After conquering Goa, the Portuguese found that it was not India, but South-East Asia, which would make them rich. They gathered information from every seaman who came to Goa and finally concluded that “whoever rules Melaka has the power to throttle Venice”. In order to access the strength of Melaka, an expeditionary force was sent there in five ships commanded by Diego Lopez de Sequeira. The fleet arrived in Melaka on 11th August 1509 and de Sequeira sent one of his captains ashore with the King’s letter and some presents for the Sultan. The people of Melaka had never seen Europeans before and when the sailors landed, the Malays crowded around them. They were astonished by their appearance and their complexion. They pulled their blond beards, patted their heads and caught their hands and dubbed them as “White Bengalis”.
	The Bendahara (Prime Minister) received the letter and gifts. At first the visitors were treated well but it soon changed when the Indian and Arab Muslims persuaded the Sultan and the Bendahara not to trust the Portuguese. They content that the Portuguese would not be content with a share of the trade but would take all of it for themselves. Thus, a plot was planned to capture the Portuguese and attacked the fleet. However, the plot was discovered by the Portuguese when a Javanese girl who was in love with one of the Portuguese sailors warned them about it. The Malays finding that their plot was discovered captured Ruy De Aranjo, one of the captains and twenty unarmed sailors who were on shore buying things. Sequeira was unable to secure their release and had to sail away without them.
	When Alfonso D’ Albuquerque, the Governor and Captain-General of the East heard about the capture of his men, he collected a fleet of eighteen ships and 1,400 men which consisted of 800 Portuguese and 600 Malabar Indians and sailed to Melaka. D’ Albuquerque’s fleet entered Melaka harbour on 1st July 1511 intending to capture it and set up a new government. Sultan Mahmud Syah required an explanation of the Portuguese action when he learned that Albuquerque and his forces had arrived and fired cannon in Melaka. D’ Albuquerque demanded the return of the prisoners and payment for their losses. Sultan Mahmud Syah made excuses and delay so that he could strengthen the fortifications and stockages on both sides of the bridge and the river. The Portuguese grew tired of waiting and decided to burn some of the houses along the coast and set fire to all the trading ships in the harbour except the Chinese junks and the Indian ships from Cape Cormorin.
	The prisoners were now released, but D’ Albuquerque was not satisfied. He ordered an attack on the city. The city was divided into two parts, that is the main town on side of the river, and the suburbs where the traders lived on the other. D’ Albuquerque planned to capture the bridge and prevent one part of the city from helping the other. The attack began on the 25th July 1511. He himself led several hundred men to the north side of the city while another division attacked the bridge. There was a violent clash between the Portuguese soldiers and Malay and Javanese soldiers, resulting in many men seriously wounded or killed. The Portuguese were finally forced to withdraw to their ships carrying their wounded with them. The first attack had failed.
	A few days later D’ Albuquerque attacked Melaka again and finally Melaka fell to the Portuguese on 10th August 1511. Sultan Mahmud Syah and his family retreated to Ulu Bertam, Pahang. The retreat of the Sultan to Ulu Bertam allowed the Portuguese to crush the resistance still offered by the royal soldiers, who included Malays, Gujeratis and Indians. The Portuguese soldiers overran every corner of the town and killed anyone suspected of resistance, whether men, women or children. Men from Pegu in Burma and Hindus from Cape Cormorin were allowed to leave Melaka, but had to surrender all their properties to the Portuguese.
	On 24th August 1511, Albuquerque ordered his forces to seize all possessions and valuables belonging to the Sultan and the people of Melaka. The goods seized included vases, gold bars and jewellery, gemstones, silk cloth, perfumes, and two thousand brass cannons. The fortifications and the palace of the Malay Sultanate of Melaka were finally destroyed and all the valuables seized. The glory and the very identity of Melaka had vanished as a result of the Portuguese attack.
	In order to strengthen and defend the Portuguese base, Albuquerque built a fortress called A Formosa between the high ground and the Melaka River. Hundreds of workmen, slaves and captives were set to work. Stones from broken-down mosques and the tombs of bygone nobles were used to build the thick walls of the fortress. Within the wall were later created the Governor’s Palace, the Bishop’s Palace, the Government council chambers, several churches, barracks, two hospitals, monastery and a prison.
	Albuquerque also succeeded in eliminating the opposition of Utimutiraja, Sultan Ahmad and some Javanese, who wanted to take back the town from the invaders. He appointed Rui de Brito as the Governor and Nina Chattu as the Prime Minister. Albuquerque then set about restoring order and trade. He encouraged the merchants to reopen their businesses. He sent missions of friendship to Siam, Java, China, and to the Moluccas Islands. Magellan, who was the first man to sail round the world between 1519 to 1522 was one of Albuquerque’s officers at the capture of Melaka.
	In order to make buying and selling easier, Albuquerque issued a new coinage at Melaka. Although most of the trading were done by barter, there were some trading by using the Malay tin coins. The new Portuguese coins were of tin or copper, silver and gold.
	When Albuquerque was satisfied with the situation in Melaka, he decided to go back to his headquarter in Goa. Albuquerque sailed away in January 1512, taking with him all the treasure of Melaka for the King and Queen of Portugal. Unfortunately, his ship Flora de la Mar was caught in a storm off the east coast of Sumatra. Almost everything was lost and he was lucky to escape with his life.
	The Portuguese held Melaka against all enemies for 130 years and the city continued to be a center of the eastern trade especially in spices. Sultan Mahmud withdrew from Teloh Naming to Ulu Muar, then settled in Pagoh and Bentayan. Sultan Mahmud and his descendents built up the Johore-Rhio Empire based in Johore, the Rhio Islands, Pahang and all those parts of the old Melaka Kingdom which was not occupied by the Portuguese. Although Melaka had fallen to the Portuguese, Sultan Mahmud and his son Sultan Ahmad had continuously sent his army to attack the Portuguese in Melaka from 1511 till 1526. Sultan Mahmud died in Kampar, Sumatera in 1528 and was known as Marhum Kampar. Not long afterwards, his admiral, Khoja Hassan also died. Hang Nadim was appointed as the new admiral. Hang Nadim assisted Sultan Mahmud in the two attempts he made to recover his throne in 1519 and 1523. Hang Nadim also tried to besiege Melaka in the hope of preventing food reaching the town. He proved his leadership and heroism by defeating the Portuguese when they attacked Bintam and Kopak. His gallantry was highly esteemed by the Malays and the repeated attacks he mounted on the Portuguese weakened their fighting spirit and badly damaged their trade in Melaka.
	However, the Portuguese had a stronger rival that is Acheh in North Sumatra, which was across the Straits of Melaka. The Sultans were the champion of Islam and held the pepper trade in Sumatra. The Sultans of Acheh wanted to capture Melaka and attacked it several times, but were not successful. The Portuguese then opened stations in several parts of the Malay Archipelago and in China. The Portuguese prospered as long as they could hold command of the sea and their ships were much stronger than any of the Asian vessels. However, as years go by, the Portuguese was not able to keep up with the rising standard of new techniques of shipbuilding in other European countries. The Portuguese could not compete with the Dutch and English ships, which came to the East.
	The Portuguese were the first European to come to the east and they brought with them a new culture and religion with them. Their missionaries taught the Christian faith in India, Melaka, the Moluccas Islands, Macao and Japan. The most famous missionary was St. Francis Xavier. He arrived in Melaka from Goa in 1545and traveled to many parts of Asia such as Japan, India and Amboyna to spread Christianity. He was the first man to start a school called St. Paul’s College in Melaka in 1548 for pupils of all races. St. Francis Xavier died on Sanchan Island off the coast of China in December 1552. His body was bought to Malacca and later taken back to Goa, where it is kept till today.
	The Portuguese were encouraged to marry local girls and soon there were a strong Eurasian community. Today, there are Portuguese Eurasians in Melaka and other towns of Malaysia and many of them speak a Portuguese dialect. Though the Portuguese lost Melaka more than 300 years ago, many words from their language are still used by the Malays. Some of the examples include almari (almario), bendera (bandera), mentega (mantaga), garfu (garfo) and meja (mesa).

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