The Struggles for Melaka: The Islamic Factor
There is no doubt that Melaka was one of the most important earliest Sultanate (c.1403 -1511) in the Indonesian-Malay Archipelago. Located in a very strategic location, Melaka became not only a trade center, but in the due course was also a center of the propagation of Islam and later became an important locus of Islamic learning. Melaka, however, was also a center of struggles that involved not only the Islamic powers the Melaka Sultanate itself and later the Acehnese Sultanate, but also the European powers—the Portuguese and Dutch. In fact, there were bitter and bloody contestations between the Islamic powers on the one hand, and the Europeans on the other.
This presentation will discuss the rise and fall of the Melaka Sultanate; the role of the Sultanate in Islamic learning and education. It also will discuss the struggles for power among those who try to control of the Straits area and impacts on the course of Islam.