLirwn urd ~iMtcdh fiul~~r&hilUd QM rhs aon of
P m k who war a h a Bcnbhn.Sea note w Pats @&,m.s9a-4. a The king of P.hang w q a

Sultan Mahmud Shuh, D ron of Sultan Mrns~u
Sri N a n D
~ (who s w u not killed) and Tun Kundu, r si~tm of Turn

MALACCA
853
acca by forcc. We was treated with su& respect that spoke to h i except from a
great distance and very e was a great eater and drink:er,'brought rsp to Uve
viciously. He was feared by the 0 t h kings; when they him it w a sw i t h meat
reverence and courtesies of their H e was &ed ~ofmnut. his arrogance he then
withdrew his obedience f r o m the dient to the kings who the king of Siam sent his
- he brought the kiaga of Pabang and Kamp" and In&-
oua, intoxicated d t h opium every day. He was preswp-
of Java did not care about Malacai nor about its
destroy the world, and that the world needed his se it m s at the end of nionsoona,
a d t b t Malacca made inm Mecca, and that he would not hold the

TOMI! P I R E S 254 of the arrogance of this sin that he was lost, and all bore him
ill-will. This king Mafamut was afraid that Raja Galemat& would rise up with the
kingdom, and he ordered him to be killed in Malacca; and he had Raja Jatim' with
him in Malacca-the father of the boy who yas now king of Karnpar and was called
Raja Audela'. They all say that this Raja Jalim was a very good man; and becaye he
s?& h i ? from his house walking along a street with many companions, he said at
once: 'That is already in ordw to take a k p my kiigdom' which he will say belongs
to him.' $a& .$aZ~llt hqrd of this w d became a hermit, like men who despise the
wodd, and yet he obviously bad him poisoned, though he was his &st cousin, and he
killed Raja Bunco, his nephew, with a kris, because he wanted to go to Aru. They
say that this man was more worthy than Raja Jaltm. With a kris he also killed Raja
Jaltm's sister who was his wife, mother of king Amets his son, for no reason, but
just because the fancy came to him when he was intoxisated with opium. He is a very
fickle man, of diabolical cruelty. In his time, after these things had taken place
and he had killed many other men, Diogo Lopes de Sequeira arrived in the ships, He
killed Tuam Porpater, a very great mandarin, and his son Tuam Arernr, who were like
Raja Bunco, and these [were killed] with a kris. When Diogo Lopes de Sequeirg
att'imd before the port of Malacca, there were at that tjma-+coid$$ to what is
truly FOZ. r p v . stated-a thousand Gujamt mercbaqts in Malacca, I among whom
there were a great many rich an68 With a great deal of
Rqa Zainal-Ahdin. Ahdullah, whom Barros calls A b e W ( h i 1% 71 k r n d 06is

Abbadelfa (ro, Ixiu). In 15 r 5 he was made Bendaham of Malam, in place of
Nmochntu, and then beheaded a few months later, due to&eintrigUe ofMUhmud, the
exking of Milslaca. See note pp. 288-9. 3Xhmad. 4Tuan Perpnteh Puteh, a brother af
T u a ~ Perell. whom he succeeded as Bendahara. Ttion in Malay means ' maetcr lord,
eir, mistress, madam'. Marsden, Dictimtary, S.V. 3 Tuan H a m . According to
Wllkinaon 6. 59) this was a son of Tuan Mutshir, not of Tuan Perpateh Puteh.
I

MAZACCA
ass
I
I I
capital, and s ~ mwho e were representatives of others; and inthis way they say
that with P a m , Bengalee and Arabs there were more than four thousand men here,
including rich merchants and some who were factors for others. There were also
great Kling merchants with trade on a large scale and many juriks. This is the
nation which brings the most honour to MaIacca. T h ~ s e have the bulk [of the
trade] in their h & as will be told later. First the Gujaratees wentto the said
king ildqfmut with a great present, and also the Pars- and Arabs and Bengdees and
many of the Klings reported to the +aid king together, that the Portuguese had
readed the poxt, and comequently were bound to come there every time, and that,
besides robbing by sea and by land, they were spying in ordesto come back and
capture it ptlalacca], just as all India was already in the power of the
Portuguese-whom they call Franks (fia"g&) here-that because Porngal was far away
they ought to kill them all here and that the oms could ngt reach Portugal for a
long time, if ever, and that Malaeca would not be 10% nor its medknts, emphasising
the case in such a way that the king mpM that he v&uldrwdi to the Betad&?&,and he
would decide w h t seemed best to hi& in this, These who had spoken wemro the
Bmdmcr: they took him double the present--and most of it plot, was from
theGujarateea;theyeonverte~theBmdmatotheir and they further suggested to the said
Bemdma that he should ask the king for the fiag-ship for himself, for it carried
many bombards, The above mentioned merchants tmk a present to the Lasamane so that
he should help them in this, and they d ~ d the same to the Tuinmgo,who was b e
Bemdara's brother, and they wked the son of t h e J~.vul*r U L ~ U Rqjaf, . whom
they brhw&d here, to take part in thia and to ask for one of those s h i p [of the
' Portuguese]. So they were all inform4 and ready wlting to see what the king
wished.In the meantime Diogo Lopes unloaded oome merchandise in gqdowm in order to
make up his cargo, which thing they say encouraged the plot, so that they could g e
~ the merchandise for the king and B e h a . The said k i i n g called into wuneil
the BBntdma and the Lase-
' Timuta Rajs.

256
TOM^^
PIRES
m a w and the Tumungo Cerina De Raja', who they say was the wisest man in Malacca,
and he summoned TuZ Mafamut, who afterwards died at our hands, who was one of the
chief people, and others who had already been appointed to the council; and the
said king consulted them all as to the action to he taken on what the merchants of
the various nationalities reported about the corning of this captain. The Bemdara
and Tuam Mafamut and the other mandarins told the said king that the right thing
was to kill them all, and that it would soon be done, for he would find the way to
do it. The king asked the Lasemana and the Tomunguo what they thought. They both
said that they were not of that opinion, but that they [the Portuguese] should be
well treated and made content, and keep their merchandise, since they had come to
his port in good faith; and if these men were such and so bad as they said, that
they should tell them to go away and not to stay in the port. The king said: You do
not understand the case of these men. They come to spy out theland so that they can
come afterwards with an armada, as I know and you know that they go about
conquering the world and destroying and blotting out the name of our Holy Prophet.
Let them all die, and if any other people come here afterwards, we will destroy
them on the sea and on the land. We ha-ie more people, junks,gold in our power than
anyone else. Pomgal is far away. Let them all he killed.' They called the
merchants, and the king told them that the Bemdma already had the reply and that
they should speak to him. They say that the king told the Lasemana and the Bemdara:
'You, Lasemana, will put to sea in your lancharas and kill them all, and do not
send the Portuguese ships to the bottom, and keep the guns for me and also the
flag-ship. And the Bemdara will attack
1 It seems that Pires mixed up his information once more. According to W~lkinson
(pp 55-67), Tuan Tahir, the Sri Nara Dirsja (a brother of Tuan Mutahir, the
Bendahara Sri Maharaja), was the Chief Treasury Officer; the Tumunga or Temenggong
was Tuan Hasan (son and successor of Tuan Mutahxr m the office of Ternenggong). All
three, w~th other members of the family, were killed together by order of Sultan
Mahmud in ~ s r oat , the inst,nation of the Laksamana Khoja Hasan, a favourire
with the Sultan and an kerny of the Bendshara But from what Pirci says it docs not
seen, that the Isksamana u.as much of s favourire with the Sultan. Probably Pireo
means Tuan'L'ahir Srt N a r a D~raja, when h e rcfers to rhc Tumunga Cm'no Do Roju.

MALACCA
those who are weighing [goods] on land, because we will turn them all out; and be
careful on the sea, although you alone could mccount for ten such ships. One who
destroyed the Siamese on the open sea, where there were I a hundred to one of ours,
what Fol. will he do to such a little thing at anchor? Why, those who go to re11
them chickens will be a match for them, for they are not fighting men, as I am
informed.' The Lnsemana said: 'This business is contrary to justice, and I do not
want to be in it, and I tell you that I would rather fight against a thousand such
men than against these, not because I fear them, but because my heart is not in
such a decision.' The Bemdara's son crossed him and said: 'My lord, I will go if
the Lasemana does not want to.' The king said he thanked him for it. The Lasemana
replied: 'Go; but if your business succeeds, I do not know anything, and all the
people in Malacca together are not strong enough to capture these ships, nor is
there any reason for it.' This speech incensed the king against the Lasemanu, and
he wanted to have him killed, because he had made so much of such a small matter,
and he ordered him not to leave his house. The Bemdara and his eldest son and
Utamutarraja's son and the captain of the Gujaratees went Into this together. They
say that each of them wanted a ship [of the Portuguee] and that they fell out over
the choice, dnd in order that they should not oheat cach other, as they often do,
they arranged to seize those people on land who had to collert cloves in
differentplaces. The people disembarked; everyone knows wha; was done on land an2
what the Lord prever1:ed on the sea.' After the >lid Diogo Lopes had Ieft the port,
they prepared aqaln to sail to see if they could catch hini. In the end the king
was very dissdtisfied and sent fol the Laremana and askc.1 hun how past events
looked to him, and the Lasemana told h:m that [they looked] bad and that he should
seek to make himself strong, as the ?urtuguese would attack Maldcca, and that he
would then find out who would defend it against the Franks, men without fear. who
had conquered the world. Wherefore the Bemdara wav on bad terms with the king
thereafter, and
Sce note above, pp. 235-6
H.C.S. I!.
1717.

very much so, and for this reason he killed him, as will be told later; and the
whole thing is the judgement of God. King Mafamut began to make himself strong on
the Lmamana's advice; he did not receive him quite so well as he used to redeive
the Bmdma Cerima Raja who was almost as powerful as the said king. And they say he
began secretly to take possession of the land; others say not, but the Bemdara is
second after the king, as will be told later. After this thus this Bemdma
circumcised certain of our men by force with their hands tied, and as a result one
died and others escaped by means of bribes paid secretely to the Bnndara by Njna
Chatu.' The king began to make himself strong. He was uneasy lest the Bmdara should
rise up with the kingdom, because the king was unknown compared with the Bmdara;
and with a kris he killed the B d m a Cerima Raja, Tuam Afem, and Tuam Zeynm, his
sons, and Tuam Zed$ Amet and Tuam Racan, his grandsons, all of whom were greater
than kings of Pahang and Kampar. He killed Cirima Raja, the Bemdara's brother, and
Tuam Adut Alill and Tuam Aly and Tuam Amet, the sons of the said Cirjma de Raja
Tumungo, all of whom were his relations, for which cruelties the said king rendered
himself odious and was hated by everyone; moreover this family deserved it for the
advice they had given against Diogo Lopes de Sequeira. He took the wives and
children of all those he killed for himself, and above all he took the daughter2 of
the BZdara he killed
I Nina Chatu or Nina Chetu was e great friend of the Pormgueae, referred to with
praise in all their chronicles. 'A heathen merchant, who lived there malacca], a
native of Kling, whom they called Nina Cheru, mitigated the evil tnsunent they
[Ruide Araujoand his 18Porhrguesefellow prisoners] suffered, bribing the authorj
[of the tresrment], and so gave them food and helped them as much as he could.'
'And he was not deceived in his hope of reward from us, if he had such hope,
because after the town was t&en, Afonso de Albuquerque repaid his action with
honour and favour he bestowed upon him, which were the cause of his voluntary
death, (as we shall see later in its proper plam).'Barras, 11, vi. 3. See notep.
287. 'Tuan Fatimsh, 'a very pretty girl', who had been married to her cousin Tuan
Ali (Pires' Turn Aly), son of Sri Nara Diraja. When Sultan Mahmud went to the
wedding he took a fancy t o the beautiful bride, and 'felt that a slight was put
upon him by his bkdahnra ~howingopenly that he was not wanted as son-in-law'. I t
seems that from this came the hatred of Mskmud for the Bendahara's family. C
f .Winstedt, pp. 6 5 7 .

MALACCA
=59
is vife, by whom he had a son. He took the property of all these people for
himself, whereby he obtained a plenteous supply of gold. They say that through this
deed he put a hundred and twenty beautiful women into his house and fifty quintals
of gold and other valuables and great jewels, and they ray that the dead did not
deserve such a death, because such treachery had never been heard of. During this
time-while the said king was making himself strong with strong palissades and many
guns, because of their fear and trembling at what they had done to our Portuguese-
he wantedto muster his people in all his kingdom and dominions with their mandarins
and their officers I with their captains; and Fol. before we come to this it w i l
l he necessary to describe the city of Malacca and its boundaries and its kingdom,
and then the places under its dominion, to show its greatness according to local
~tsndards, so that its destruction may be realised afterwards.
[NEIGHBOURINC LANDS]
On the side of Upeh, which is over against Kedah, Malacca is Bounds of 1 bounded by
the Acoola P8najyx, a river which flows into the
,
$ 2 2 : {
sea-it is about four leagues from the fortress of Malacca to its mouth; and on the
side of I?@Z over against Muar it is hounded by the Kuala Kesang (Acoala Cafimt),;
it is about three leagues
f
Acoola P m j y must correspond to Kusla Lingi, the mouth of the Slmgi
Ling<(kuab in Malay means mouth of a river) which forms part of the boundary
between the State of Negri Sembilan and the Settlement of Malaw, se%en miles east
of Cape Rachado and sppmximstely twenty-four I mil- fmm the town af Malaccs-nearly
double the four league8 indrcated by Pirer. Knala L i n is ~ the first port of some
consequence north-west of Mslacca. On Eredxa's maps (fob. 11-rz) Sungi Lingi a
called RioPawm.
i m ~ mean'Xuala y Panjang'. See plate XXIX.

1
8
Immediately west of Kuala tingi 1 s Tanjong Panjang; Piren' Acoala P w j y
1 Eredla says that YIw rws a vshge outside the walls of Malaw. ' on this ddc of the
river [of Malacca] towards the south-east' (fol.6). and thus it , appcaro on his
pldns of ihe town (fols. 8-9). It corresponds to the southseat I put ofths t ~ w of
n Malacca, called Banda HxLr today.
of Malacca and
a Kual.4 Kesang formsthe eastem boundary today between the Settlement
the State of Jobore. Eredm calls ir 'the beautiful lye dp ::mmm of altgamn and
crocodiles' (fol. to), and has it on his maps as Cnraa. According to Eredia, m his
time the Pormguese "District of Malacca' extended from l b o Panundm (Ling<)to a
little east of Ria Muar, for a distance

a60
TOM* PIRES
from the fortress to this boundary; and then going overland from one boundary to
the other round the foot of the hill, which is called Gunong Ledang (Golom Leidam),
which is the boundary on the land side, the said boundary of Malacca joins up and
finishes, within which boundary there is a great deal of wood, most of it growing
straight up to the sky, for masts and other things, and there are pleasant waters.
~ordms Malacca has within its said limits one thousand one hundred lbwenra and
fifty farms which they call dugces, some of them with palm rmthin there groves,
some with oraquas, some with fruits of various kinds, all boundtof .46aIocca md
good, including the fruit of the durians, which is the best fruit in W'U' ""-at-
the world without doubt. From the Acoda Petzaiy to the river onnr it had. of Muar
along the sea, Malacca had a cute of men-at-arms who could fight, that is a hundred
thousand men. These it had at the time when the Captain-major came to Malacca, when
he took it. Within the bounds of Malacca are many wild elephants, and many tigers,
and six or seven kinds of deer, [which look] like oxen but are not. The Kingdom of
Malacca from Acoah Penajy to Kedah. All these are tin lands which they caU timas.
Ciijo~am'. The first place is Cinyojum. It is governed by a mandarin. He used to
pay the former king of Malacca four thousand calains a year, paid in Malacca. It is
a place%y a river which must have more than two hundred inhabitants; they ate
Malays. K I O ~ Another place of timas besides this is called Klang. It pays
(C'Bm)'. the same amount in Malacca, and the population is the same as in the
other. They are Malays like the people of Cinjou& There is another place beyond
this on another river, which is called Selangor (Calatngor).It pays six thousand
calains a year to Malacca in timas. This is a bigger place with more people. They
are Malays.
of twelve leagues (thirty-eight miles) and penetrated inland eight leagues (hvenry-
five miles), mth s circuit of twenty leagues (sixty-four mdes). Actually there ere
approximately fifty miles between Kuala Ling, and Kuala Muar, along the coast, and
Kuala Kesang is aghteen miles from Malacca-nearly double the three leagues
indicated by Pires In Pares' time the boundarres of the Malacca territoq were muoh
as they are today. Sungi Jugra is the next large river beween Kuala Lrngl and
Klang. * Klang IS a town not far from the mouth of the Klang Rsver. R. ds talon on
Berthclot's map of 1635.

MALACCA
261
The other place is Bemam. It pays the same amount as Klang BmQm m d CinjojuiZ every
year and it has twice as many inhabitants as
r,"~,~
Another place is called Mjmjam. This has more tin than any Mimjam.
of the others. It is largertban the above-mentioned. It used to

pay Malacca every year eight thousand d & s which are worth &teen thousand, because
these have twice the value. It has two villages: M@ja+n with Malays, and the other
further up with Lqtes, and they are often at variance, and each place has its own
jurisdiction, and it is so to this day. Another is EN&?.. This gas not so much tin,
but it has more B ~ Q S people and it is a trading place. It has a great many pmaos
and (l%4. people, and there are two villages on the Bmas River. This Bruas has
plenty of rice. They are Malays. They pay six thousand tims to Malacca every year.
The people in this place have more presumption than all the others put together.
The captain here is Tuam A p , mandarin of Malacca, The other village is cafted
Perak. It used to pay four thousand Pol. I?ar. mas a year to Malacca. The
population is about the same as Pe7nk that of Klang. They are Malays also.
(~irnc).* The governors of these places are called m b 3 l , that is mamdalipua of
such and such a place. They have civil and criminal Ijurisdiction] in their lands.
The ordinary people elways come to trade in Malacca in small pmaos. They bring 7
$hu and rice, chickens,goats,figs, sugar cane, oraquas and things like that. The
people in these places are poor. They live in this way, and themen of Aru attack
them and sometimes carry them all off; and they always have palisades. The first
place is Muar. This is the chief place after Malacca. K i n g b The town contains
about two thousand men; it has a very good river; it has beautiful farms, and it
has enough rice for its own on the needs. It has plenty of foodstuffs, many
oracaf.The people of P~fmng e a r are knights; they have many mandarins. It is
under the side'
galaZCa
River. Bernan an Berthelot's map. P~rak R i v e r .Pern on L. Homlcm's map of 155+

D. Homefn's atlas of 148 and Dourado's atlases. 8 Perhaps from the Ma1 mdntdri (a
counsellor, a minister of state), or fmm o Ar. m d n m (an appointed chief,
resident, provrncial governor) aad nrolik
I
* Bern-

262
TOMB
PIRES
jurisdiction of the Bemdara. It haspmaos and a beautiful riverside with trees, and
fish. I t is a cool place. he This Fremoso River is a much bigger river than the
Muar; but it Fennoso has not so many people. In some places it is thinly populated.
River. There are many inlets into which ships can enter. It has beautiful wood,
many owaqua, fruits, any amount of fish. They say that this place belongs to the
kings of Kampar by ancient agreements. Sd@apme Beyond is the Sgmgapwa charnel. It
haa a few Celntevillages; (** it is nothing much. From there onwards the said
kingdom does P W ) ' . not extend any farther on land. This canal is a thing of
little importance-I mean the people who live there. The kingdom of Malacca
described so far all lies in the land of Siam. NOW we w i l l tell of the
seignories which obey Malacca; some of them pay tribute and some supply men. We
begin in the island of Sumatra,?long the coast on the way to Palembang. RoRmr Rokan
is a country near Aru. It used to be subject to the king of Aru, and now it belongs
to Malacca. It is a kingdom and has a king. He does not pay tribute, but is only
obliged to help with men in time of war, without payment. War. Rupat is a place
beyond this, going straight along. The lord of it is a mandarin. He is obedient to
the said king of Malacca in the same way as Rokan above. s i o k Siak is a !
iingdom; it has a Fig. It is a small country. I t is also (Cine). obedient to the
king of Malacca. In these countries they live by agriculture; they are not traders.
They come to Malacca to buy cloth, and [people] from Malacca go to sell it [to
SiakJ. They bring gold in exchange. Purim. Pujm is almost entirely a country of
Celates.The sheik of it is obedient to the said king of Malacca. This place has
more pmaos, and these men in this pla~e are robbers. The robbers come to make a
fair of the things they steal. Rowers go from here to Malacca. There are very large
quantities of shad in this
'T b i s M the first time the name is spelt u, it still ia in P o w e s e

today&k#@ura. The first two European dmumeats, earlier tbm, or contanpmary with,the
preaent one, where Singapom is rncntioned, are Rodriguer' mq, (fol. 34). which
records rmngqura, a n d ths letter written fmm Malacca on zz Feb. r513 by F. Peren
de A n d d e to Afonso de Albuquerque, which tbria meatiom e a p u r . Cartar, 1x1
51-65.

263 place-more than inAzamor. And &is roes come to Malacca in
MALACCA
of Karnpar is strong. The lend is very sterile K m n m d; it has apothecary's

lignalm; it has a great wax; it has enough rice for the inhabitants, This king of
Kampar is descended from Raja m e .He and thq king of Malacca are first cousins;
they are closely allied Thls king used to pay the kimg of Malacca four cutes of
gold, all four of which are worth six contos and twenty-five w u d o s . The
kingdom of Indragiri is like that of Kampar. It has more pal. r?au. merchants; it
has more gold than Kampar. He is also related to the said king of Malacca like the
king of Kampar, and also to the (Amdsrdsr king of Kampar. He has the same
merchandise in his country as s u e ) . there is in Kampar, because it is all one
country, which is called Menangkabau (Mettmncabo). Although there is a king of
Menangkabau, the whole of this country is called thus. This country has better gold
than there is here. The king of Indraqiri is more accessible for trade, because he
has a better river-mouth. Junks can enter into it. He pays four cates of gold a
year to the said
Pahang (Paluino) is i n the land of Siam. This m g ] is also pehag closely related
to the king of Mslacca, and to the kings ot Kam- F ' * h ' par and Indragiri. This
king has the same merchandise in his country as the others have; and he has gold in
good quantity, which is called Pahang [gold]. It is in dust and of less value than
that from Menangkabau. The king of Pahang (Pdao) is a greater king than any of
these, and he holds the king of Trengganu (Talimgm)as tributary to Pahang (Polio),
and Pahang is uibutary to the kingdom of Malacca to the extent of another four
eoies of gold a year. This [country] produces alum and sulphur , in addition to the
other merchandise. It has a good city. It is always at war with the people of Siam.
Pahang (Pahri) has mandarins and fighting men. It is a country which breeds warlike
men. It trades in mercbandiae; there are more merchants in this country than in
Indrag*, Its port is good, and its people are ~ C C U M to O trade. ~ ~ i s bevond
Indragiri, on the sea- T w M The land of Tongkal ( T d ) :oast. It has a sheikh. It
is obedient to Malacca; it helps with TrugwlD

men. It is a gold-producing country. I t has the same merchandise as Indragiri. I t
is a small affair. I t is not obedient to anyone else except Mahcca. They are good
men on the sea; t h q have smallparaos. Linga consists of four large islands which
are opposife to ~i~~~ (Limpua). Tongkal, almost opposite the first land of
Palembang (Palimbrio). It has a king; he is called Raja Limgua. He must have forty
pmam and lancharas. They are a more warlike people than any of the others in
Malama, or in its kingdoms and dominions. It is from here that the cabaes come, as
will be described when we speak of this. This Raja Liwa is greatly beloved by the
Celates. Celates are thieving coreairs who go to sea in small pmaos Celates.
robbing where they can. They are obedient to Malacca. They make Bintang [Bfnttam]
their headquarters. These men serve as rowers when they are~equired by the king of
Malacca, without payment, just for their food, and the governor of Bintang brings
them when they have tvserve for certain months of the year.
[NATIVE oft&
ADMINISTRATION]
o&i,,~r
g!::.,
Bemdarn'.
h a mima.
The kings of Malacca sometimes create captains-general, whom they call Paduca Raja.
These are a kind of viceroy, who is next to the king. T o this man all the
mandaiins do reverence, and the Bemdarn and Lasamana do the same to this Paduca
Raja. When there is no aforesaid official, the Bemdara is the highest in the
kingdom. The Bemdma is a kind of chief-justice in all civil and criminal affairs.
He also has charge of the king's revenue. He can order any person to be put to
death, of whatever rank and condition, whether nobleman or foreigner; but first of
all he informs the king, and both decide the matter in consultation with the
Lasamana and the'Tumunguo. The Lasemana is a kind of admiral. He is the chief of
a:I the fleet at sea. Everybody at sea, and junks and lancharas are under this
man's jurisdiction. He is the king's guard. Every knight
'This is the first European descnptron of the Malacca high officials, Bendahara,
Laksamana, Temenggong and Xabandar. See Hobran-Jobson, 8.". hndgr=, Laximane,
Toomongong and Shsbunder; Dalgado, s.v. Bendara, Lassamane, Tarnungo and Xahandar,
alsa the noteon Paduca Roja, p, 244
MALACCA
z65
[and] mandarin is under his orders. He is almost as important as the B d m - i n

war matters he is much more important and
Tumungo is the chief magistrate in the city. He has charge of Tumunthe guard and
has many people under his jurisdiction. All prison p. cases go first to him and
from him to the Bemdara, 1 and this For r,Jr. office always falls to persons of
great esteem. He is also the one who receives the dues on the merchandise. There
are in Malacca four Xabamdmes, which are municipal Xabamoffices. They are the men
who receive the captains of the junks, dares. each one according as he is under his
jurisdiction. These men .present them to the Bmdara, allot them warehouses,
dispatch I their merchandise, provide them with lodging if they have documents, and
give orders for the elephants. There is a ' Xabamdm for the Gujaratees, the most
important of all; there is a Xabamdar for the BunuaqujIim, Bengalees, Pegus, Pase;
there is ~a Xabamdar for the Javanese, Moluccans, Banda, Palembang, Tamjompura and
Luf6es; there is a Xabamdar for the Chinese, Lequm, Chancheo and Champa. Each man
applies to [the Xabamdm] of his nation when he comes to Malacca with mer4 chandise
or messages. . The rule in Malacca is that if the king has an elder son by his M-W
wife, he marries him at fifteen years of age or later; and if the sfsuccflnon o f
lhs said son has a son or daughter by his wife, so that the king has a bw grandson,
he relinquishes the government and the son remains M ~ ~ U W in possession of the
kingdom, and the father no longer is king. , However he is respected as before,
though he does not govern. , No one hut he may n.ear yellow under pain of death.
And if he ~ h r proposes to go out and to wear another colour, he orden the & ' s
l",Irn colour to he proclaimed, and no one may go out in such colour zn th :under
pain of death. He may go out in state three or four times a ,,rt,af 4 year for all
to see him. If he goes by land the elephant is covered up to the eyes in yellow
cloth, and if he takes [another] king mdpoing with him he rides on the neck, and he
himself goes in the middle, and his page on the haunches. No one may wear a chinese
hat
'
~ .
IVhm the When he goes in apmao or lanchara it carries four white poles hncsorr sewn
or eight fathoms long, trio at the poop and two at the b ,.,,

266
TOM$ PIRES
prow. These poles are called guallasl. The Lasamana may have one of these poles at
the prow; any other king may have two, one at the poop and another at the prow, and
this is the greatest honour there is amongst them. And this rule cannot be broken
amongst the Malays. And on matters of this kind they will kill each other sooner
than on any others. These poles are raised upright, just white, without anything
else. C-abaaThe cabaEes are noblemen. They have given everyone to ewa. understand
that they cannot die by the sword. The cabaZes are men who carry a round piece of
steel and other metals as big ao chickpeas on the thick of the right arm,and when
they receive it they swear to die like knights. There are few cabaees, and they are
much feared. The land where the best cabaees come from are the islands of Linga,
and next to these [come those] from Brunei (Bumpe) and Pahang, and those from
Malacca are not so good. The amoks are knights among them, men who resolve to die,
A~&. and who go ahead with this resolution and die. This resolution is called
amucks (amoquos)j.There are many of these people in Malacca and throughout all
these paas. They cannot become such, without much wine first. Of these we will
speak when we describe Java, because the chief amoks come From there. When some
mandarin is condemned to death, tllsy go to his Jurr*ein Mah~ca. house and say:
'You are to die'. And his nearest r e l a t h kills him with the his. The condemned
man washes himself first and says j which , is how they tall his prayers, then they
give him the & the bete1,d and so he dies; or if he 1s a prisoner, this is the most
honourable death. And if he is a commoner they thke him into the street and order
him to he killed, or impaled, or burnt aiive, or beaten on the chest to death,
according to the mture of the crime. And the estate of all these people goes to the
king if they
' Msl. gdloh, 'a pole, long staff, setting pale, boat-hook'. Marsden, Bcbonnry,
S.U. lMal. kribnl, 'invulnerable, a cham worn to tender the person invulnerable'.
Marsden, Dtcttonnry, r.v. T b e Corncntdrt?~(111, xv) and Barros (11, vi, z),
however, say that cabal was the name of an animal of Siam or Java, the bones af
wh~ch had the v i m e of preventing e man's blood from running from s wound.
=Again, this is the first record in any language of the word moquo or m o c o
(amuck), and the first description of what the word Lnpl~es. Seep. r76. 4 Sinh is
the Malay word for betel. Marsden, Dtetimmry, r.u.
.. .

MALACCA
267
'have no heir in the Zrect l i e , and if they have one he takes the When some
person or merchant dies without an heir in the For. 273~. direct line, the king
takes his estate; and if the dead man has Whr made an heir, then they divide the
estate between them. First hiW inhowever they pay out the alms and the funeral
expenses from the hm'rr total amount, and any debts the dead man owed are paid off.
If they are important people they do not marry without first j,u informing the
Bemdara. If the marriage is between merchants the husband must bring as much as the
wife; and this is among custm. the Klings who marry when young. And if it is
between Moors the man must give the woman ten taels and six mazes of gold as dowry,
which must always be actually in her power. And if the husband wishes to leave her,
the said dowry and the clothes remain in her possession, and each of them may marry
whomsoever he pleases. And if the wife makes a journey by sea with her husband,
then she hands over the money to the husband, and if they part from there, in that
case the husband returns the ten taels and the profit on them. If some man commits
adultery, and if the husband can kill The both the lover and his own wife in his
house, he is free and goes unpunished if he kills one and the other. And if someone
has d l t q , fled and he has killed him outside, coming from his house, he is
liable to the death penalty; he can only apprehend him, and thereafterhe cannot
live with his wife if he accusesthe other man. When some man injures another, or a
woman, half the fine T& goes to the king and half to the complainant. They cannot
c""m demand justice without the complainant takes something to the about judge,
according to the nature of what is demanded. Erom this the bemdaras are very rich.
Every mandarin when he goes to see the king approaches no kc nearer than ten paces
and raises both his hands three times above his head, and then he kisses the ground
and says through hnnr third persons what he wants; and the same on taking leave.
And obsmr this is on the days when they know that the king can be seen by them. And
they do the same to the prince. All show great ,LkiW, respect for the king and for
what belongs to him, and the people when they pass by the kiig's houses do
reverence to them.
$zs$-
z:U";"
$'En-

268
The
CwMm
T O M $ PIRES
On account of the seats, when a mandarin speaks with another he does not sit down,
but remains standing, unless the seats are about on the same level, such as a bqnch
or one storied house (?).When d m . they greet each other they shut the left hand
with the thumb stretched out and the right hand on the left, and thus they speak
out of courtesy. All have houses with rooms on a lower level for the servants, so
that they should not be so high as their masters when they speak to them. You must
never raise your hand above the navel with a Malayan; it is a great courtesy. We
will talk of thii when dealing with the things of Java, because they took this
custom from there. The The Malayans are jealous people, and so you shall never see
cwtom the wives of the important people in the land, nor do they go &out ~ G I out,
except sometimes; if they are entitled to do so, they go out mve. in covered sedan
chairs, and many women together, and this occasionally. Each man has one or two
wives, and as many concubines as he likes; they live together peaceably. And the
country observes thie custom: heathens marry with Moorish women and a Moor with a
heathen woman with their broper] ceremonies; and in their feasts and rejoicing they
take too much wine. Both men and women are fond of mimes after the fashion of Java.
[TRADE]
Moors from Cairo, Mecca, Aden, Abyssinians, men of Kilwa,

who the Malindi, Ormuz, Panees, Rumes, Turks, Turkomans, Christian
are who ,roded,n
andfrom
parts.
Fol.
Armenians, Gujaratees, men of Chaul, Dabhol, Goa, of the kingdom of Deccan,

Malabars and Klings, merchants from Odssa, Ceylon, Bengal, / Arakan, Pegu, Siamese,
men of Kedah, Malays, men of Pahang, Patani, Cambodia, Champa, Zochii China,
Chinese, Lepeos, men of Brunei, Lufnes, met, of Tamjompura, Laue, Banka, Linga
(they have a &<,usand other islands), Moluccas, Banda, Rim% Timor, Madura, Java,
Sunda, Palembang, Jambi, Tongkal, Indragin, Iiappatta, Menangkabau, Siak, Arqua
(Arcat?),Am, Bata, country of the Tomjano Pase, Pedir, Maldives. Besides a great
number of islands [there are] other regions from which come many slaves and much
rice. They are not
MALACCA
Zag
places of much trade and therefore no mention is made of them, only of the above-
mentioned peoples who come to Malacca with junks, pungdmws and ships; and in cases
where they do not come to Malacca, people go there from here, as will be said in
detail under the title of each [region]. Finally, in the port of Malacca very often
eighty-four languages have been found clpoken, every one d i s t i n c t ,as the
inhabitants of Malacca a 5 m ; m d this in Malacca alone, because in the
archipelago which begins at Singapore and Karimun up to the Moluccas, there are
forty known languages, for the islands are countless. Because those from Cairo and
Mecca and Aden cannot reach Malacca in a single monsoon, as well as the Parsees and
those Fimt rtr from Ormuz, and R u m , Turks and similar peoples such : : :$ sa
Armenians, at their own time they go to the kingdom of Gujarat, d , th bringing
large quantities of valuable merchandise; and they go m h m u trade to tbe kingdom
of Gujarat to take up their companies in the said who to Malacahips of that land,
and they take the said companies in large, in t ~ d r numbers. They also take from
the wid kingdoms to Cambay, *hip=. 'merchandise of value in Gujarat, from which
they make much rofit. Those from Cairn take their merchandise to Tor, and rom Tor
to Jidda, and from Jidda to Aden, and from Aden to Cambay, where they sell in the
land things which are valued *ere, and the others they bring to Malacca, sharing as
aforesaid. Those from Cairo bring the merchandise brought by the '@IIeasses of
Venice, to wit, many arms, scarlet-inmg&, M e l c k mloured woollen cloths, coral,
copper, quicksilver, vermilion, dirc brou8ht :nails,silver, glass and other beads,
and golden glassware. thosefto Those from Mecca bring a great quantity of opium,
rose- Ca'lo~ Aden an mter and such like merchandise, and much liquid storax. Mecen
Those from Aden bripg to Gujarat a great quantity of opium, w i n s , madder,
indigo, rosewater, silver, seed-pearls, and other dyes, which are of value in
Cambay. Inthese companie~go Parsees,Turl~s, Turkornans and ArmenQnn, aud they come
and take up their companies for their *go in Gujarat, and from there they embark in
March and ' ail direct for Malacca; and on the return journey they call at the
Maldive Islands. Four ships come rvely year from Gujarat to Malacca. The

70
TOMB
P~RES
merchandise of each slip is worth fifteen, twenty, or thirq thousand rruPrador,

nothiag less than fifteen thousand. And from the city of Cac6bay one ship wmes
every year; this is worth seventy or eighty thousand nuMdcr, without a n y doubt.
The merchandise they bnhg is Joths of tbirty kinds, which are of value in these
parts; they also bring pachak, which is a root like rampion, and caEBchu, which
looks like eanh, they bting rosewater and opium; from Cambay and Aden they bring
seads, grains, tapes& and much i n , t h e y bring forty kinds of merchandise. The
kingdom o f Cambay and that of Deeaul as f a as Honawar are called First India, and
SO each of
thegLings&hIfinhistitles'ItingofIndia'.Theyare
both powerful, with krge fonrs of horse and foot For the last 300 yeam these two
kingdoms have bad M o o r i s h kings. The kingdom of Cambay is superior to that of
Deccan in everything. The prinapal mwchandise brought back is cloves, mace, nutmeg,
sandalwood, seed-pearls, some porcelain, a little musk; they carry enormous
quantities of apothecary's lignaloes, and finally some bemin, for they load up with
these spices, and of the rest they take a moderate amount. And besides they take
gold, enormous quantities of white silk, tin, much white damask -they take great
pains to get this--coloured silks, birds from Bands for plumes for the Rwnu, Turks
and Arabs, which are much prized there. These havethe main Malacca trade. They pay
in dues six per cent; and if they will have their ships assessed by valuers, they
pay on their valuation. This is the custom with the Gujaratees, in order to avoid
extorti~ns by the mandarins; for besides the six per cent,they pay theB+a, hamane,
Tumunpa and Xdamdm one doth per hundred, and each one according to who he is, which
the merchants regard as a great oppression, and therefore they have the ship
valued; at the lowest a Gujarat ship is valued at seven cates of tinras', which
is :wenty-one thousand mcnaabr, and on this they pay at the rate of six per cent.
Those from Chaul, Dabhol and Goa come and take up their
should &'seven earn d rol?inr m h ' or ;roo,mo saldnr,as one L loo,ooo, md IW &were
worth thee tm.zad01;or eke, 'seventy mur of tima', or 70,mopw h. as rw t i carhe
made one rdoirn. See pp. z&, 175. Thus 69 Lb* (or 33.3 A, at Pires' est~mate)of ttn
were wonh o n e & , or about £2 r78. at the modem value o f the old E N P D ~ O .
rotr
Fd.IT@.

MALACCA
T I
in Berigat, and from there they come to Malacca;and they also take them up at
Calicut Of these we shall speakwhenwe speak of the things of Be+ These Malabares
form their company in l&muaqu&m, that is C w n a Choromandel and Pulicat, and they
mme in companies; but the name is Rlings and not Malabara. Choromandel, and
Pulicat, c d and Nagor. These are ports of the coast of Chommandel: t6e d K d f i t
is C d ,and KW& ( C a l i c o t e ) , Adi~ampatnam (Admmntm3,Nagore (Noa), T i
janpatnam ( T m - ) #me (CmecaU), Tranquebar (Tcregmnpm], TTirmefwasscl c d k d
(TijnrrJPchn), Cu&~~aw, Pondicherry (C-3, P u l i c a t g '
'@!?At,
5 h
(Phaiaa)l.
~ ' ~ d e t g o a ~ C&(Sse'N)mPulicat f m m (13Ozs'N); butinhLlmerofa7Jm.15~6,C h o
d e l k f n r m t b c lhorlrofmto Pondichemy (Cunjarym). The modan 'Cost of
Chomm~del' nms fmm Cdhem Point (lo' 187 to GodLsui Pdot (16" 587 a e a d h g to the
Adminhy Pilor. All the shtemth-cmiury Pormpae fhmnidn, runem md rmp give ditferent
limit8 for the Chommsndcl mast and mention M-t plum-name ar i t . See noit p. 6 & .
Clnsor Q & , as spdf More, rnmspmda lo O l d Kay& plaa which ha. ww ,among the
lagoons of the d o h of tha Tsmbnpmi River. S e e = . T K B X : .: rnr~aspand. to
Ki1nka-i ( 9 "157 It is d c d C a k w e by k m (I, u, I), md -pars as 0
n
I
O.lrarrinD.W'm.tI8.ofx558Yd=&~inDamndo'a.tlrsof ~571. 'Calcuw~ Iicr in gt

drgreea' .ayr the Ntter in Livro & Mmidorh, p. 225. A D A W ~ P A T m ~ Ip o n d .
to A d k m p a m r n (10' 187, wh*h ' i r oon.idued a p m of refuge for native v s
r L betrsrrn the monthp of May and hptcmbd, amonling to the Bqr of B m p l Pilot.
NMR rnrrezpand. to Nlpon. See note p. gt. T~~JMNAPATAM camponds to Tirurml.njmbyBam
%sppeanrasmmoldinD. &bum(10- 531). Called Tomrm's .tlar and as -ido in tbe nip. of
c. 161513. ChllsCYL L KuiM (lo" 553. Called Chnacnlle by Barma, and p.ilhrne by B a
h ; rppun as calccma M L .Homem's map of 1554, md ar d i n D. Hornem's
&
0th of 1558. TZIWANP~RJ mrrcopanda to Tmaquebar, or Tmmrgaq&i in

27; it k called Tragwnbm by B a r n . TIRJM-CHA ~rreapond. to Turnelwe& (XI' 137,
as n p e l t in t h e Admiralty's Blot and &rt, m Tinnnullsivd, sa &t spelf the 'I-
inch to a r m k map of India'. Th two mdem and authoritative spellings help us to
under8 d the irundbca avpriringly anld s p h g used by Fie0 (which moreawr we l m m
only thmugh his h w d b e r ) and other early writem d ~ ~ n p p ~ TirjmZzcha k n .
w t be w h u Barrm caUs Trim'wwu sad whst ur m rrinullmuv in Dourado's atlas of
157r The m a s a p that 'fmpatam to t h e hs~slu of Tnhmmw here are 12 lengues and
it baa a h g e dm', wh*h must be the &lemon River, the largeat and nonhPnmat bnneh
of theCawarrg. Cmmoo-Perhaps Cqddalore ( ~ 1 ~ 4 3d 7t , eh k oallad CaInpnfe by
Barms and K e in the Mddt. &NJMJ~J, which PM :rlL Clrnjmeyro m his letter of 27
Jan.1516, to Pon&berry
tho vernacular, (11'

r -

272
T O M $ PIRES
The Malabars come to Pulicat to take their companies. They bring merchandise from
Gujarat, and those from Choromandel bring coarse K l i g cloth. There come every
year to Malacca three or four ships, each one must be worth twelve to fifteen
thousand cruzados; and from Pulicat come one or two ships, each worth eighty or
ninety thousand cruzados, or a junk worth no less. They bring thirty k i d s of
cloths, rich cloths of great value. They pay in Malacca six per cent. These K l i g
s have all the merchandise and more of the Malacca trade than any other nation. h u
m The principal thingthey take back is white sandalwoods, [ * O ~ a ~ c ] because
the red ones grow in Bunuaquelim; and a bahar is worth f m ~ ~~h~~~ one and a half
cruzados; and there will be some ten ships each to Bonua- year if necessary. And
they take camphor from Pansur, which is quelim. to the south-west, and in the
island of Sumatra it is not worth so much; this is edible. [They also take] alum,
white silk, seedpearls, pepper, a little nutmeg, a littie mace and a little cloves,
much copper, little tin, fruseleira of the lowest quality, calambac, damasks.
Chinese brocades, and gold. They pay six per cent entry-dues and nothing on coming
away. They leave here in January and come back in October. They take a month to go
and another to wme back; and sometimes they go from here to Pulicat in Malacca
junks. And the Klings are from the kingdom of Narsinga. They are heathens. Du-~nid
As the account and description of the lands has been given in Mnlacca above, it now
remains to speak of the dues which the merchants from the west paid in Malacca when
they came with their meronmechandise chandise, to wit, merchants from Aden, and
along with those. from the from Aden, those from Mecca and Ormuz; Parsees, and with
them all Gujarat, Cbaul, Dabhol, the kingdom of Goa and Calicut, the kingdom of
Malabar, Ceylon, Caile, Choromandel,
(~r" 56'). Tomaschek (Mohir, Tafel XVIII) gives Comymie as a Portuguese name
corresponding to Conhomeiro, a place-name found in many early Pormgueae maps and
situated by Earros between Calapote and S.Thomior Maliopar (Mailapur, practically a
southern suburb of Madras). The mtter says that from Sam Thome to Conhomeirn there
will -be about twenty-five Leagues (eighty miles), which is exactly the distance
between Pondicherry snd Madras. Pires' Conjmjrjor Cunjmeyrn may be the
Conymate(?)mentioned by Gaspar da India in a letter written from Cochio on
16Nov. ,506 to the King of Portugal. Cartor de Afonro de Albuquerque, 11,377-8.

MALACCA
=73
,all the kingdom of the Klings, which is Narsinga, the m of Orissa, Bengal, Arakan,
Pegu, Siam. Pegu and aid dues on the merchandise, and a present on the proall
provisions in all these lands, on the side of TenasKedah, Pedir, Pase, are a matter
of a present. These are of the west. These all pay six per cent in Malacca. And .
out these companies ( there come merchants, Malayans or ~ r l175t. other nations,
who have their wives and settle in Malacca. ey pay three per cent, and besides this
a royal due of six per in the case of a foreigner, and three in the case of a
native. esent is paid to the king, and the Bemdma, and the Tumunand the Xab& of the
nation in question, and these ts will amount to one or two per cent. AccordKg as
the decides, so the merchants pay, because the xubtzndmes thetic to the merchants
and of the same hations as the ants; and sometimes they give more, according as the
wash to be on good terms with the king and the And this done, they sell their goods
freely. ve also another way with the big ships. Sometimes A m f b the consent of
the king they [make1 valuations. It is known PnFW 'Oay.'* ship from such and such a
place is bringing merchandise duff. so much. They call together ten merchants, five
Klings from some other nation, and before the Customs Judge, was the Tumungam, the
Bmdara's brother, they make the ation and receive the dues and presents. Because if
this was done, each one would take his pickings. And the trade is reat that the
guards steal, and to avoid rh& and oppres, this was done. And also it was found
rhat the valuers e heavily bribed; and through this system people rarely d [to
behave in that way]. is an old custom in Malacca that as soon as the merchante HOW
e they unload their cargo and pay their dues or presents, 8s Pricm be said. Ten or
twenty merchants gathered together w i t h E d in of the said merchandise and bid
forit, and by the said ~ d n ~ c q . the price was fixed and divided amongst them
all in ortion. And because time was short and the merchandise derable, the
merchants were cleared, and then those of cca took the merchandise to their ships
and sol$ them at
J3.C.S. l i .

274
T O M ~ PIRES
their pleasure; from which the traders received their settlement and gains, and the
local merchants made their profits. And through this custom the land lived in an
orderly way, and they carried on their business. And that was done thus orderly, so
that they did not favour the merchant from the ship, nor did he go away displeased;
for the law and the prices of merchandise in Malacea are well known. Lon& The
entire East does not pay dues on merchandise, but only Lhn'pay presents to the king
and to the persons mentioned above-[the p*mtr only entire East,] to wit, Pahang and
all the places as far as China, all * O ~ t h e the islands, Java, Banda, Moluccas,
Palembang, and all iplaces] dues. in the island of Sumatra. The presents are a
reasonable amount, something like dues. There were taxing officials who made the
estimation. This was the general custom, but the presents from China were larger
than from all other parts. And these presents amount to a great deal because the
number of sea-traders who paid presents is considerable. And if they sold junks in
Malacca, the dues paid were two or three tundaias of gold per hull; and this goes
to the king of Malacca. And afterwards it was decreed that on each 300 cruzados 15
should be paid in dues, and this the xabandares of the different nations collected
for the king. All provisions pay presents and not dues. Lond No man can sell a
house or a garden without the licence of the duu. king of the land or the Bemdma;
for the licence for the sale of the garden and the said house adjoining (?) a
present was paid accordingly. Malacca also had so much per month from the women
street-sellers, and this was given to the mandarins, for the streets assigned to
one mandarin so much, and so much to another, because in Malacca they sell in every
street. And this was [for] the poor people's hospital. And as a great favour an
inhabitant was allowed to have in front of his door a stall for selling or hiring.
They also have dues from the fruit and fish; this was a trifle. Besides the [other]
dues, the principal due it had is on the weighing of all merchandise that came in
or went out: one calaim was paid on each hundred the merchandise was worth. And for
this the kine has secretaries and receivers: and everything was weighed, even tar-
lamps, and this amounted to a good deal at the time in question.
'
1,
I
MALACCA
275
The MaIacca coinaee was made of ralains in timas-ti~nasFol. 175u. means tin. The
small tin coins are cashes. A hundred were worth Mnlec~n eleven reis and four
ceitis, at the rate of a hundred calams in timas for three cruzados. Every hundred
cashes make one calaim =lW nnd weigh barely thirty-three ounces. And ail the
merchandise is thetymas, 101d by calams, and they pay in tin or in gold. The cashes
are like cdtir, with the name of the reigning king, and those of the late ,l ,
kings are also current. The tin pieces are eighty. And a hundred calains are worth
three cruzados. Malacca hag xerafins from Cambay and from Ormuz; they Xarabnns.
circulate as well as our cwzado. Each xerafim is worth twenty- Cruzados. aeven
ralains, which make 320 reis. The cruzado is worth thirtythree and a third at the
rate of three per hundred calains. Pase &amas and silver coins circulate. The
lowest quality gold that comes to Malacca is that from Brunei, which is of four and
a half, five, five and a half, and six mates, and next that of Lme, which is of
seven and seven and a half mates; and next that from Java, of eight and eight and a
half mates, and that from Pahang (Pahun) is of this value and ~omewhat higher;
andthat from Menangkabau is of nine mates; and that from the Klings is of nine and
a third and nine and a half; so too is that from Cochin China: this is the best
gold in these parts; it is gold [good] for cruzados, of nine and a half mutes or
more, almost two thirds. The Malacca weight is the tael, which is also called
tumdaya. Tael or T h i s tumdaia weighs sixteen mazes, each maz weighs four
TUndaya, rripCes, each cupom weighs twenty cumderisl. This tumdaya weighs, in our
measure, eight and a half drams less six and a half grains. The value of the gold
is according to the number of mates. V~lueof
2%
, , ,
i;;fi:;d
E;:!;f
weight with wh~chthey weigh gold, musk, seed-pearls, coral, calamhac, d a r [mhtes
or precious stones m general, from the Msl. mdm'knm] is the :rite, vhlch is 20
raels; each tar1 is 16 maam, one ma2 rs 20 cumduym; end one paudis 4 mazes, one mas
is 4 cuflu, one cap& is r u n d u ~ y ~ .Lywp ' dos Pmu, p. 39. There is an obvious
mistake in Fires' MS. It is possible that the transcriber left out a few words
wh~ch would make the last part of the sentence read: 'each eupom weighsfis c m d
m . ~and , so eorh man oeighr twony cumderis'. See Hob~m-Johon, I.V. Candareen;
Dalgado, s.u. Cup& and Condorim.
' Referring to the measures and weights of Malaccs, Nunes says: 'The
rhcgoki.

276 TOM$ PIRES The mate is worth twice its number in calkins, so that gold of four
ntates is worth eight calaim the mas, and that of four and a half mates is worth
nine calains the maz, and that of five mates is worth ten calains the maz, and that
of ten mates is worth twenty calalns the w .At this rate you calculate as follows:
gold of eight mates is worth 16calaim the mnz, [as the tael has sixteen mazes.1
sixteen times 16 are 256 calnins. The calculation is made at the rate of a hundred
calaim for three cruaados. The cute of the Malacca gold is worth twenty taels. You
make your calculation: twenty times two hundred and fifty-six are five thousand one
hundred and twenty, and in this way the value of the gold is reckoned. And there
are assayers of gold appointed by the king. And the king had given this office to
one who gave him yearly half a cate of gold. And he takes nothiig from the king or
mandarins for assaying gold, and he charged the people one calaim for each tael,
that is eleven reis, besides what he gathered on the stone, which is almost another
calaim, because they are rough stones well fitted for this plunder. And no one but
this man could assay gold. And this is a good post in Malacca, and there is a lot
in it, because it is one of great credit. Vabof The silver of Pegu was worth a
hundred calnim the three then'vm. taelr, and silver of Siam and of China was
formerly worth forty calaim the iael; now things are worth somewhat more. Much
silver used to come to Malacca. The Malacca tael or tumdaia was of eleven and a
half drams; Weightr o f Ma'acca the cute weighs twenty tundaias minus six and a
half grains at the tnf o r m a times. above rate. The cute of gold is worth twenty-
eight and a half ounces. Gold, silver, musk, edible camphor, calambac and
seedpearls are weighed by this cafe. Catefor The cute for merchandise weighs
twenty-three of the above nrerchonmentioned taels; it weighs thirty-two and three-
quarter ounces dzre. and twenty-five grains. The Malacca farapola weighs ten of
these ratesz.With this cafe,when you buy by the bahar, it comes to two-hundred
cafes in the case of the following merchandise, ' The Malaceaforogoln, then,
weighedzo lbs. 6 oz. 285gr.(9,268 grammes). But the weight of the Jaragola varied
locally through the whole East, from about lo to shout 30 lbs. See Hobwn-Jobron,
r.u. Frazala; Dalgndo, I.*. Faw6la.

278 TOM^ PIRES said factory, I decided to verify the dachirn, and I did so
thoroughly, and I found that the said dacizzm weighed exactly three quintals, three
arrobar and twenty-seven arrates of the old measure. Nobody would believe me. I
strove so hard that they sent to Cochin to ask for the weight of the bahar in lead.
They sent back word from Cochin that the said dachim, according to the Cochin
measure, weighed exactly three quintals, three arrobas and twenty-six awates. I am
convinced that it was not well weighed. Now it is determined that this is its
weight. I say this so as to be able to answer for it later in Cochin, and also
because the King our lord lost twenty arrates in each bahar, in what was weighed,
which was done at the rate of three quintals, three m b a s and six arrates. M W W
~ Because we have no measures, when 1 had to measure I the weighed the rice
contained in onegamta after the law of Malacca. I found that it weighed in rice
exactly three arrates and ten Gnes and ounces of the new measure. If over there you
put this weight [of - e g m ~ . rice] in a vessel you will easily be able to
measure its volume in oil or other liquid.
z",?
r I
[PORTUGUESE OCCUPATION]
So far much has been said of the things of Malacca in the past, although in Malacca
there is much more than has been said, because doubtless I am ignorant. About the
trading in merchandise, ' this cannot help but be towards the end of the monsoons
and the beginning of others. Wow I will tell how it was taken, and what happened up
to the time of my departure for Cochin, and of the kings who are vassals here, aud
of ether friends, and of the lands which traded here, and how the city is
recovering and filling again with merchants, and from what parts they came to trade
hereafter the taking of Malacca. Afonso de Albuquerque, Capitan-Major and Governor
of the Indies, arrived at Malaeca at the beginning of the month of July, in the
year 1511, with fifteen sail, great and small, in which came
The complete lack of punctuatton renders these sentences suseeptrble of several
interpretations;lt seems, moreover, that some ~ o r d are s miss~ng here, possxbly
omitted by the transcriber.

MALACCA
=79
I
,
about sixteen hundred fighting menr. At this time it is said that Malacca had a
hundred thousand men-at-arms, from Kuala Lingi (Coala Penagy) to the hinterland
(?)and Kasang (Cugm), which are the limits of the city of Malacca. And the Malays
had many strong palissades, and on the sea there were many Iancharas, and paraos in
the river, and on the sea many junks and Gujarat ships phich were ready to fight;
because there was then in Malacca a captain from Gujarat who was working for war,
as it seemed to him that he alone could cope with our ships and men, all the more
because of the immense number of natives, though the natives did not back the king
of Malacca; because in trading-lands, where the people are of different nations,
these cannot love their king as do natives without admixture of other nations. This
is generally the case; and therefore the king was disliked, though his mandarins
fought, and that whenever they could. As soon as the said Captain-Major arrived
with his fleet, he pd spent a few days sending messages of peace, trying as much as
he
' Albuquerque
zo Aug.
arrived before Malacca on the 1st July. In his letter of
~srz, written from Cofhin to the King of P o w , he says that the
Reet was oomposed of 1 7 ships, which he specifies; as one of the &eya was lost off
Ceylon, according to his own statement, he arrived at Mala- with 16 of the vessels
with which he left Cochin. Cmm, I, 67. The Conrantdrior say that Albuquerque left
Cochin for M a l a m with 18 sail (111, x i v ) ; Barma (rr, v, g) and G6is (111,
xvii) say 19 sail, and 14- fighting men, 800 being Portuguese and 6ao Malaban;
Comia says 18 sail, with 'about 6oo fighting men and seamen, and valiant slaves.
native sailors. . . .' (11, 183); Csraheda mentions 18 sail with '800 Portuguese
and zoo native foot-soldiers' (111, I). All these chroniclers, aith the exception
of Cornis, mention the galley lost o f f Ce>-Ion. They say also that the fleet
captured five Gujamt ship. (tour according to Correia) between Ceylon and Sumatra,
and brought them with the fleet to Malacca (Comia says that two tiere burnt after
being seized), ss well as one or more junks taken henreen Sumatra and MalaThw,
Albuquerque arrived at AIalacca m-ith at least 16 of the ships with which he sailed
from Cochin, plus about 4 to 8 other ships and junks seized on his way thither. It
is not easy to explain, therefore, why Pircs, who must have been sell-informed,
rays that Albuquerque amit-ed at Alalacca with rg sail, great and 4 . As regards
the number of fighting men, there is some variance between the chroniclers'
statements, though Barns, G6is and CastPnhcb a g m that the Portuguese nwnhered Boo
and the rest were natives. But in his letter to the chronicler Duane Galvio,
written from India in 1gr3, Albuquerque, when referring to the expedition to
Xalacca sir-5: 'We were in all sewn hundred xhite men and three hundred JIalabm: d
l the other men and captains remained in India.' Cartus, 1,397.

could to avoid war. However, the levity of the Malayans, and the reckless vanity
and arrogant advice of the Javanese, and the king's presumption and obstinate,
luxurious, tyrannical and haughty dispdtion-hecause our Lord had ordained that he
should pay for the great treason he had committed against our people--all this
together made him refuse the desire for peace. They only attempted to delay matters
with Malayan messages, strengthening their position as much as they could, as it
seemed to them that there was no people in-the world powerful enough to destroy
them. So the said Governor managed to get back Rui de Ara~jo and those who were
prisoners with him, ? l e king never wanted peace, against the advice of his
Lasumme and the Benzdma and his Cerina De Raja that he should make peace; but
following his own counsel and that of his son, whom he afterwards killed, and of
Twm Ban& and Turn Mafmrmt and Utmwtumqa and his son Pate Acw, and the Gujaratees,
and Pat@ and other young nobles who offered to run completely amok for the kiig,he
would hear nothing of peace, tlie Kashises and their mollahs telling him that he
should not make peace; for as India was already in the hands of the Portuguese,
Malacca should not pass to the infidels., The king's intention became known, and it
was necessary that the said king should not go unpunished for what he did and for
the evil counsel he took. The Governor, having taken counsel, landed with his men
and took the city; and the king and his men fled. The Captain-Major returned to the
ships that day, and did not allow the said king to be harmed, to see if he would
desist from his obstinate intentention. The king was unwilling. F W y the said
Governor landed again, determined now to take the city and no longer to be friends
with the said king. He took the city and occupied it. The king of Malacca fled with
his daughters and all his sons-inlaw, kings of Kampar and Pahang. They went to BY&,
which is the residence of the kings, and the Captain-Major took p d o n of the
city. The city and the sea were cleared up, and authorities were appointed. The
Captain-Major began to make a fortress of wood for want 3f stone and lime, and in
the meantime order was given for the

MALACCA
lime]: then they began demoIishing the wooden one, and they made the famous
fortress in the place where it now is, on the site of the great mosque, strong,
with two wells of fresh water in the towers, and two or three more in the bulwarks.
On one side the sea washes against it, and on the other the river. The walls of the
fortress are of great width; as for the keep, where they are usually built, you
will find few of five storeys like this. The artillery, both large and small, fires
on all sides. Meantime Utennrtn Raja, hb son, son-in-law, and another relative,
were beheaded because they were found engaged in Malayan intrigues and trying to
darken the cloves. The king went from Bsstam to Muar, and there he would have liked
to ki k i Audeln of Karnpar and his son-in-law; and the youth fled to Kampar, and
as far as we know they are no longer friends. The king went to the kingdom of
Pahang, and there the king of Pahang's son wanted to kill the ex-king of Malacca in
order to seize the treasure he brought and still has. The king fled to Bitang where
he still is. Let us pass over the fact that he was routed in Muar coming to Upeh,
because many things of the kind happen in Malacca that are not written about. The
land began welcoming merchants, and many came. The governorship of the Klings was
given to the B+a Nina C h ,with the office of Bnndma; the governorship of the L ~ %
e Parsees s, and Malays was given to Regim de Raja, aL@o Moor, who was given the
office of Tumunguo; the governorship
' Coneis (14 zgc-I) says that Albuquerque ordered m e junks of the Mwrs to be
demoIished, and with their wood and wooden casks Med up With earth a palisssde was
budt mountingmany piecea of artillery. Then he blunediahly ordered the foundations
of the fortress w be dug; for the con#Man of the £0they found much atone and h e .
Castanheda (nr, k) .w g .salso that Albuquerque ordered ' a w d e n fortress to be
built where the mosque was, and ir)sids this fortress, an the same day it was
begun, he 1 W m d fovndations eigh6 feet wide to be dug for the d s of anather in
glla8ant-y; and he wanted the w d e n one to be burlt first because it would be
sooner, than that of masonry'. The Canentdrioa (ur, mi), however, O r m us that
Albuquerque 'ordered the wooden fortreas he had bmught m diaembarked, in order t o
shelter the people who would work in the mn: *tion, and to prepare the lime and
stone for [the building ofl the fomess 18 begin'. According to the Canmrdn'os,
Cmmnheda and B a r n (It, ui, 6), dc ArsGjo had informed Albuquerque that there was
neithw stone oor ur Malacca, but they found plenty of stone and masonry in some nt
sepulciues, and obtained limefmm shells.
Fhd
'&'
.a
.
of Iler was given to Twnr Colarcar,that of Upeh to Pate Quedrr. Pate Quedir, a
Javanese, rebelled with the help of Utmutmuja's F o r . 1727. money, and made the
war in which several Portuguese died 1, among them Rui de Arafijo. Afterwards Pate
@ed+ w a s overthrown and driven out; he fled and returned to Java and killed many
Upeh merchants, robbing them of all they had. After this the country became quieter
and began to settle dom, many returned to people the land, and thenceforward it
improved. Meantime Java gathered all its forces and came against Malacca with a
hundred sail, among which were some forty junks and sixty lanchms and a hundred
calaluzes, and they brought five thousand men'. Our ships went out to meet them, at
which the Javanese were upset and withdrew with the tide, leaving everything and
taking to the calalues. And they escaped in the large junk and two others. All the
rest were burnt, and the people in them, and others were drowned, and others taken
prisoners. And there is no doubt that this w a s the finest fleet the Pornguese
ever saw in India, or with so many important people; and they were still more
heavily defeated, for which Our Lord be ever praised, for such a feat is not in our
hands. And because Our Lord is not slow with H i s justice, the people of Java were
tamed, and those of Palembang who came with Pate U r n Hilled, at which Gucte Pate
of Java and the lord of Tuban were not at all displeased. Tnbutmr The kings of
Pahang, Kampar and Indragiri, tributary vaskies ?f sals; friendly vassals, who
write that they are slaves of the King the King o.r~ord, our Lord, the kings of
Menangkabau, Aru, Pase and Pegu; and other friend, the king of Siam; the kings of
the Moluccas count themfrLndly
ULIISnIr'
1 The C m t d r i o r say that Pate Urns' armada had 'po sal with sbout 1 0 , men
(besrds the b ~ junks g which he left in Muet Rxver)' (w, m); C a m m refers to
'Thlrry brg junks and sixty small ones, and other mft,m whrcb he put 15,- fightrng
men' ( I ! , 277); Castanheds says '300 sad, between junks, h c h and rololwe~, so
full of people that it ws. a marvel to behold' (ln,c), and 'our men would be 300 st
the mast, and the enemy over 2 5 , , the bravest and best armed and most determrned
there mere from beyand the Cape of Gmd Hope to any of the four p3r:s of the world'
(nr, c k Barms refera to 'go sml, the larger part af whrch wert small mwlng vessels
of every kmd, and the rest~unls with about 12,oc-a men and much d e r y , made in
Java' (n,i x ,6 ) , G61s says 'about 300 sad, between j d s , hdmes, and
rowingvessels, mth many khting men' (111, d i ) . See note pp. r51-z.
...

z83 aelves as slaves, and so they have written, [as well as] the pates of Java, the
lord[s] of Grisee (Apmjj),Tuban, Sidayu (Cndaob the lord of Surabaya
(Cuncbaia),friendly vassal, who counts himself as slave; the king of Smda the same;
[atso] the Gusfe Pate of Java; and letters and ambassadors [come] d d y from other
kingsand lords; the king of Brunei calls himself slave.
Gujarateeshavecome,andMalabars,Klings,Bengalees,Pegus, Prors people from Pase and
AN, Javanese, Chinese, ~enan~kabaus,c& people from Tamjmpwa,Maeassar, Brunei, and L
q k s . paopL Our ships [have been] to Java and Banda; a junk to Chinar, c o r n to
and Pase, and Pulicat. Now they go to Timor for sandalwood, M&cm to n P d ck and go
to other pam. A junk of ours has already been to Pegu, , k . t o th; port of ~l&ban
(%fo~tmimte). p10ar Manv Kling merchants; some Javanese, Parsces and Bengalees; ,
some Born P& and Pahang, Chinese and other natioaties; junkrand Lq&s and people
from Brunei. The people are very mixed and m increasing. Malacca cannot help but
return to what it was, NLfwand @ecorne] even more prosperous, because it will have
our ide,f merchandise, and they are much better pleased to trade with us . than
with the Malays, because we show them greater truth and $ * justice. M b is growing
richer in junks, the Malac- merchants buy junks; they are rebuilding new godowns.
The country is improving; they are beginning to pour in, and there is need for ~ l
and e ordinance at this outset, and permanent laws. A Solomon was needed to gwem
Malacca, and it deserves one. Java trade. The owner fits out his junk with
everything that is The 1 necessary. If you want a cabin (peitacap, or two, you set
two or dthz I three men to look after and manage it, and note what you take; mht,
MALACCA
:z
I
1
,
1
This refetstn the voyage ofJotge Alvares to China in r j z l , which ia wri- n o j

h h c d by orher dacumenrs. AIsa in a letter of 7 Jan. 1514. written fmm a d - L
Mslacea to the Kmg of Portugal, Pires says: 'A junk of your Hiihnru left inother
hue for C h , in company with others which also go the= to bad: t h e p w s .
merchandise, as well as the expenses which were incurred and m e now being
iucurred, are shared equally between you pnd the Bnndnra Nina Ckatu; we are
expecting them back here within fwo or thme months.' Cmuu, In, 90. This is an
imprtaot p m t , for until recently it was thought that the myage of A1vsres with a
junk to Chins dtd not t&e place uU1514. See note p. I20. *Peitaca, fmm the Md.
PC*&, 'a d ~ v ~ s ~ or opartition n (as in the hold of a
veael)'. Marsdm, Dictioamy, s.s, Dalgado, S.U.
aha haac

1
'I
'
'
284 TOM^ PIRES and when you come back to Malacca you pay twenty per cent on what
you put in the junk in Malacca. And you, the owner of the merchandise, give a
present on what you bring back. And if you loaded a hundred maudos' worth in
Malacca, when you get back you have two hundred before paying the owner of the
junk. If I am a merchant in Malacca and give you, the owner of the FOI. r77o. junk,
a hundred rmzudos of merchandise at the price then ruling in Malacca, assuming the
risk myself, on the return they give me a hundred and forty and nothing else; and
the payment is made, according to the Malacca ordinance, forty-four days after the
arrival of the junk in port. The voyage of Java is made at the beginning of
January, in the first monsoon, and they come back from May onwards, up to I Mugust
or September of the same year. Sundo. For Sunda they give you fifty per cent,
because they can bring black pepper and slaves. I t is a land of merchandise and
trade; the profit is greater. The voyage takes little time and is plain sailing.
Tamjom- All four places here give you fifty per cent, the loader taking P . the sea
risk. The voyages are all almost plain sailing. They pay in the manner aforesaid.
These three places pay, according to the law of the land, Pm, P & . thirty-five per
cent the voyage. The sailing is safer and shorter. Ked4h' Siam and Pegu pay fifty
per cent, the risk being as aforesaid. simn, If you load merchandise on the return
voyage, you get two for p ~ . one, and after paying all dues there remains one for
one and sometimes more. And they take eight or nine months on the journeys. These
two places make the voyage year by year. These give Bend, one for one, according to
the ordinance, or eighty or ninety per cent; and whoever loads up for these two
places sometimes makes three for one. China is a profitable voyage, and moreover
whoever loads up, c h i n o . hiring cabins (patacas), sometimes makes three for
one, and ia good merchandisewhich is soon sold. Theshme And because this loading of
the junks is a very profitable matter, as they sail in regular monsoons, the king
of Makcca for the derived great profit from it. They gave the king one third [more]
~ i n of g
.-

MALACCA
as$
and the king made the man who dealt *lacm dues, so that it was found that from "*at
they loading of the junks great store of gold was brought in, and l o o ~ ould not
be otherwise. And here come the. kings of Pahang, tkjunk. Kampar, and Indragiri,
and others, through their factors, to lay money in the said junks. This is very
important for any: with capital, because Malacca sends junks out, and others e in,
and they are so numerous that the king could not help be rich. And the said
merchant who dealt with the king's diseand grant thesaid rights, this was attached
to the custom-house, in charge of Cqma
merchant has no gold to pay Mannn of rding to the value in thePeymmt. andise it is
more profitable stom if you have not conprefers merchandise chandise goes up in
should anyone ask what. advantage to his exchequer the
ants and navigators, and of the kings :%ho still trust the false words of the king
of Bintang, who does more mischief among relatives in one day than we can undo in a
. pt-there is no doubt that Malacca is of suc'l importance and fpr6fit that it
seems to me it has no equal in the wafld. Anyone may note that if sorrleone came to
Malacca, capable of i?ulron anding each year a junk to China, and another to
Bengal, gnnther to Pulicat, and another to Pegu, and the merchants of J , Malacca
and for the other parts took shares in these; if a factor Molacca. ~f the King our
Lord came to tax money and merchandise, so much per c ~as taforesaid; and if
someone else with bfficials anye to take charge of the cmtorn-houge to
collectdues;who can
286
TOMB
PIRES
doubt that in Malacca bahars of gold will be made, and that there will be no need
of money from India, but it will go from here to there? And I do not speak of Banda
and the Moluccas, because it is the easiest thing in the world for all the spices
to reach there [India] without any trouble, because Malacca pays wages and
maintenance, and it will make money, and will send all the spices if they are
acquired and traded and controlled, and if it has the people such as it deserves.
Great affairs cannot be managed with few people. Malacca should be well supplied
with people, sending some and bringing back others. I t should be provided with
excellent officials, expert traders, lovers of peace, not arrogant, quick-tempered,
undisciplined, dissolute, hut sober and elderly, for Malacca has no white-haired
official. Courteous youth and business life do not go together; and since this
cannot be had in any other way, at least let us have years, for the rest cannot be
found. Men cannet estimate the worth of Malacca, on account of its greatness and
profit. Malacca is a city that was made for merchandise, fitter than any other in
the world; the end of monsoons and the beginning of others. Malacca is surrounded
and lies in the middle, and the trade and commerce between the different nations
for a thousand leagues on every hand must come to Malacca. Wherefore a thing of
such magnitude and of such great wealth, which never in the world could decline, if
it were moderately governed and favoured, should be supplied, looked after, praised
and favoured, and not neglected; for Malacca is surrounded by Mohammedans who
cannot be friends with us unless Malacca is strong, and the Moors will not be
faithful to us except by force, because they are always on the look-out, and when
they see any part exposed they shoot at it. And since it is known how profitable
Malacca is in temporal affairs, how much the more is it in spiritual [affairs], as
Mohammed is cornered and cannot go farther, and flees as much as he can. And let
people favour one side, while merchandise favours our faith; and the truth is that
Mohammed will be destroyed, and destroyed he cannot help but be. And uue it is that
this part of the world is richer and more prized than the world of the Indies,
because the smallest merchandise here is gold, which is least prized, and in
Malacca they consider it as

MALACCA
2%

Dcuthof the Bendura
N,,~
Chtuu.
with greater reason should I grieve over Malacca. Let it be known to all that the
King our Lord lost more through the death of the Bemdara than his own sons lost,
for he was a true and loyal servant of his Highness, The Bemdma died. Some say that
he died of grief, others say that he took poison, prefering to die rather than see
the king of Kampar ruling. And when he was preparing to die, with tears in his eyes
he said: 'If the great King of Portugal, Lord of the Indies, or his Governor, does
not honour my sons after my death, God will not be God. Woe to thee Malacca, for
here dies the true friend and servant of the King of Portugal.' And dead is, beyond
all doubt, one of the suppow of Malacca, who maintained the service of the said
Lord. May it please Our Lord that we do not miss Njna Chatuu, as we all fear. And
if by chance I should not come before the presence of the King our Lord, or of his
Governor of the Indies,. I here declare that the death of Njna Chatuu makes it
necessary for Malacca to have two hundred more Portuguese than were necessary
[before] to uphold it, and that it is most important for the Governor of the Indies
to come without delay to Malacca in force, as it is no less a pilgrimage than the
one to Mecca, and he will destroy the credit of the king of Bintang, and tame the
pride of the Javanese; he will listen to the merchants of Malacca; he wilt give
them a ruler according to their nation. As merchandise is harmonious in itself, the
ruler who is to control it, must favour it; otherwise the merchants will not be
able to endure, for they are scandalized and agitated by the new coming of the king
of Kampar to Malacca, which is very hateful and scandalous. And may Our Lord
forgive whoever played such a trick on the Captain General, for he is more worthy
of punishment than of favours. Now Maneco Bum? is [Bemdara?]of Malacca with the
title of
' Maneco Bumj corresponds to the Mal. Marigkc-brimi, 'first cauncellor or minister
of state, vizir, an assessor or coadjutor of the Monarch'. Msrsden, Dicrionnry,
s.u. 'The king of Kampar exercised his office, not with the name of Bendahara, but
with that of Macobuma, which among them is as Viceroy among us, arrd this an
account of the royal status he had', says Barros, n,ix, 7. 'George de Albuquerque
invested the king of Kampar in the office of Bendshara, with the title of
Mgcubrrtnc, which is a dignity like Viceroy among u s ' , says Gdis, 111, Innix.
Barros, Gdis and Castanheda (111, cxlix) describe
,
MALACCA
z89
Gwernor. Ra@ Audelaa, king of Kampar. He i s a youth and foolish, and a Malay, a
nephew of the king of Bintang and married to his daughter. I do not think that he
will have any muccess in Malacm. And as the Captain Major ordered it on information
which would be given him for the purpose, it is certain that he must have done it
out of a sense of duty, for his Lordship would not wish to see the loss of the
fortunate kingdom he won. He should not allow the said Malay in Malacca, or any
other, but throw him out at once, and put in wrneone not of Malay blood.
&museacaptain is sufftcient to ruleandgovern, with governors according to the
nations of the merchants. And he should strive for this, for anything eise does not
seem to me h the service of God or the King our Lord, or of the daptain-
jmeral.
the young man discharged satisfactorily the duties of his new office. But f~ther-
in-law,the =-king of W c a , who hnted him and intrigued hun with such succem (with
rhe help of the sons of N i m h o t ~w6B , the was the cause o f thur father's
death and hated hLn no isss) that months later Jorge de Albuquerque, at t h .
instante of Ilsrtolomeu rcls, he new factor of MalawFUI had hw beheaded. GGis
comments: ms that God wished to provide speedy punishment for that injustice, ing
that Barsolmeu Percstrclo had fhe greatest s b r e of guilt m the f that Innwent m
n . because r7 days aller he had been executed, clo died a sudden death, an easmple
that men should foiim resson truth rather than impulsa coupled with revenge'. And
Barm adds: ople of Nlalacm said that the wul of the dead man summoned the soul
H.C.S.
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?lLS)T-MAJRR OF 'IREARMADA THAT DISCO~D BANDAANDTHE WOLUCW

ASIAN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

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wilI fmd here a vast 6Jd for m m h and w n . +29

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um,meam 'villwe, bommde, am-

d : rrur+sThrr place, which farther on n e 6nd spelt Bvelh or B r e t m , ia

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ex@ &far dw.

& ~ ~ g & m m h da son, who had been born in

w h ,d r~ d y almmt a man, married to the principal

iar. 166% & 'Q

killed and nineteen. pripnrn, ISZZ w a s t h c f h t P o m ~ p u ~ v f ~ i n

and ruler of a c n , natural History), 0~h00 e h this note forms: ' A

I Region d t D m s ' t 0 its &end60 m e baing

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C b ii ~ s Bukit Chmn, d e d BVQVET. China on ErcdL's mqn

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pm Darsa had a son by this Chinese

of Chepar,whichis on rhe river fi6maso2 beyond Muar on

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' 'Padli+n affectionate epithet; beloved, dear.' Marsden, Dictionmy. According m

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in rulingthe paople and encouraging his men greatly to war. He w a s peaceful to

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y say he was a man with a hundred and njznty quintals of

1 Sulun Abuddin or hl.cdin. ' A l d d h q r ~ k dorms pormpinc du nom nnbe

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was not in his right mind. H e was a

et court as it were, and Mohammed, because he

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Ttut19co.j.,~eof&IItmAL~.~~~~~thcribt Mu& (the Bmd.h.n sfnin h *St* by O & hfi w h

P m k who war a h a Bcnbhn.Sea note w Pats @&,m.s9a-4. a The king of P.hang w q a

~ (who s w u not killed) and Tun Kundu, r si~tm of Turn

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- he brought the kiaga of Pabang and Kamp" and In&-

oua, intoxicated d t h opium every day. He was preswp-

of Java did not care about Malacai nor about its

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Rqa Zainal-Ahdin. Ahdullah, whom Barros calls A b e W ( h i 1% 71 k r n d 06is

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' Timuta Rajs.

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Acoola P m j y must correspond to Kusla Lingi, the mouth of the Slmgi

i m ~ mean'Xuala y Panjang'. See plate XXIX.

Immediately west of Kuala tingi 1 s Tanjong Panjang; Piren' Acoala P w j y

Ttut19co.j.,~eof&IItmAL~.~~~~~thcribt Mu& (the Bmd.h.n sfnin h St by O & hfi w h