Early History & Sultanate of Malacca

The Malay Peninsula has been a maritime trade hub for millennia — between India, China, Arabia, and the Spice Archipelago. As early as the 1st century AD, Indian and Chinese sources mentioned the peninsula as a trading station.

The turning point came around 1400, when the Hindu prince Parameswara fled from Sumatra and founded the Sultanate of Malacca. Under Sultan Mansur Shah (1458–1477), Malacca grew into one of the world's most important ports — Chinese, Indian, Arab, and Southeast Asian traders converged here. At its peak, the city had 200,000 inhabitants and controlled the Strait of Malacca, one of the busiest waterways on earth.

Parameswara converted to Islam (and took the name Iskandar Shah), bringing Islam to Southeast Asia. The conversion was not forced but a strategic decision: Muslim traders from Gujarat and Arabia brought wealth, and Islam became the religion of the rulers. The Malay sultanate system, which still exists in Malaysia today (9 sultans rule alternately as king!), has its roots in this era.