140 NOTES ON MALAY HISTOEY. 



of the later Malacca Kajas. These names (with the dates 

 attached to them) make it clear that their reigns fell within 

 the 15th. century and did not extend to the abnormal lengths 

 that the ordinary chronology makes out. Thirdly, there is no 

 mention of Malacca anywhere, in any authority that has 

 hitherto come to light, prior to the early years of the 15th 

 century. () This negative evidence, forwhatitis worth, sup- 

 ports the view that Malacca was not founded (or at any rate 

 did not rise to the position of an important commercial empor- 

 ium) much before the beginning of that century. On the other 

 hand we find mention of the State of Pasei (better Pase) in 

 Sumatra at an earlier date. An abstract of its history is 

 inserted in the Sejarah Melayu as a sort of episode just before 

 the account of the fall of Singapore. According to this account, 

 with which the Hikayat Raja-raja Pasei in the main agrees, 

 the first Muhammadan ruler of Pasei was a person who on his 

 conversion to Islam took the name of Malik-al-Salih. His 

 successor was his son Malik-al-Dzahir. Now the last named 

 was reigning and was already a fairly old man when he was 

 visited by the celebrated Arab globe-trotter Ibn Batutah in 

 1345 or 1346 A.D. The inference is that Muhammadanism 

 became the established religion in Pasei somewhere about the 

 year 1300 A.D. The Commentaries of Alboquerque record a 

 native tradition that Iskandar Shah, one of the early Rajas of 

 Malacca, was converted from Hinduism to Islam on the occa- 

 sion of his marriage with a daughter of a Raja of Pasei. 

 Whether that be so or not, the general trend of tradition goes 

 to show 'that Pasei was regarded as being an older state than 

 Malacca. All this evidence combined negatives the ordinarily 

 received view that Malacca became Muhammadan in the reign 

 of a Raja whose accession according to the commonly accepted 

 chronology took place in 1276 A.D. or thereabouts. Fourthly, 

 the Hikayat Raja-raja Pasei, which however is a work of un- 

 certain and probably rather late date, speaks of a Javanese 

 expedition of conquest successfully directed against Pasei, 

 Jambi and Palembang, and shortly afterwards speaks of the 



(1) A possible exception, which I had not at that lime seen, is 

 dealt with in the piesent paper. It does not affect the argument. 



Jour. Straits Branch 



