Failing to Learn From History

The adage ‘those who fail to learn from history are doomed to make the same mistake’ is one that rings true if one looks closely at the folly of men down the ages. As a person whose passion is history, in particular of Malacca, I am totally dumbfounded at the persistent misconception as to how the ancient port city fell to my forefathers on the fateful day of August 24, 1511.

Most, if not all, assume that the Portuguese succeeded in conquering Malacca due to their use of superior and advanced armaments, namely cannons and muskets. If that is the case, then I must say that my forefathers really had some big gonads. Imagine a group of about 250 white Portuguese and roughly 1,500 mixtures of African and Indian salves conquering a city of 50,000 to 80,000.

That’s not all. Malacca was defended by several thousand Javanese soldiers not to mention Palace warriors and guards who were said to have been armed with nine war elephants, small bore canons and poison darts. In fact, it was recorded that the Portuguese recovered between 3,000 to 6,000 small bore cannons after the fall of Malacca.

It begs logic to say that the Malacca Empire, which had fought countless wars and expanded its sway over the Malay Archipelago, fell to superior arms. Imagine that, only 1,800 men in eighteen sails defeating a far larger and experienced opponent.

In my opinion, I would rather put it that the Portuguese arrived at a crucial time when the 115 year old empire was undergoing its final stage of decline and decay. There was internal strife and power struggle amongst the ruling classes, corruption and racial discord.

The Sultan was said to have been an aged and out of touched ruler who left his empire in the hands of his son. Then, there was also the division between the Muslim Malays, who considered themselves the royal court’s rightful pure blood heir, and the Indian Muslims, who controlled much of the city’s administrative and economic affairs.

This led to intrigues and conspiracies within the royal court, corruption and lack of allegiance to Malacca and its Sultanate. It was recorded that it was the first time in the empire’s history that Malacca’s defense was entrusted to paid Javanese mercenaries whose loyalty was easily bought off by the Portuguese.

There is much to be learned from the fall of Malacca by our present generation, in particular the powers that be. Almost 600 years have passed since the rise of the Malacca Empire, yet based on the present situation, we have failed to learn from our past as history seems to be repeating itself all over again.

To none I wish ill but to all I wish peace and love.....