Malacca Sultanate

Sultanate of Malacca کسلطانن ملاک‎ Kesultanan Melaka
c. 1400–1511/1528
The extent of the Sultanate in the 15th century, during the reign of Mansur Shah. Pre-modern Southeast Asian political borders are subject to speculation.
Capital	Malacca (1400—1511) Bintan (1511—1526) Kampar (1526—1528)
Common languages	Classical Malay
Religion	Sunni Islam
Demonym(s)	Malaccan
Government	Absolute monarchy
Sultan
• 1400–1414	Parameswara (Iskandar Shah (Disputed name))
• 1414–1424	Megat Iskandar Shah
• 1424–1444	Muhammad Shah
• 1444–1446	Abu Syahid Shah
• 1446–1459	Muzaffar Shah
• 1459–1477	Mansur Shah
• 1477–1481	Alauddin Riayat Shah
• 1481–1511	Mahmud Shah
• 1511–1513	Ahmad Shah
• 1513–1528	Mahmud Shah
Bendahara
• 1400–1412 (first)	Tun Perpatih Besar
• 1445–1456	Tun Ali
• 1456–1498	Tun Perak
• 1498–1500	Tun Perpatih Putih
• 1500–1510	Tun Mutahir
• 1510–1511	Tun Hamzah
Establishment
• Founding	c. 1400
• Capture of Malacca	1511
• Partition into Johor Sultanate and Perak Sultanate	1528
Currency	Tin ingot, native gold and silver coins
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Singapura Johor Sultanate Perak Sultanate Pahang Sultanate Portuguese Malacca
Today part of	Malaysia Indonesia Singapore Thailand

The Malacca Sultanate (Malay: Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: کسلطانن ملاک‎) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks c. 1400 as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswara, also known as Iskandar Shah,^[1] although earlier dates for its founding have been proposed.^[2][3] At the height of the sultanate's power in the 15th century, its capital grew into one of the most important transshipment ports of its time, with territory covering much of the Malay Peninsula, the Riau Islands and a significant portion of the northern coast of Sumatra in present-day Indonesia.^[4]

As a bustling international trading port, Malacca emerged as a centre for Islamic learning and dissemination, and encouraged the development of the Malay language, literature and arts. It heralded the golden age of Malay sultanates in the archipelago, in which Classical Malay became the lingua franca of Maritime Southeast Asia and Jawi script became the primary medium for cultural, religious and intellectual exchange. It is through these intellectual, spiritual and cultural developments, that the Malaccan era witnessed the establishment of a Malay identity,^[5][6] the Malayisation of the region and the subsequent formation of the Malay world.^[7]

In 1511, the capital of Malacca fell to the Portuguese Empire, forcing the last Sultan, Mahmud Shah (r. 1488–1511), to retreat south, where his progenies established new ruling dynasties, Johor and Perak. The political and cultural legacy of the sultanate has endured for centuries, where Malacca has been held up as an exemplar of Malay-Muslim civilisation to this day. It established systems of trade, diplomacy, and governance that persisted well into the 19th century, and introduced concepts such as daulat—a distinctly Malay notion of sovereignty—that continues to shape contemporary understanding of Malay kingship.^[8]