The Malacca Saltanate: Power Struggle between Tun Ali and Tun Perak (1445-1456)

The Malacca Sultanate (established in 1402 as a port-kingdom however; it become known as the Malacca Sultanate since 1445) saw an extraordinary incident in its history. In 1445, a far-reaching bloody coup d’état took place and the coup permanently changed the features of politics of the kingdom. Following the coup, a non-Malay Tamil and the leader of the coup d’état named Tun Ali was appointed as the Bendahara or Prime Minister of the Malacca Sultanate by the new ruler Sultan Muzaffar Shah. Before long, he got involved in a power struggle and political rivalry with Tun Perak, a member of the former Bendahara family of Malacca. Once started, the political rivalry between Tun Ali and Tun Perak took a serious turn. The Sultanate was in danger of being destroyed due to their intensive and prolonged power struggle (1445-1456). However, Sultan Muzaffar Shah’s meticulous and skillful management of the situation resulted in a peaceful end to the ten-year power struggle. This article first sheds light on the background of the power struggle and then highlights Sultan Muzaffar Shah’s masterful handling of the circumstances for which a peaceful resolution of the struggle was possible. The primary sources including two versions of the Sejarah Melayu (The Malay Annals) and Tome Pires’ the Suma Oriental are used to prepare this research article; however, secondary sources are also consulted.