Melaka and Ayutthaya in the Long 15th Century
Feudal Relations, Tribute, and Magical Realism
Abstract
Over the 15th century, Melaka rose to become the premier trading centre in Southeast Asia. During this rise, Melaka had to deal with Ayutthaya. At the time of Melaka’s foundation, the Siamese port-city of Ayutthaya was deeply involved with political centres on the lower peninsula, and well established as a favoured trading partner of China. Over the following century, the relationship of Melaka and Ayutthaya changed through sporadic armed clashes and diplomatic exchanges, and by the end, the two cities had developed a complementary trading relationship. The diplomacy of this rivalry is described and explained very differently in the European and Asian sources respectively. European observers drew on the vocabulary and political concepts of European feudalism. Malay sources emphasised the human exchanges and the experimental nature of diplomatic relations in a context where the distribution of people, power and resources was in flux.
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