Damião de Góis (often written as Damian de Goes). He was a prominent 16th-century Portuguese humanist and philosopher, and his descriptions of Melaka (Malacca) are among the most famous in Southeast Asian history.
He indeed asserted that Melaka was the wealthiest city in the world during the height of the Melaka Sultanate. Here is the context behind that bold claim:
1. The Opulence of Merchants
Góis based his claim not just on the city's architecture, but on the sheer personal wealth of its resident merchants. In his work Crónica do Felicíssimo Rei D. Manuel (Chronicle of the Most Fortunate King Manuel), he described how wealth was measured in bahar (a local unit of weight) of gold.
- He noted that some merchants were worth between 10 to 12 bahar of gold.
- In modern terms, this is estimated to be roughly 2.4 to 2.8 metric tons of gold per individual—an astronomical amount of wealth for that era.
2. A Global "Emporium"
Góis and other contemporary Portuguese chroniclers like Tomé Pires viewed Melaka as the "end of the monsoons." It was the central pivot where:
- Chinese silks and porcelains met Indian textiles and Arabian perfumes.
- Spices from the Moluccas (nutmeg, cloves, and mace) were traded for European and Middle Eastern goods.
- The city was so vital that Tomé Pires famously wrote, "Whoever is lord of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice."
3. Cultural Diversity
Góis also highlighted the cosmopolitan nature of the city. At its peak, Melaka was a "plural society" where over 80 languages were reportedly spoken. This diversity was a direct result of its wealth; merchants from Cairo, Mecca, Aden, Abyssinia, Kilwa, Malindi, Ormuz, Persia, and all over Asia made it their home.
1511- PORTUGUEST CONQUEST
The 1511 conquest of Melaka is one of the best-documented military encounters of that era, thanks to the meticulous (though often biased) accounts of Portuguese chroniclers like Afonso de Albuquerque’s son, Tomé Pires, and Damião de Góis.
Here are the specific details of the conquest and the daily life they described:
1. The Tactics of the 1511 Conquest
Afonso de Albuquerque led a relatively small force of about 700-800 Portuguese soldiers and 300 Malabarese auxiliaries against a city defended by an estimated 20,000 to 100,000 men.
- The Strategic Bridge: The city was divided by the Melaka River. Albuquerque realized that the wooden bridge connecting the two sides was the city’s "jugular vein." He spent weeks focusng his attacks almost entirely on this bridge.
- The Floating Fortress: The Portuguese struggled with the tides, which prevented their ships from getting close enough. Albuquerque eventually repurposed a captured Chinese junk, tall enough to overlook the bridge, filled it with artillery and men, and floated it up the river during a spring tide to act as a movable siege tower.
- Psychological Warfare: Before the main assault, Albuquerque sailed his ships into the harbor with flags flying and "artillery blasting noisily" purely to intimidate the population.
- The "Trump Card" (War Elephants): The Sultan of Melaka, Mahmud Shah, deployed a herd of war elephants to break the Portuguese lines. The Portuguese chroniclers note that the soldiers, terrified at first, learned to aim for the elephants' eyes and trunks with pikes, causing the animals to panic and trample their own defenders.
2. Daily Life in the "Emporium of the East"
The chronicles, particularly the Suma Oriental by Tomé Pires, describe a city that felt more like a modern global hub than a 16th-century town.
3. Military Technology: A Surprise for the Portuguese
Contrary to the myth that the Portuguese won because of superior gunpowder, the chroniclers admitted that Melaka was heavily armed.
- They captured 3,000 to 8,000 pieces of artillery after the fall.
- The Malays used matchlock guns (called espingardão by the Portuguese) and "excellent" lances.
- The Portuguese victory is often attributed to superior discipline and the use of the "Phalanx" pike formation, rather than just having better guns.
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4.1.2026: 2.21 a.m
