Capture of Malacca (1511)

The Colonial Era · Chronicle · 16 min read

What Happened After Melaka Fell in 1511?

In 1511, what the Portuguese captured was a city, not the destiny of everyone in it

In August 1511, Portuguese forces bombarded Malacca. The Sultan fled, the flags changed, but most of those on the docks who came from Coromandel, from Fujian, and from Pasai did not leave. The rules changed; some found life harder, some found it easier—but the city remained the city, merely changing hands. The greater transformation had to wait another hundred and thirty years.