Samudera Maritime Museum Malacca

About Maritime Museum

One of the must see attraction in Malacca is the Samudera Maritime Museum.

TheMaritme Museum is located at Quayside Road near the Melaka River estuary.

The replica is 34 metres high, 36 metres long and 8 metres wide.

 The museum is the replica of theFlora de la Mar, a Portuguese ship that sank off the coast of Melaka while trying to transport Malaysian treasures back to Europe. It houses the Maritime Museum

HISTORY

From the writing of the Portuguese historian Emanuel Godinho de Erédia in the middle of the 16th century, the site of the old city of Malacca was named after the Myrobalans, fruit-bearing trees along the banks of a river called Airlele (Ayer Leleh). 

 The Airlele river was said to originate from Buquet China (Present day Bukit Cina). Eredia cited that the city was founded by Permicuri (i.e. Parameswara) the first King of Malacca in 1411.

The Capture of Malacca

The news of Malacca's wealth attracted the king of Portugal's attention and he sent Admiral Diogo Lopes de Sequeira to find Malacca, to make a trade compact with its ruler as Portugal's representative east of India. 

Diogo Lopes de Sequeira

 The first European to reach Malacca and Southeast Asia, Sequeira arrived in Malacca in 1509. Although he was initially well-received by Sultan Mahmud Shah trouble however quickly ensued.

The general feeling of rivalry between Islam and Christianity was invoked by a group of Goa Muslims in the sultan's court after the Portuguese had captured Goa.

The international Muslim trading community convinced Mahmud that the Portuguese were a grave threat. 

Mahmud subsequently captured several of his men, killed others and attempted to attack the four Portuguese ships, although they escaped. 

As the Portuguese had found in India, conquest would be the only way they could establish themselves in Malacca.

Who is Alfonso de Albuquerque?

In April 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque set sail from Goa to Malacca with a force of some 1200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships.

 The Viceroy made a number of demands – one of which was for permission to build a fortress as a Portuguese trading post near the city.

All the demands were refused by the Sultan. Conflict was unavoidable, and after 40 days of fighting, Malacca fell to the Portuguese on 24 August. 

A bitter dispute between Sultan Mahmud and his son Sultan Ahmad also weighed down the Malaccan side.

The Portuguese was helped by Guy Arojo, Chinese Capitans who supplied small ships to enter the Port of Malacca.

Following the defeat of Malacca Sultanate in 15 August 1511 in the Capture of Malacca, Afonso de Albuquerque sought to erect a permanent form of fortification in anticipation of the counterattacks by Sultan Mahmud. 

 Albuquerque remained in Malacca until November 1511 preparing its defences against any Malay counterattack.Sultan Mahmud Shah was forced to flee Malacca

 The exhibits have detailed descriptions of Melaka’s history, as well as ship models, dioramas and an interesting map room featuring charts dating back to Portuguese times. 

I was totally amazed at how they managed to preserve those artifacts.

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