Legal aspect in the social history of Malacca Sultanate: a preliminary observation

Abstract

The importance of the kingdom and the Sultanate of Malacca Its in the history of Malaysia needs no further elaboration. strategic significance as in the case of earlier Malay empire such as Srivijaya, allowed it to exercise considerable control over the vast areas. In point of fact, the Malaccan era was but one period in the history of the Malaysian region. Their history of government is to be traced from Srivijaya/Palembang to Bentan, Singapore, Malacca and subsequently to Johore where that tradition confronted challenges from another Malay-Muslim power of Acheh. Even with the eventual collapse of Johore empire in the early decades of 18th century, the tradition of Malay government never ended there. Instead, the continuity of this tradition was seen embedded in the various Malay Sultanates that emerged on the Malay Peninsula which were modelled, more or less, along the Malacca- Johore lines.