Battle of Muar River

Battle of Muar River
	Part of Malay-Portuguese conflicts
Date	April 1523
Location	Muar River, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
Result	Malayan victory
Belligerents
Portuguese Empire	Sultanate of Bintan ; Pahang Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Jorge de Albuquerque	Unnamed Laksamana
Strength
Unknown	80 vessels
Casualties and losses
65 men killed; 3 ships lost	Unknown

The Battle of Muar River took place in 1523 between the allied Malaccan-Pahang navy and the Portuguese navy. The battle ended in favor of the Malayans, as they defeated the Portuguese in the Muar River.

Battle

In 1521, having defeated a Portuguese attempt to capture and destroy the Sultan of Malacca Mahmud Shah's base, attacks on Portuguese shipping increased from that time onwards,^[1] which laid a heavy burden on Portuguese operations. In April 1523, the Malaccans, allied with the Pahang Sultanate^[2] launched a raid against the Portuguese and occupied Malacca with a large navy of 80 vessels led by the Laksamana.^[3]

Once the Malayans established themselves in the Muar River,^[4] a lone Portuguese vessel sailing from Malacca spotted the large Malayan navy about 10 leagues away and quickly returned to Malacca to inform its captain Jorge de Albuquerque; who decided to face them in the sea and send ships there, however, the Portuguese encountered a heavy storm which forced them head to the Muar River.

The storm was powerful enough that it forced three Portuguese ships – separated from the rest – to go far into the river where they met the Malayan camp, where they were surrounded and attacked with all 65 Portuguese on board being killed.^[4]^[5] The rest of the Portuguese navy withdrew to Malacca, and the Malayans, satisfied with their victory returned to Bintan.^[5]

References

^ Winstedt, Richard Olof, A History of Malaya, p. 76 [1]
^ Ahmad Sarji, Abdul Hamid (2011), The Encyclopedia of Malaysia, vol. 16 - The Rulers of Malaysia, Editions Didier Millet
^ Danvers, Frederick Charles, The Portuguese In India Vol.1, p. 358 [2]
^ ^a ^b R. S. Whiteway, Rise of Portuguese Power in India, p. 329[3]
^ ^a ^b Danvers, Frederick Charles, p. 358