Malayan–Portuguese war

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The Malayan–Portuguese war was an armed conflict involving Malacca forces, Sultanate of Johor and the Dutch East India Company, against the Portuguese Empire.

Background

The port city of Malacca controlled the narrow strategic strait of Malacca, through which all seagoing trade between China and India was concentrated.[1] The capture of Malacca was the result of a plan by the King of Portugal Manuel I, who in 1505 had resolved to thwart Muslim trade in the Indian Ocean by capturing Aden, in order to block trade through Alexandria, capturing Ormuz, in order to block trade through Beirut, and Malacca to control trade with China.[2]

Capture of Malacca

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Further information: Capture of Malacca (1511)

In 1509, Diogo Lopes de Sequeira was sent to Malacca by the king of Portugal with four ships in order to establish contact with the Sultanate of Malacca. Initially, Sequeira was well received by the Sultan Mahmud Syah (1488–1528). Soon however, the Muslim community convinced Mahmud Syah that the Portuguese should be eliminated. Several men were captured and killed, but the ships escaped.[3]

Albuquerque first departed from India for Malacca in April 1511, with 1,200 men and 17 to 18 ships.[1][3] Albuquerque's objective was to sever Islamic trade and Venetian trade on the same occasion. A first attack by the Portuguese failed on 25 July 1511.[1] Albuquerque's captains spoke against another attempt, but he struck again, succeeding in capturing Malacca in August, despite strong resistance and the presence of artillery on the Malaccan side.[1][3] In celebration, Tristão da Cunha was sent to Pope Leo X in Rome with rich presents including the elephant that the pope named Hanno.[1]

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Chinese Involvement

In response to the Portuguese invasion of Malacca, the Chinese Imperial Government imprisoned and executed multiple Portuguese envoys after torturing them in Guangzhou. Since Malacca was a tributary state to China, the Chinese responded with violent force against the Portuguese. The Malaccans had informed the Chinese of the Portuguese seizure of Malacca, to which the Chinese responded with hostility toward the Portuguese. The Malaccans told the Chinese of the deception the Portuguese used, disguising plans for conquering territory as mere trading activities, and told of all the atrocities committed by the Portuguese.[4] Malacca was under Chinese protection and the Portuguese invasion angered the Chinese.[5]

Due to the Malaccan Sultan lodging a complaint against the Portuguese invasion to the Chinese Emperor, the Portuguese were greeted with hostility from the Chinese when they arrived in China.[6] The Sultan's complaint caused "a great deal of trouble" to Portuguese in China.[7] The Chinese were very "unwelcoming" to the Portuguese.[8] The Malaccan Sultan, based in Bintan after fleeing Malacca, sent a message to the Chinese, which combined with Portuguese banditry and violent activity in China, led the Chinese authorities to execute 23 Portuguese and torture the rest of them in jails. After the Portuguese set up posts for trading in China and committed piratical activities and raids in China, the Chinese responded with the complete extermination of the Portuguese in Ningbo and Quanzhou[9] Pires, a Portuguese trade envoy, was among those who died in the Chinese dungeons.[10] The rest of the Portuguese embassy stayed imprisoned for life.[11]

The Chinese defeated a Portuguese fleet in 1521 at the First Battle of Tamao (1521), killing and capturing so many Portuguese that the Portuguese had to abandon their junks and retreat with only three ships, only escaping back to Malacca because a wind scattered the Chinese ships as the Chinese launched a final attack.[12]

The Chinese effectively held the Portuguese embassy hostage, using them as a bargaining chip in demanding that the Portuguese restore the deposed Malaccan Sultan (King) to his throne.[13]

The Chinese proceeded to executed several Portuguese by beating and strangling them, and torturing the rest. The other Portuguese prisoners were put into iron chains and kept in prison.[14] The Chinese confisticated all of the Portuguese property and goods in the Pires embassy's possession.[15]

In 1522 Martim Afonso de Merlo Coutinho was appointed commander of another Portuguese fleet sent to establish diplomatic relations.[16] The Chinese defeated the Portuguese ships led by Coutinho at the Second Battle of Tamao (1522). 40 Portuguese were captured and one ship destroyed during the battle. The Portuguese were forced to retreat to Malacca.[17]

The Chinese forced Pires to write letters for them, demanding that the Portuguese restore the deposed Malaccan Sultahn (King) back onto his throne. The Malay ambassador to China was to deliver the letter.[18]

The Chinese had sent a message to the deposed Sultan (King) of Malacca concerning the fate of the Portuguese embassy, which the Chinese held prisoner. When they received his reply, the Chinese officials then proceeded to executed the Portuguese embassy, slicing their bodies into multiple pieces. Their genitalia were inserted into the oral cavity. The Portuguese were executed in public in multiple areas in Guangzhou, deliberately by the Chinese in order to show that the Portuguese were insignificant in the eyes of the Chinese.[19] When more Portuguese ships landed and were seized by the Chinese, the Chinese then executed them as well, cutting off the genitalia and beheading the bodies and forcing their fellow Portuguese to wear the body parts, while the Chinese celebrated with music. The genitalia and heads were displayed strung up for display in public, after which they were discarded.[20]

In response to Portuguese piracy and establishing bases in Fujian at Wuyu island and Yue harbor at Zhangzhou, Shuangyu island in Zhejiang, and Nan'ao island in Guangdong, the Imperial Chinese Right Deputy Commander Zhu Wan exterminated all the pirates and razed the Shuangyu Portuguese base, using force to prohibit trading with foreigners by sea.[21]

Chinese Boycott of Portuguese

Chinese traders boycotted Malacca after it fell under Portuguese control, some Chinese in Java assisted in Muslim attempts to reconquer the city from Portugal using ships. The Java Chinese participation in retaking Malacca was recorded in "The Malay Annals of Semarang and Cerbon"[22] trading the Chinese did business with Malays and Javanese instead of the Portuguese.[23]

Cape Rachado

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Further information: Battle of Cape Rachado

Malacca, which was earlier the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca, was sieged and wrested by the Portuguese in 1511, forcing the Sultan to retreat and found the successor state of Johor and continue the war from there. The port city, which the Portuguese had turned into a formidable fortress, was strategically situated in the middle of the strait of the same name giving control to both the spice trade of the Malay archipelago and supremacy over the sea lane of the lucrative trade between Europe and the Far East. The Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) decided that to expand further to the east, the Portuguese monopoly and especially Malacca must first be neutralized.

Last battle of the Malacca

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Further information: Battle of Malacca (1641)

In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) began the campaign to destroy Portuguese power in the East. At that time, the Portuguese had transformed Malacca into an impregnable fortress (the Fortaleza de Malaca, controlling access to the sea lanes of the Straits of Malacca and the spice trade there. The Dutch started by launching small incursions and skirmishes against the Portuguese. The first serious attempt was the siege of Malacca in 1606 by the third VOC fleet from Holland with eleven ships, led by Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge that lead to the naval battle of Cape Rachado. Although the Dutch were routed, the Portuguese fleet of Martim Afonso de Castro, the Viceroy of Portuguese India; suffered heavier casualties and the battle rallied the forces of the Sultanate of Johor in an alliance with the Dutch and later on with the Achehnese.

A Famosa

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Further information: A Famosa
The town and fortress of Malacca (1780)

In 1511, a Portuguese fleet arrived under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque. His forces attacked and successfully defeated the armies of the Malacca Sultanate. Moving quickly to consolidate his gains, Albuquerque had the fortress built around a natural hill near the sea. Albuquerque believed that Malacca would become an important port linking Portugal to the Spice Route in China. At this time other Portuguese were establishing outposts in such places as Macau, China and Goa, India in order to create a string of friendly ports for ships heading to China and returning home to Portugal.

References and notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Cambridge History of the British Empire Arthur Percival Newton p.11 [1]
  2. ↑ Malabar Manual by William Logan p.312
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 A history of modern Indonesia since c. 1300 Merle Calvin Ricklefs p.23 [2]
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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.(the University of Michigan)
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  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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