|
Malacca City ( Jawi: Tamil: மலாக்கா மாநகரம்), formerly known as Kota Melaka, is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Malacca. It had a population of 484,885 as of 2010. It is one of the oldest cities in the Straits of Malacca, having become a successful entrepôt during the era of the Malacca Sultanate. The present-day city was founded by Parameswara, a Sumatran prince who had escaped to the Malay Peninsula when Srivijaya fell to the Majapahit. Following the establishment of the Malacca Sultanate, it drew the attention of traders from the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia, as well as the Portuguese, who intended to dominate the trade route in Asia. After Malacca was conquered by Portugal, it became an area of conflict when the sultanates of Aceh and Johor began to attempt to take control from the Portuguese. Aceh weakened following a number of wars between these territories, while Johor survived and expanded its influence over territory previously lost to Aceh in Sumatra when they co-operated with the Dutch who arrived to establish dominance over Java and Maluku Islands. However, due to royal internal strife between the Malay and Bugis, the Johor-Riau Empire was divided into the sultanates of Johor and Riau-Lingga. This separation became a permanent divide when the British arrived to establish their presence in the Malay Peninsula. The Dutch, who already felt threatened in the presence of the British, began conquering the Riau-Lingga Sultanate along with the rest of Sumatra, while Johor came under the British influence following the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in 1824. When the British managed to extend their influence over the Malay Peninsula, the town soon became an area of development under the Straits Settlements as part of the British Empire. The development and prosperity was however halted when the Japanese arrived as part of World War II from 1942 to 1945. During the occupation, many of the town's residents were taken and forced to construct the Death Railway in Burma (present-day Myanmar). After the war, the town was returned to the British and remained as the capital of Malacca. This was continued until the formation of Malaysia in 1963, and in 2008, it was listed as one of Malaysian UNESCO World Heritage Site together with George Town of Penang for its long history.〔.〕 ==Etymology== According to legend, the site that is now the city was named ''Melaka'' when Parameswara, who had fled from Sumatra, arrived there. While he was resting under a tree known as a ''Melaka tree'', he saw his warrior's hunting dogs was been challenged and kicked into a river by a tiny mouse deer. Amused by this, he choose to name the site ''Melaka'' since he was resting under a Melaka tree while watching this occur. When the town came under Portuguese administration, its name was spelt "Malaca",〔Examples: 〕 under Dutch administration as "Malakka" or "Malacka", while under British rule, the town's name was spelt "Malacca". The Straits of Malacca were named after the town at the time of the Malacca Sultanate. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Malacca City」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|