Zheng He and the Rise of Malacca
Malacca became a refuge from the overbearing empires of the Far East, thanks to a celebrated Chinese admiral.
1407
King Henry IV 1399-1413 to The Yongle Emperor, Emperor of China 1402-1424
‘The Return of Zheng He’ by Vladimir Kosov (2018)
© Vladimir Kosov (2018), via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
‘The Return of Zheng He’ (2018) by contemporary Russian artist Vladimir Kosov. At death of the Yongle Emperor in 1424, Zheng was robbed of his patron and his travels were abruptly curtailed by the Hongxi Emperor (r. 1424–1425). Zheng He made the seventh and last of his voyages in 1431-33, during the reign of the Xuande Emperor (r. 1426–1435). It is surmised that Zheng died on the voyage, and was buried at sea. Xuande, like his father, did not really approve of these expeditions, as they seemed to be more about exacting tribute than promoting mutual understanding and trade.
Introduction
Bustling trade hub Malacca, on the Malaysian Peninsula, was a British possession from 1825 to 1957. It was founded in about 1400 by Parameswara, ex-king of Singapura, as a refuge from the empire of Majapahit based in Java. That Malacca held out for more than a century was largely owing to Zheng He, the most celebrated admiral in Chinese history.
The Javanese people of Madjapahit were not liked by their subject peoples. As is usual with imperialists, they were tyrannous, and many people preferred going to the new State of Malacca to remaining under Madjapahit. Siam was also at the time rather aggressive.* So Malacca became a place of refuge for many people. There were both Buddhists and Muslims. The rulers were at first Buddhists, but later they adopted Islam.*
The young State of Malacca was menaced by Java on the one side and Siam on the other. It tried to find friends and allies among the other small Muslim States in the islands. It even appealed to China for protection. At that time the Mings, who had displaced the Mongols, ruled in China.* It is remarkable how all the little Islamic States in Malaysia turned to China for protection at the same time. This shows that there must have been some immediate threat from powerful enemies.
* Siam is the former name of Thailand.
* The first ruler of Malacca was Parameswara (1344-?1414), known in the Malay annals of the time as Iskandar Shah. He had been the last King of Singapura, ruling there from 1389-1398; latterly he had been in Palembang in Sumatra, and had fled to escape the oppressive rule of Majapahit. Parameswara was a Hindu. There is considerable confusion in the contemporary annals over the names and beliefs of Parameswara’s successors, but as Nehru says Malacca became an Islamic state.
* The Emperors of the Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368-1644, making them contemporaries of English monarchs from Edward III to Charles I. Another century would pass and another dynasty (the Qings) would rise before the Chinese Emperors encountered the British: see ‘Tremblingly Obey!’ by Jawaharlal Nehru.
