Hill of the Chinese (Bukit China)

According to the Malay Annals, Tun Parapati Puti was sent by Mansur Shah, the Sultan of Malacca in the middle of the 15th century (1459-88), as an ambassador to the Court of Peking. He came back bringing with him Princess Hang Li Po, the Ming Emperor's daughter, who was given as a wife to the Sultan. She was accompanied by 500 handmaids and all were converted to Islam and given as a residence the hill without the town. Hence its name of Bukit China. The Chinese dug a well at the foot of the hill which is the actual Perigi Raja or Sultan's Well.

Some of the oldest Chinese relics in Malaysia are to be found on the hill, which, together with Bukit Gedung and Bukit Tempurung, forms one of the largest Chinese burial grounds outside China. This burial ground covers an area of more than 106 acres which was donated by Li Kup, alias Li Wei King, the founder of the Cheng Hoon TengTemple, to the Malacca Chinese in the middle of the 17th century. The ground contained the graves of some of the early Chinese notables in Malacca such as Lip Kap who died in 1688, Tay Kup who died in 1677 and Chan Kup and his wife. These graves are still intact and well preserved.

Mausoleum of Hang Jebat (Makam Hang Jebat)

The tomb of Hang Jebat is located at Kampung Pali, off Jalan Gelanggang in Malacca town. Hang Jebat was one of the greatest warriors during the Malacca Sultanate (1400 - 1511). He was one of the legendary Hang Tuah's closet four childhood friends which included Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekiu and Hang Lekir. When Hang Tuah was unjustly sentenced to death by the Sultan for allegedly having an affair with one of the palace maid-in-waiting, Hang Jebat took it upon himself to avenge his friend's death. He purposely ran amok and seized the palace. Ironically, Hang Jebat died at the hands of Hang Tuah, who had been safely kept in hiding in the forest and was summoned by the Sultan to defend the palace. Hang Jebat was killed by Hang Tuah in a duel of honour that lasted for 3 days and nights. As a result, Hang Jebat is branded a traitor in life but acclaimed champion of justice in death

Hang Tuah's Well (Perigi Hang Tuah)

The well of Hang Tuah (Perigi Hang Tuah) is located at Kampung Duyong, his birth place. According to legend, it is believed that a white crocodile (the Kramat of Hang Tuah) dwells in this well and those who are able to see the spirit (Kramat) will be bestowed with good luck.

Hang Tuah was one of the greatest hero in Malay history and served as an Admiral or Laksamana during the reign of the Malacca Sultanate in the middle of the 15th century. He was born in Pulau Bentam, Sumatra and brought up in Kampong Duyong, about 5 kilometers from Malacca town. He was strong and intelligent and was determined to serve the Malacca Sultanate Court. His close friends were Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu and he was akcnowledged as the leader of the group. The 5 warriors were made warriors in the court when they saved the life of Bendahara Paduka Raja, the Prime Minister to Sultan Mansur Shah. Hang Tuah became a favourite warrior of the Sultan as he was responsible for bringing about the marriage of Sultan Mansur Shah with the daughter of Batura Majapahit. Among the outstanding feats of Hang Tuah were the duel he had with Taming Sari, a warrior of the Court of Majapahit.

Malacca Historical Town

Malacca, long known to the ancient mariners as the greatest emporium the world has seen has lured early Indian, Arab and Chinese traders to trade with the seafaring Malays. Lured by their lust for spices and conquest, the Portuguese were the first to conquest Malacca, followed by the Dutch and the English until Malaysia achieved independence in 1957. As a result, Malacca is the oldest town in Malaysia and the site of the classical empire of the Malays. It is a state rich in history for each historical era has left many historical sites that still exist today. Among the popular historical sites include Bukit China, Sultans Well, St. Pauls Church, St. Johns Fort, A Famosa, Hang Tuah Well, Tomb of Hang Jebat and Tomb of Hang Tuah

History of Malacca

The history of Malacca is largely the story of the city for which it is named, and the story of the city of Malacca begins with the fascinating and partly legendary tale of the Hindu prince Parameswara.

The Malay Annals relate that Parameswara was a fourteenth-century Palembang prince who, fleeing from a Javanese enemy, escaped to the island of Temasik (present-day Singapore) and quickly established himself as its king. Shortly afterward, however, Parameswara was driven out of Temasik by an invasion by the Siamese, and with a small band of followers set out along the west coast of the Malay peninsula in search of a new refuge. The refugees settled first at Muar, Johor, but they were quickly driven away by a vast and implacable horde of monitor lizards; the second spot chosen seemed equally unfavorable, as the fortress that the refugees began to build fell to ruins immediately. Parameswara moved on. Soon afterward, during a hunt near the mouth of a river called Bertam, he saw a white mouse-deer or pelanduk kick one of his hunting dogs. So impressed was he by the mouse-deer's brave gesture that he decided immediately to build a city on the spot. He asked one of his servants the name of the tree under which he was resting and, being informed that the tree was called a Malaka, gave that name to the city. The year was 1400.
Although its origin is as much romance as history, the fact is that Parameswara's new city was situated at a point of tremendous strategic importance. Midway along the straits that linked China to India and the Near East, Malacca was perfectly positioned as a center for maritime trade. The city grew rapidly, and within fifty years it had become a wealthy and powerful hub of international commerce, with a population of over 50,000. It was during this period of Malacca's history that Islam was introduced to the Malay world, arriving along with Gujarati traders from western India. By the first decade of the sixteenth century Malacca was a bustling, cosmopolitan port, attracting hundreds of ships each year. The city was known worldwide as a center for the trade of silk and porcelain from China; textiles from Gujarat and Coromandel in India; camphor from Borneo; sandalwood from Timor; nutmeg, mace, and cloves from the Moluccas, gold and pepper from Sumatra; and tin from western Malaya.

Unfortunately, this fame arrived at just the moment when Europe began to extend its power into the East, and Malacca was one of the very first cities to attract its covetous eye. The Portuguese under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque arrived first, taking the city after a sustained bombardment in 1511. The Sultan Mahmud fled to Johor, from whence the Malays counterattacked the Portuguese repeatedly though without success. One reason for the strength of the Portuguese defence was the construction of the massive fortification of A Famosa or Porta De Santiago, only a small portion of which survives today.
A Famosa ensured Portuguese control of the city for the next one hundred and fifty years, until, in 1641, the Dutch after an eight-month siege and a fierce battle. Malacca was captured, but it lay in almost complete ruin. Over the next century and a half, the Dutch rebuilt the city and occupied it largely as a military base, using its strategic location to control the Straits of Malacca. In 1795, when the Netherlands was captured by French Revolutionary armies, Malacca was handed over to the British by the Dutch to avoid capture by the French. Although they returned the city to the Dutch in 1808, it was soon given over to the British once again in a trade for Bencoleen, Sumatra. From 1826, the English East India Company in Calcutta ruled the city, although it experienced Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945. Independence did not arrive until 1957, when anti-colonial sentiment culminated in a proclamation of independence by His Highness Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, Malaysia's first Prime Minister.