Parameswara

Parameswara (c. 1344-1414 or 1424), Malayan nobleman from Palembang in Sumatra who founded Malacca (now Melaka in Malaysia). Parameswara, whose name means both “Prince Consort” and “the bravest man” (in Palembang-Javanese), left Sumatra around 1401 at a time of internal strife in the kingdom of Majapahit. In Tumasik (now Singapore) he supplanted the ruler and may have held power for three or five years. Expelled on the orders of the King of Thailand, he found his way to the settlement of Malacca, then a small fishing village. Parameswara found a powerful patron in China, then in the expansionist phase of Ming dynasty rule. This brought him political support against Thailand and trade for his new city. A Chinese fleet arrived in 1403 and the Chinese emperor gave Parameswara the title of king in 1406. The great Chinese admiral Zheng He visited in 1409 and in 1411 took Parameswara to pay tribute in Beijing. According to some sources, Parameswara converted to Islam in 1414, and this was partly responsible for the upsurge in trade by Muslim merchants thereafter. By the end of his reign Malacca was trading with Java and Bengal and certainly on its way to becoming the greatest entrepôt in South East Asia. He has also been identified with Iskander Shah (possibly his son) who died in 1424. Other sources indicate that Parameswara died in about 1414.