Malacca (Civ5)/Civilopedia

The town was founded about 1400 AD when Paramesvara, king of Tumasik, fled the invading Majapahit forces and found refuge in the small fishing village there. There, in a port that dominated the Straits of Malacca, he founded the Malay kingdom, which soon extended its authority over the whole of the peninsula and beyond. The successor Sultanate of Malacca soon became a vital layover for Chinese, Arab and European traders to replenish their food and water supplies. Malay rule ended in 1511 when Afonso de Albuquerque seized the city for Portugal.
Over the next century, Malacca became the most important trading port in Southeast Asia, with the Portuguese constructing extensive docks and warehouses to export sugar and rice. Port expansion continued under the Dutch East Indies Company, who captured and fortified the city in 1641 AD. British and Dutch rivalry for control of the strategic straits was settled in favor of the English by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, and Malacca became one of the original "Strait Settlements" in the British Empire. Heavy silting of the harbor estuary, combined with the growth of Singapore, led to Malacca's decline as a commercial center.
After the dissolution of the crown colony following Japanese occupation during World War II, Malacca became part of the independent Malayan Union in 1957 AD, which evolved into the modern nation of Malaysia. Prior to the war, the surrounding region had seen the development of rubber as a commercial crop; after the war, rubber became Malacca's primary export, making the city again a major port. Dredging and the construction of seawalls has made the city accessible to deep-draft ocean-going freighters and container ships, and the building of a railroad and modern highways into the city has made it an important cargo terminus in the region once more.