Siege of Malacca (1568) 1568
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1568 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Malaysia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 2.1889, 102.2511 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Malacca occurred in 1568, when the Sultan of Aceh Alauddin attacked the Portuguese-held city of Malacca. The city had been held by the Portuguese since its capture by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1511.
The offensive was the result of a pan-Islamic alliance to try to repel the Portuguese from Malacca and the coasts of India. The Ottoman Empire supplied cannoneers to the alliance, but were unable to provide more due to the ongoing invasion of Cyprus and an uprising in Aden.
The army of the Sultan was composed of a large fleet of long galley-type oared ships, 15,000 troops, and Ottoman mercenaries. The city of Malacca was successfully defended by Dom Leonis Pereira, who was supported by the king of Johore. Pereira led 1,500 men while only 200 were Portuguese, some of the rest included Malays. The Acehnese led a heavy discharge of cannons and brought 200 ladders to scale the city walls but was hurled down by the defenders. Eventually, Portuguese forces sallied on the Acehnese defensive earthworks and killed a great number, capturing scimitars, muskets and a cannon. Not able to take the town after three days, Alauddin sailed back, burning some of his own ships as many of his men had died.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Malacca (1568) (revision 1373248737), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Capture of Malacca (1511) 1511 · 0 km
- Siege of Malacca (1606) 1606 · 0 km
- Siege of Malacca (1640–1641) 1640 · 0 km
- Battle of Gemas 1942 · 57 km
- Siege of Johor (1587) 1587 · 187 km
- Fall of Singapore 1942 · 193 km
Browse more: battles in Malaysia · Asia · Early modern battles