The Historic City: Melaka

Among the locals the city of Melaka is known as the Negen Bersejarah. It translates to the Historical State. The state of melaka is the third of the smallest states of the country of Malaysia. It is ranked in size after the states of Perlis and Penang. The location of the state is at the southern most tip of the peninsular region of Malaysia, and it lies on the straits of Malacca. The Nageri Sembilan forms the northern border to the state and to the south it is bordered by the Johor state. At a distance of 148 km from the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur lays the capital of the state of Melaka, Malacca City. The capital Malacca city is also 235 km away from Johor’s capital, Johor Bahru. The UNESCO listed the city of Malacca as its one of the World Heritage Site since the July 7, 2008. The earliest sultanates of the Malay were located in the state of melaka. But the monarchy was ended in the state with the Portuguese conquest that took place in 1511. Now the head of the state is the governor and this post is no longer held by the Sultan.

History of melaka:

Local Malayan people mostly inhabited the fishing village of the capital city of melaka. It was the time before the sultanate arrived in the state. The founder of the capital was Parameswara. He was variously known by the name of Iskander Shah and Sri Majara. He settled in Melaka, in the capital city of Malacca where he found the availability of a port in the year 1400. The prospect of the port was good because of its accessibility year round in all the seasons and also because of the fact that the port was located on the narrowest region of the straits of Malacca. There is the existence of a popular tale regarding the name of the state melaka. As goes the legend, once Parameswara was retreating for rest under a tree by the river. At this time his pet dog attacked and cornered a deer. The deer for its own defense, the deer pushed the dog into the river water. Startled by this event, and struck by the courage of the deer, Parameswara foresaw a good omen of the weak overpowering the strong. He then decided that he would build an empire on the very spot where he was resting a few minutes ago. Therefore he named it melaka to pay homage to the tree he was resting under.

More of the History:

The Proto Malay privateers who wandered across the Strait region helped Parameswara, and he went on to establish Malacca as one of the major and largest international port city. These sea people compelled the ships passing the Strait to harbor there. Thereby the facilities for warehousing grew and trade was strengthened. The Chinese settled in large numbers especially during the ruling times of the Parameswara near the Chinese Hill otherwise known as Bukit China. The Chinese settlers were mainly from the imperial as well as from the fleets of the merchants. The Chinese hill is known to have excellent features of geomancy that offered lucrative positions to the Chinese people. After the death of Iskander Shah in the year 1424, the capital city of the state melaka still continued to prosper and its prosperity attracted the Siamese people. When Tun Perak was the Bendahara or the prime minister of the state of Melaka, there was an invasion by the Siamese on Malacca. But it was skillfully warded by the prime minister in the year between 1446 and 1456. The strength of the friendly relations between the china and Melaka was to suppress further Siamese attack.

Demographics of melaka:

The total population of the capital city of melaka, Malacca, was 788,706 in the year 2010. In 2007, there were 57% Malays, 32% Chinese, and a sizeable minority of the Indians along with a small community of Kristang and the Dutch Eurasians. The Chinese were mainly from the Peranakan community, and the Indian population included the Chitty people. The Kristang are people with ancestry that is partial Portuguese. Other major cities of the state of Melaka are Alor Gaja, Ayer Keroh, and Jasin.

Geography of melaka:

The historic state of melaka covers a total area of around 1664 square kilometers. There are three major division of the state: Central Melaka, Alor Gajah and Jasin. Jasin comprises of the largest state area. The location of the state is on the southwestern coastline in the peninsula of the Malay region. It is directly opposite to Sumatra. The north of the state is bounded by another state, the Nageri Sembilan and to the east melaka shares its borders with the state of Johor. The capital of the state, Malacca Town, has a very strategic position. It is directly in between the two capitals, one of Malaysia and the other of Singapore. To both of these national capitals the Malacca Town is well connected by means of roads and network of highways.

Cultural Overview:

Together with the capital of Penang, George Town, the state of melaka was also listed as the center of history in the World Heritage List in the year 2008. There is the distinctive culture that the city possesses that it obtained from the largest community that settled here as early as 1400. Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum is very well known and an important museum. Also the Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum is one of the two very famous and the most important museums that is located in the state. The Malay dishes are very famous and is known very well across the globe like the asam pedas or the sambal belacan along with the cencaluk.  The dish of the belacan is made from the keragu shrimp that is available in Malay. There is a fusion of several cuisines like the Indian, Portuguese, Dutch, British, Chinese and Malayan cuisine that gives rise to the Nyonya Baba cuisine. The dishes conforming to this special cooking category are generally very spicy in nature. Chicken Rice Balls is a very popular dish with the domestic Chinese community residing in ht estate of melaka.