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Friday, June 12, 2009

History of Malaysian Politics

One of the early kingdoms in Malaysia that is quite well known to most of us was the Malacca Sultanate. Originating in the 1400s, the Malacca Sultanate was established by a Srivijayan prince called Parameswara. I won’t go too deep into the history of the Sultanate but merely to highlight that its government is perhaps the earliest form of politics in Malaysia.

The Sultan is the head of the city-state called Malacca, and he is advised and assisted by the Bendahara, his second in command. There is the Laksamana who is in charge of the military and the Syahbandar who administers and looks after the safety of the city-state. There are also district chiefs called Mandulika that governs over smaller districts. I apologize if I get any of this wrong, but I’m sure that is the gist of it.

So basically there is a hierarchy with the Sultan on top and the common people below. Most Malay Sultanates have the same model, the Sultan at the top, the nobles in between and the people at the bottom. And as with all monarchies, the Sultan has the final say in everything.

In comparison with our government today, the Sultanate of the past has a smaller population to deal with and simpler needs to fulfil. Crime was not rampant, food was not in shortage, land was plentiful, no issues of highways and gas prices to think of. So the system was basically a success, as evident in certain historical writings where Malacca had influence as far as the western world. Malacca was an important trading port in the east and it was in between the shipping routes between Europe and China.

As its prominence grew, Malacca drew attention from the Europeans, and in particular, the Portuguese. And thus began their conquest for Malacca. Through war and subterfuge the Portuguese were successful in conquering Malacca in 1511. Most historians contribute the reason of the fall of the Malaccan Sultanate to the political in-fighting and treachery in the royal palace. At the time of the fall of Malacca, the Sultan was said to be a weak ruler, and certain noble families were fighting with each other for power and position. This gave the opportunity to the Portuguese to sow seeds of distrust which finally led to the capture of the port-city.

Hence began over 450 years of foreign rule on Malaysian soil. The Malay Sultanates although still allowed to exist will never again enjoy the same role and prominence it once had.

In fact, throughout history, we can conclude that foreigners like the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English constantly take advantage of the weaknesses in the Malay Sultanates’ governments; a lesson that not many seem to have learned.

To be continued...

1 comment:

  1. The problem with Malay Sultanate in those days was that they were 'entrusted' with too much power. It's always not a good thing to put too much power in one person.

    Something to ponder - what is the difference between absolute monarchy and dictatorship... nothing, don't you think?

    ReplyDelete