Sultan Mansur Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Muzaffar Shah (died 1477) was the sixth

Sultan of Malacca The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Paramesw ...

from 1459 to 1477. He ascended the throne after the death of his father, Muzaffar Shah.

Expansions

Mansur Shah implemented a policy of expansionism during his rule. Many territories in

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

and eastern

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

and the surrounding islands, such as Perak, Bernam, while Siak became Malacca's vassal. Several states unsuccessfully asserted their autonomy such as Pahang, Kampar and Inderagiri. This led one of Mansur's son to be leader of Pahang.

Manjung The Manjung District, formerly Dindings, is a district in the southwestern part of the state of Perak, Malaysia. The district is well known for Pangkor Island, an attraction in Perak and the home of the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM), Lumut Naval Ba ...

Rupat Rupat is an island in the Strait of Malacca, and forms part of Bengkalis Regency within Riau Province of Indonesia. It lies just off the eastern coast of Sumatra, across from Dumai city, from which it is separated by the Rupat Strait ( id, Sela ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, and

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 ...

, were under the control of Malacca during his rule.

Marriage alliances

Mansur Shah also used marriage alliances between princesses of Malacca and the rulers of conquered states, such as the marriage between the king of Siak to Mansur Shah's daughter, Princess Mahadewi, to strengthen Malacca’s control over those states. Such alliances were a factor in Islam's expansion in maritime Southeast Asia. Siantan and Indragiri in Sumatra were also given to Malacca as dowry for his marriage to the princess of

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...

. According to historian

Tomé Pires Tomé Pires (1465?–1524 or 1540)Madureira, 150–151. was a Portuguese apothecary from Lisbon who spent 1512 to 1515 in Malacca immediately after the Portuguese conquest, at a time when Europeans were only first arriving in Southeast As ...

, Princess

Hang Li Po Hang Li Po () was reported to be a Chinese princess sent by the Ming Dynasty to be wed to Malaccan Sultan Mansur Shah (r. 1456–1477), according to the Malay Annals, which is a UNESCO heritage document and the principal source of historical inf ...

, daughter of the Ming Dynasty

Emperor Yongle The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyna ...

(1403–1424), was sent over with her sizable entourage to marry Sultan Mansur Shah. Princess Hang Li Po remains a mystery/myth today because there are no records in Ming Dynasty sources with the surname of Hang or a princess named Li Po. Emperor Yongle had only 5 princesses, Princess Yong'an (永安公主; 1377–1417), Princess Ancheng (安成公主; 1384–1443), Princess Yongping (永平公主; 1379–1444), Princess Xianning (咸寧公主; 1385–1440) and Princess Changning (常寧公主; 1387–1408). During Sultan Mansur's reign of power, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was Emperor Yingzong (1457–1464), instead of Emperor Yongle. Princesses of conquered states, such as Princess Wanang Seri of Pahang and Raden Galoh Candra Kirana, were also married to the Sultan of Malacca.

Economic policy

Mansur Shah reduced taxes on trade items during his reign, which increased the interest of merchants in trading through Malacca. A preferential tariff system was introduced whereby a 6% tax was levied on the trade of merchants from west of Malacca, such as

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

and India, and a 3% tax was levied on the trade of merchants from Maritime Southeast Asia. Merchants from China, Japan and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

were not taxed at all. Malacca also offered the economic advantage of easy access to laborers.

Spread of Islam

Mansur Shah, who had an interest in Islam, encouraged scholarship in Islamic theological studies, and studied

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

himself. He studied under Maulana Abu Bakar, who brought the Ab Darul Manzum scriptures to

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

. He ordered the translation of the scripture to

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

by Makhdum Patakan. Mansur Shah referred to scholars from

Pasai The Samudera Pasai Sultanate (), also known as Samudera or Pasai or Samudera Darussalam or Pacem, was a Muslim harbour kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra from the 13th to the 16th centuries CE. The kingdom was believed to have been founded ...

on religious issues due to their expertise.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansur Shah Of Malacca 1477 deaths Sultans of Malacca History of Malacca 15th-century monarchs in Asia