The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

REVIEWS 431
Francisco De Sa De Meneses, The Conquest of Malacca, translated by
Edgar C. Knowlton Jr. (University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1970)
pp. 234.
This is a translation of a sevententh century epic poem. The
translator bas provided the reader with a series of interesting essays
regarding the historical background, the poet, the significance of the
poem and the relevant textual commentaries. The translation, so far as
the non-reader of Portuguese can tell, appears to be a competent and,
one presumes, a faithful one. A pair of helpful glossaries of personal
and geographical names has also been appended.
The poem itself is a glorification of the conquest of the Malay city
of Malacca by Afonso De Albaquerque in 1511. The form of the poem
is that of a heroic epic in twelve books of somewhat uneven length.
Like other such works of this period and genre, it is filled with the usual
collection of classical and Biblical allusions together with a cosmic
backdrop. The translation is in prose.
The plot of the story follows the basic sequence of the actual
events. The action begins with Albaquerque at sea with his fleet,
presumably somewhere in the Bay of Bengal. Blown off course by an
adverse wind he has a vision of the Portuguese who died in an expedition
to Malacca under Sequeira in 1509. Now sainted crusaders (having
been killed by Muslims) the specters convince Albaquerque to conquer
Malacca.
After weathering a storm sent by Asmodeus (the demon spirit
who guides the Malays) he reaches Pedir in North Sumatra. Here he
meets Joao Viegas, a member of Sequeira's company wbo managed to
escape. He gives Albuquerque intelligence of Malacca.
After making friends with the king of Pedir, Albaquerque sets off
for Malacca once again. On the way he has a couple of encounters with
Southeast Asians. One of them, an ousted Sumatran king called Genial
(Zainal) allies himself with the Portuguese. During the voyage, AI aida, a
Pedir princess wbo has fallen in love with Viegas, recounts the history
of Malacca. On the fleet's arrival in Malacca, the King asks one of the
Portuguese prisoners to tell him of Albaquerque, so he recounts tbe story
of Albuquerque's campaigns in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.