Melaka

Melaka (Malacca) is a small city-state on the southwestern coast of the Malaysian peninsula. The port city there, also called Melaka, was a wealthy trade center along the spice route. Strategically located right in the center of the Straight of Melaka, it was a trading port that lay directly between China and India and that had direct access to the spice islands of Indonesia.

Melaka was a fishing village that attracted little attention until the late 1300s, when it was settled by an Indian Hindu named Parmeswara. Parmeswara was a trader who had fled from India and attempted to set up shop in Singapore. This plan was thwarted when Siam (Thailand) came down and kicked his butt for piracy and other nefarious deeds. He then settled Melaka and, with the support of the Chinese Dragon Throne and the great Chinese Treasure Fleet (I'm reading an interesting book about the Treasure Fleet - fascinating stuff), he managed to start up one of the most important trade centers of the age. Needless to say, that meant lots of people milling around. To the present, one can see the influences of India, China, Islam, Siam, Portugal, Denmark, Holland, and Britain. Even the French! Everybody was there, buying and begging and stealing and trading and fighting and making what would then be Malaysian babies.

Now, Melaka is sort of a sleepy tourist town that struck us both as a Malaysian version of India's Kochi (Cochin). This makes sense, as both cities have long histories of a diverse invading population, fueled almost entirely by the trade routes. Ain't empire a bitch?

For our purposes, Melaka proved to be a wonderful place to sit around and sip beer and people-watch.

thank you, beth, for showing me that picture.
please show me the next one.