Siamese invasion of Malacca (1500)
{{Short description|16th century conflict}}
{{for|previous invasions in the 15th century|Siamese invasions of Malacca}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Siamese invasion of Malacca (1500)
| date = Exact date unknown, recorded in the Malay Annals as 1500
| place = Malay Peninsula, Ligor
| result = {{ubl|Malaccan victory}}
- Invasion repelled
| combatant1 = {{ubl|Malacca Sultanate|Pahang Sultanate}}
| combatant2 = {{ubl|Ayutthaya Kingdom|Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom}}
| commander1 = Mahmud Shah of Malacca
Mansur Shah I of Pahang
| commander2 = Ramathibodi II
Poyoá (Raja) of Ligor
| strength1 = Unknown
| strength2 = Unknown
| casualties1 = Unknown
| casualties2 = Severe losses
}}
The Siamese invasion of Malacca (1500) was a military operation launched by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and its vassal Nakhon Si Thammarat, also known as Ligor. The attack was launched following previous attacks by the Siamese in 1445 and 1456.
Background
{{see|Siamese invasions of Malacca}}
The Malacca Sultanate had previously repelled two invasions by the Ayutthaya Kingdom during the reign of Muzaffar Shah of Malacca in 1445 and 1456, which were launched with the intention to vassalise the sultanate. Between 1454 and 1459,{{efn|Three possible dates are given, 1454,{{Cite journal |last=Linehan |first=W. |date=1936 |title=A History of Pahang |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41585562 |journal=Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=14 |issue=2 (125) |pages=1–257 |issn=2304-7550}} 1458, and 1459{{Cite journal |last=Marrison |first=G. E. |date=1949 |title=The Siamese Wars with Malacca During the Reign of Muzaffar Shah |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41560496 |journal=Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |volume=22 |issue=1 (147) |pages=61–66 |issn=2304-7550}}}} Malacca conquered Pahang from a Siamese{{efn|The term "Siamese" was used by Malaccan Malays to denote the preceding rulers of Pahang regardless of whether they were of Thai heritage}} prince bearing the title of Maharaja Dewa Sura, an Ayutthaya vassal.
First and second invasions
In João de Barros' Décadas da Ásia, translated by anthropologists P. E. De Josselin De Jong and H. L. A. Van Wijk which detailed, among other things, the history of Malacca, Muzaffar Shah's son and successor Mahmud Shah of Malacca had renounced "all subservience to the king of Siāo" (Siam), provoking a Siamese military response. The Siamese king (Ramathibodi II) ordered the formation of an armada consisting of 200 ships that carried some 6,000 men, led by the poyoá of Ligor. The poyoá is recorded as the Raja of Ligor in William Shellabear's edition of the Malay Annals.
The armada was assailed by a storm and dispersed, and a handful of ships reached the outskirts of Malacca before the rest of the fleet. Greeted by Mahmud Shah, who granted them provisions and declared himself subservient to Ramathibodi, these ships sent messengers to the rest of the armada, informing them of Mahmud's submission, and that the poyoá "could proceed at his pleasure" while they awaited his arrival in Malacca.
However, upon being billeted, the Siamese sailors and soliders were murdered, and a larger force of disguised Malaccans set out in the night to meet the Siamese armada. The poyoá, whose fleet was understrength, believed the disguised Malaccans to be his own forces and was routed.
Angered by Mahmud Shah's deceit, the Siamese king ordered the formation of another armada as well as a land army, including over 400 elephants, to attack Malacca. Combined, the Siamese forces numbered 30,000 men. En route to Malacca, the Siamese forces were ordered to attack the Pahang Sultanate, led by Mahmud Shah's cousin Mansur Shah I of Pahang, a Malaccan vassal. Owing to the Siamese's desire for a hasty response, they were poorly organised and routed by local forces as they besieged Pahang. The Siamese king then prepared for a third invasion consisting of two separate forces, each with its own army and accompanying armada, with one to advance on Malacca through Kelantan and the other through Tenasserim. The capture of Malacca in 1511 by the Portuguese Empire rendered the planned third invasion unnecessary.{{Cite journal |last=De Josselin De Jong |first=P. E. |last2=Van Wijk |first2=H. L. A. |date=1960 |title=The Malacca Sultanate |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20067300 |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian History |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=20–29 |issn=0217-7811}}
Differing slightly from de Barros' account, William Linehan's The History of Pahang (1936) mentions only one invasion by Siamese forces made using the Tembeling River that suffered severe casualties at the hands of a Malaccan force led by Laksamana Khoja Hassan.
Notes
{{notelist}}