Samudera Pasai Sultanate

The Samudera Pasai Sultanate was a Muslim kingdom on the north coast of Sumatra, in what is now Aceh, Indonesia. It was founded in 1267 by Merah Silu, who converted to Islam and took the name Malik ul Salih, according to local tradition. The kingdom controlled a stretch of coast near the modern town of Lhokseumawe and became one of the earliest Islamic states in Southeast Asia. Its position on the sea route between India and the Malay Archipelago, and its hinterland of gold, forest products and later pepper, made it a wealthy trading centre. Marco Polo visited the region in 1292, and the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta stayed at Samudera in 1345, describing its ruler as a devout Muslim. Majapahit attacked and looted the kingdom in the middle of the fourteenth century, and in the early fifteenth century the rise of Malacca diverted much of its trade. Chinese fleets under Zheng He called at Samudera in the early fifteenth century. The Portuguese attacked Pasai in 1521, and its garrison evacuated in 1524; the first Sultan of Aceh, Ali Mughayat Syah, then annexed the territory. The name Samudera later came to designate the whole island of Sumatra.