The Islamic World to 1600
Islam first entered Southeast Asia - the region of present-day Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, among other countries - through merchants of the Muslim-controlled Indian Ocean trade route. Geographically, Southeast Asia, particularly the Malay Peninsula, was an important stop for ships sailing south from China or east from India. The port city of Malacca, in present-day Malaysia, had become an important world trading centre by the 15th century. Malacca began as a small fishing village - too small to have been mentioned by either Marco Polo in 1292 or Ibn Battuta in 1343, who travelled through the region. By the early 15th century, however, the port became a major stopover for ships.
Islam arrived in Southeast Asia near the end of the 13th century with traders from India, who introduced the religion first to northern Sumatra, an island in present-day Indonesia. Although at the time only a few regions in India had converted to Islam, it was traders from these regions, particularly Gujarat in northwest India, who brought their faith to Sumatra. It is generally accepted that it was Indian Muslims, not Arab Muslims, who introduced Islam to Southeast Asia. Prior to Islam's arrival, Southeast Asia already was heavily influenced by Indian culture and religion, including Hinduism. When Indian merchants and missionaries later introduced Islam to the region, they were careful to retain whatever previous Hindu or animist customs were necessary to gain the widespread adoption of Islam. It has been suggested that had the more orthodox Arabs been the first to bring Islam to Southeast Asia, their insistence that the locals entirely abandon their old customs might have dissuaded them from converting. Thus, Islam in Southeast Asia has a different character than orthodox Islam in Arabia, but had it not been for the tolerance of the Indian missionaries, Islam may not have even taken root in Southeast Asia at all.
But it did take root, and by the mid-15th century, Islam had spread from Sumatra to Malacca, its major trading partner, and surrounding areas, such as Brunei. The third ruler of Malacca, Sri Maharaja Muhammad Shah (1424-45), is said to be the first Malaccan ruler to convert to Islam, and his son, Mudzaffar Shah (1446-59), proclaimed Islam the state religion of Malacca. By 1470, Malacca had taken several territories from the neighbouring Siamese empire, becoming the most powerful state in Southeast Asia. This territorial expansion also fuelled the expansion of Islam. Not only was the religion spread through the conquest of new lands, but also by the recruitment of soldiers from non-Muslim regions, particularly the island of Java, who converted while in service and then spread their new faith when they returned home.
In 1509, the arrival of Portuguese ships at the Malaccan port sparked the downfall of the short-lived Malacca sultanate. While the fleet maintained that it had come only to trade, Indian merchants in Malacca who had experienced the recent Portuguese capture of Goa, on the west coast of India, warned Malaccan authorities not to be too friendly with the Portuguese. The Portuguese left, disgruntled, only to return in 1511 to capture Malacca for themselves. With Portuguese authority in Malacca came the arrival of Christian missionaries, but they had little luck in converting the population. Brunei succeeded Malacca as the centre of Islam in Southeast Asia, and even established friendly relations with the Portuguese.
Bandar Seri Bagawan Mosque in Brunei, one of the largest in Asia Courtesy of IslamiCity www.islamicity.org |
Despite the numerous changes in power than have since occurred in Southeast Asia - from the Portuguese, later to the Dutch, British, and Chinese - Islam has retained the hold it first established on the population in the mid-15th century. Brunei remains a sultanate today, the last one in the world, and present-day Malaysia and Indonesia also have large Muslim populations.
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