Malacca - How a Fishing Village Became the Richest Port in Asia

"Whoever is lord of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice." Around 1500, a Portuguese writer said Europe's richest city depended on a port in Southeast Asia that barely existed a century earlier. From a runaway prince and a mouse deer, to the monsoon winds, Ming China protecting Malacca from Siam, 84 languages in its streets, the Portuguese conquest of 1511, and how Singapore finally took its crown. 0:00 The throat of Venice 0:40 A prince on the run 1:17 The mouse deer legend 1:46 The wind: why Malacca worked 2:20 Siam vs. Ming China 3:05 Islam and the sultanate 3:31 Siam attacks, Tun Perak wins 3:55 Hang Tuah 4:14 1500: 84 languages 4:51 1511: the Portuguese 5:42 The trade scatters 5:58 Dutch, British and Singapore 6:48 Saving A Famosa 7:01 The Thai thread 7:25 Malacca today More from this series: Majapahit: The Empire Before Indonesia: [add link] Why the Mongols Couldn't Conquer Southeast Asia: [add link] Why Thailand Was Never Colonized:    • Why Thailand Was Never Colonized (And What...   Next video: Singapore, from fishing village to rich city Sources: Tome Pires, Suma Oriental (c. 1512-1515); Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) for the founding legend, the Siamese attacks and Tun Perak; Ming records for the 1403 envoy, Zheng He and Parameswara's 1411 visit. Founding dates, population figures and the Siamese campaigns are approximate and debated. Maps: Natural Earth data (public domain). Regions are approximate and drawn at province level. Images (via Wikimedia Commons): Zheng He monument, Malacca, CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Hang Tuah relief, National Museum, Chainwit. (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Malacca sultanate tin coin (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Afonso de Albuquerque portrait (Public domain): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Fortress of Malacca, Antonio Bocarro, 1630s (Public domain): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Stadthuys, Malacca, CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... A Famosa c. 1905, C.J. Kleingrothe (KITLV) (Public domain): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Porta de Santiago, Gryffindor (CC BY-SA 3.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Malacca River, Philip Nalangan (CC BY 4.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Bukit China cemetery, CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Music (YouTube Audio Library): Cutscene Crush (Blue Deer Studio), Way Back Home and Turn In The Sun (Simon Herody), Duty Calls (Rod Kim), Moon Vision (Chris Haugen), The Road To Mordor (Ezra Lipp), From Whence We Came (Dan "Lebo" Lebowitz, Tone Seeker)