In 1509, the King of Portugal sent their first delegation to Malacca with their Captain named Diogo Lopez De Sequeira in order to establish contact with the Sultanate of Malacca. At the same time, also to discover the unity between the Malay state, the unity between the Malays and the international traders, to study the Malacca navy, and to study whether it is suitable or not to spread Christianity.
Initially, Sultan Mahmud Syah welcomed their arrival to Malacca. The Portuguese enjoyed all forms of hospitality and were even allowed to do same trade. However, the merchants were not pleased with Portuguese presence especially Indian traders because they heard what the Portuguese had done elsewhere and they feared the worst. Also, the Muslim community convinced the Sultan that the Portuguese should be eliminated. The Portuguese surprised by the sudden attack and several men were taken prisoner, while the other with De Sequeira escaped together with their ships.
The second delegation was in 1510 from Goa and leads by Concalo Pereira, where they tried to take control of Malacca, but failed. They return back to give report to Alfonso D’ Albuquerque. After that, Albuquerque departed from India for Malacca in April 1511 with the mission to conquer Malacca. They arrived in Malacca in June of 1511 and immediately demanded the rescue of the Portuguese prisoner in the 1509 expedition. Albuquerque starts to attack Malacca city, but failed because of the unity among Malays and Muslim traders that are ready to defend the Malacca. In 1511, another delegation leads by Alfonso D’ Albuquerque came and attacks Malacca with superior force of ships, soldiers, Indian mercenaries. They began with firing their cannon. The Malacca army who lead by Ahmad, Sultan Mahmud’s son was shocked due to unfamiliar thunder of cannon and more, they panicked when the saw the destruction of life and property that the cannonballs caused. The Portuguese attacked the town by concentrating the assault on the bridge of the river which linked the two sections of the town. The attack was successful and the Portuguese finally succeeded in establishing a bridgehead in the town. After a pitched battle in which Malaccan spears and elephants were not able to stand up to Portuguese cannon and muskets, the city finally fell.
In 15 August 1511, the bridge and town centre was taken after some hard fighting and finally, the town was systematically sacked. The war occurred within two weeks and happened during Sultan Mahmud administration.
