When the Portugese conquered Malacca on August 24 of 1511, it was what Singapore is today: the biggest port of the world.
Today Malacca is a charming little tourist town exploiting its glorious past and Singapore is a world center for shipping and banking where business is never asleep.
1630 plan of Malaca
Before the arrival of Parameswara, a fugitive Hindu ruler of Singapura (today Singapore), todays Malacca was a fishing village inhabited by local Malays.
When he arrived, he is said to have squatted under a Melaka-tree, the Malay word for the Indian gooseberry tree, "amalika" in Sanskrit. Hence the name Melaka.
He converted to Islam, the religion of the Arab traders who were busy wrestling the westbound spice trade from the Hindu kingdoms of the area that had monopolised the trade for centuries.
Due to its strategic location, Melaka was a port of call for Zheng He's fleet who arrived in 1405 on the first of his 6 visits to Melaka.
Ever since the ties to China were growing fast and the trade was expanding. One Ming emperor even send his own daughter to marry the sultan and the first Chinese settlements were founded. Because of the success of the port, many a greedy eye were watching it and in 1469 it was the Vietnamese who tried their luck and attacked the town in order to take over.
They failed and Melaka thrived under muslim sultans until the Portugese took over. They abolished the monarchy and lost Melaka in 1641 to the Dutch who ceded it to the British Empire in 1826 who then ruled there until 1946.
Malacca is a major stopover of the
Naga Pelangi Spice Route Passage *
which takes place in the month of May eastbound, going towards the east coast of the Malay Peninsula and in the month of November coming from there and sailing up to Langkawi. The Passengers will have time to see the historic city and enjoy the athmosphere of this exceedingly friendly town.
Singapore
The first settlements in what today is Singapore were dated as early as 200 AD. Later it was a trading post of various Hindu kingdoms notably the Sumatran Srivijaya empire. Between the 16th and the 19th century it belonged to the Sultanate of Johor, today one of the Malaysian states. In 1613 the Portugese burnt the place for fear of competition to their trade post in Malacca and it was Thomas Stamford Raffles who resurrected the place when he signed a treaty with the sultan of Johore on behalf of the British East India Company in 1819. In 1824 the whole island became a British possession. After the second world war it was for a short time part of the new founded Federation of Malaysia before it became independent as the Republic of Singapore in 1965.
Singapore can be a stopover on the
Naga Pelangi Spice Route Passage *
if the passengers wish to visit this city coming from Malacca in May on the way to the east coast or coming from the east coast in November going up to Langkawi.
