Old Malacca

by Sarnia Hayes Hoyt

Beautifully illustrated with color reproductions, black and white prints, and maps, Old Malacca introduces readers to Malacca's historical periods to explain how the city has acquired its present-day character, and to remind readers of the various elements which have gone into Malacca's
cultural make-up. Beginning as a fishing settlement before Parameswara arrived around 1400 A.D., Malacca became the greatest emporium the world had ever known. It was a place crammed so full of all kinds of goods that they almost overflowed into the river itself, and many of the townsmen became
rich.
Drawing on early chroniclers and travelers' tales, Sarnia Hayes Hoyt examines Malacca's golden age and the colonial periods that followed, when the Portuguese, Dutch, and finally the British imposed a new maritime trading organization on Malacca and the South-East Asian region. Old Malacca offers a
balanced perspective which gives due credit to the various eras of Malacca's history.

Genres: History

96 pages, Hardcover

First published August 11, 1993

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the three Straits Settlements of the British, Malacca has a far far longer history dating back four hundred years more to the 1400s, as this book explained. Indeed, this historic place saw the birth of Malay culture on the peninsula and its adoption of Islam, which led to control of a vast region beyond Malaya to parts of Sumatra during its height. The coming of the Portuguese in 1511 ended this as Europeans dominated the populace right until the Japanese invasion centuries later. This short but highly readable account of the history of Malacca chronicled the waxing and waning of the town's trade and fortunes up until the twentieth century, and the cast of administrators, soldiers and businessmen associated with it. Beautiful colour plates of engravings, drawings and paintings round off the books in this series.

Until the river silted up and its deep harbour was compromised, Malacca was the most strategic port in the area bar none for hundreds of years. Singapore, with a shorter history of success would do well to note how the good fortunes of a location are never everlasting.

[Galatea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sweet, and to the point. From a riverside fishing village to a sultanate to becoming the first Southeast Asian colonial settlement in 1511, passing hands from Portugal to the Dutch to the Tea Folk, Malacca is an interesting case study in the history of colonialism and postcolonial ways of life.

[Jasmin Mohd-zain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this book because it had beautiful pictures templates.

The information was well written and i enjoyed the old time stories related about Malacca from travellers all over the globe who visited the "Emporium of the East"

[Damar Yoga Kusuma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I intended to visit Malacca last year, and though that it is a good idea to know its historical aspect in order to better grasp the experience. Basically a standard historic book, depicting the chronological history of Malacca beginning as fishing village into a thriving trade city in 1500's.