It is the ruler of Malacca appears to have adopted Islam with encouragement of the lord of Pasai. According to Sulalat al-Salatin, the dynasty of Malacca was founded around 1400 by Parameswara from Palembang after an interim period in Temasik. It was a first a Hindu Kingdom in 1402 and later converted to Islam with the marriage of the princess of Pasai in 1409.
His marriage also encouraged a number of his subjects to embrace Islam. Later, Parameswara transformed the Hindu Kingdom of Srivijaya into a Muslim Sultanate – the Sultanate of Malacca. He assumed the title of Sultan Iskandar Shah.
Centered in the down town of Malacca, the sultanate stretched from Muslim Malaya settlements of Phuket, Setol, Pattani, bordering Ayutthaya Kingdom of Siam.
By 1413, Malacca had become a fully fledged Muslim sultanate. Islam became established throughout Malacca’s empire, by the end of the 15th century, included all the states of the Malay Peninsula and those on the east coast of Sumatera.
Islam became the region’s principal religion, its rise coinciding with the decline of the Buddhist Srivijaya and Hindu Majapahit empires.
Wealthy Muslim traders were drawn to conduct business there and Malacca also became a well-known center of Islamic scholarship.
The spread of Islam happened at the peak of Malacca’s glory between 1459 and 1477 during the reign of the sixth sultan, Mansor Shah.
Islam during Malacca sultanate
