Malacca was a major destination in the great wave of sea expeditions launched by Portugal around the turn of the 16th century. It eventually was controlled as part of the Portuguese Empire. The first Portuguese expedition to reach Malacca landed in 1507. The "Sejarah Melayu" ("Malay Annals") noted that the Malays first called them "Bengali Puteh" (White Bengalis), as the Portuguese brought to mind traders from Bengal but were more pale skinned. In the early years, the Malays called the Portuguese Serani (a Malay contraction of the Arabic "Nasrani", meaning followers of Jesus the Nazarene). A story was recorded that the Portuguese landing party inadvertently insulted the Malaccan sultan by placing a garland of flowers on his head, and he had them detained. In 1511, a Portuguese fleet came from India to free the landing party and conquer Malacca.