Melaka Sultanate - Trade

Trade

Melaka developed from a small settlement to a cosmopolitan entrepot within the span of a century. This rapid progression was attributable to several factors, key among which were its strategic location along one of the World's most important shipping lanes, Melaka Straits and the increasing demand for commodities from both the East and the West. Ships from the east bearing goods from China, Ryukyu, Java and Maluku Islands would sail in by the northeast monsoon from December to January, while ships leaving for ports along Indian coastline, the Red Sea and East Africa would sail with the southwest monsoon.

There were other ports along the Melaka Straits such as Kedah in the Peninsula and Jambi and Palembang in Sumatra, yet none of them came close to challenging Melaka's success as a center of international trade. Melaka had an edge over these ports because its Rulers created an environment that was safe and conducive for business. Chinese records of the mid-15th century stated that Melaka flourished as a center for trade on account of its effective security measures. It also had a well-equipped and well-managed port. Among the facilities provided for merchants were warehouses, where they could safely house their goods as they awaited favorable trade winds, as well as elephants for transporting goods to the warehouses. Melaka's management of its ethnically diverse merchant population - it is said that 84 different languages were spoken in Melaka during its heyday- is particularly telling. To administer the cosmopolitan marketplace, the traders were grouped according to region and placed under one of four shahbandars.

Melaka had few domestic products with which to trade. It produced small amounts of tin and gold as well as dried fish, yet even the salt for preserving the fish had to be sourced from elsewhere in the region. Basic goods, including vegetables, cattle and fish, were supplied by Melaka's trading partners. Rice, mainly for local consumption, was imported. Much of the mercantile activity in Melaka, therefore, relied on the flow of goods from other parts of the region. Among Melaka's most crucial functions was its role as both a collection center for cloves, nutmeg and mace from the Spice Islands and a redistribution center for cotton textiles from ports in Gujarat, the Coromandel Coast, Malabar Coast and Bengal. Other goods traded in Melaka included porcelain, silk and iron from China and natural products of the Malay archipelago, such as camphor, sandalwood, spices, fish, fish roe and seaweed. From the coastal regions on both sides of Melaka Straits came forest products; rattan, resin, roots and wax, and some gold and tin. These goods were then shipped to ports west of Melaka especially Gujarat.

Tin ingots were a trading currency unique to Melaka. Cast in the shape of a peck, each block weighs just over one pound. Ten blocks made up one unit called a 'small bundle', and 40 blocks made up one 'large bundle'. Gold and Silver coins were also issued by Melaka as trading currency within the kingdom.