Parameswara of Malacca Converts to Islam

1414

The Hindu-Buddhist founder of Malacca adopted Islam and took the name Iskandar Shah, cementing the port city's vital commercial alliance with Muslim traders arriving from Gujarat, Arabia, and the Swahili coast. The conversion transformed Malacca into the primary vector for Islam's rapid spread across the entire Malay Archipelago, eventually carrying the faith to the shores of Java, Sumatra, Mindanao, and the spice islands of the eastern seas.