The Second Battle of Ugentana, was a military operation that took place in 1536, between Portuguese forces and those of Sultan

Alauddin Riayat Shah II of Johor Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Shah (died 1564) was the first sultan of Johor. He ruled Johor from 1528 to 1564. He founded the Johor Sultanate following the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511. He was the second ...

The Battle

In 1535, the Portuguese captain of Malacca Dom Estevão da Gama attempted to defeat the Sultan of Johor by attacking his capital at Ugentana. Although he burned the city, the sultan avoided the total destruction of his forces by evacuating the city and retreating with his army into the jungle, while most of his fleet was out at sea at the time. Hence, he was able to rebuild his city and continue harassing the navigation of Malacca after the Portuguese had left, and for that reason Dom Estevão was compelled to try and attack Ugentana once more. He departed from Malacca with a carrack, a number of light oarships, 400 Portuguese soldiers, 400 auxiliaries and an unrecorded number of combat slaves with

arquebuses An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

.Saturnino Monteiro: ''Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa 1139-1975'', 1991, Livraria Sá da Costa Editora, p.267-269. The Portuguese fleet went through a storm sailing into the

Singapore Strait The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a maritime ...

, which sank Dom Estevão's galley. Having sailed up the

Johor River The Johor River ( ms, Sungai Johor) is the main river in the Malaysian state of Johor. The river is 122.7 km long with a catchment of 2,636 km2 and flows in a roughly north–south direction, originating from Mount Gemuruh and then empti ...

, the Portuguese learned that the sultan had constructed a new stockade where a stone fort they destroyed the previous year had once stood, garrisoned by 5,000 men, a short distance from his capital. However, the sultan's forces were considerably weakened because the Portuguese had captured large amounts of artillery the previous year. Dom Estevão landed his men and attacked the stockade by land, the Portuguese sailors, Malay auxiliaries and slaves hurled clay bombs, which lit fires and threw the defenders into confusion.
Collecção de monumentos ineditos
', 1862, p.724. The soldiers then stormed it and captured it after a brief fight. The Portuguese managed to capture the sultan's fleet, numbering 40 lancharas that were beached at that location. The sultan witnessed the battle from atop an elephant, and again attempted to evacuate into the jungle, but he suffered a revolt and his baggage train carrying his treasure was assaulted mid-retreat by his own fleeing forces. Under these conditions, he sought terms with the Portuguese, but Dom Estevão only agreed to sign a peace treaty after the sultan provided his uncle as a hostage. With the capture of the Johor fleet, navigation in the Singapore Straight became much safer and trade increased.M. A. P. Meilink-Roelofsz:
Asian Trade and European Influence: In the Indonesian Archipelago between 1500 and about 1630
', Springer Science & Business Media, 2013, p.141

References

{{reflist Ugentana Ugentana (1535)

Bintan Bintan Regency (formerly Riau Islands Regency; id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Riau) is an administrative area in the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia. Bintan Regency includes all of Bintan Island (except for the city of Tanjung Pinang which is sepa ...

1526 in the Portuguese Empire Portuguese Malacca History of Malacca Portuguese colonialism in Indonesia

The Battle

See also

References