At a glance
Era 10- Dates
- Died in the early 15th century
- Who
- Prince who founded Melaka around 1400 and, by tradition, became its first Muslim ruler
- Era
- Islam in South-East Asia & China
ProfileParameswara, Sultan Iskandar Shah
Parameswara was a prince connected to the old royal house of Srivijaya. Driven from Singapura around 1390, he lived for some years by raiding, then settled around 1400 at a fishing village on the Malay coast, at the narrowest part of the strait. It was called Melaka.
He made the port safe and its dues fair, and ships began to stop there on the long voyage between India and China. He sought the friendship of the Ming emperor, received Zheng He's fleets, and in 1411 travelled to China himself with his family and court.
Local tradition says that he married a princess from Pasai in Sumatra, accepted Islam and took the name Iskandar Shah. Whatever the details, Melaka's rulers were Muslims from early in the fifteenth century, and the city became the centre from which Islam spread through the Malay world.
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