Join the new world

Continued from The Legacy (PART 1)

In my previous story I’ve told you some thrilling adventures of Hang Tuah and his friends; and how did they made their way to government position. With the superb skills in combat and his broad knowledge, Hang Tuah’s LEADERSHIP shone strikingly.
After several mission vanquishing pirates of the straits, he was knighted as ‘Laksamana’ (Admiral).

From the hierarchy we can see that a Laksamana comes third just after the Bendahara and the Sultan. It was so because navy force is the mainstream of Malacca’s military strength. After Laksamana then come the Temenggong who controlled internal affairs and the police works. The fifth was the Shahbandar who control ports.

As for today, the sequel will bring you the episode of the marriage proposal of the Javanese Raden Galoh Chandra Kirana..

If you had never noticed the political relevance of this marriage proposal, I should elaborate the scenario a bit more. Actually during the reign of Sultan Mansour Shah and the governance of Bendahara Tun Perak, Malacca was its apex. But… there was also another superpower in the region, which is the Majapahit Empire, centralized in Java.
At that time Majapahit was also at the peak of their time with the legendary Prime Minister Pateh Gajah Mada.

Remember the pirates?... I tell you, actually they’re the Javanese that envy with the prosperity of Malacca. They were the commandos of Pateh Gajah Mada himself. Betawi or present Jakarta area was also a big port, but just couldn’t keep up in competition with Malacca due to some geological advantage of Malacca. (And remember how did the Ducth took Betawi?)

To end all those pirates nonsense, Tun Perak came upon an idea to ‘create’ a peace treaty with Majapahit. Why should be a peace treaty when those two countries were never at war? Of course those two countries were never engaged in any bloody war, but the hidden cold war gave creepy feelings on both sides.

The Royal sea convoy was led by Laksamana Tun Tuah.
It’s the old fashion peace treaty regarding head of a country. That Sultan Mansour Shah proposed the Javanese princess Raden Galoh Chandra Kirana as his queen. To the ignorance mind, they only see Sultan Mansour as sex maniac only. But politically, Sultan Mansour being humble to be the son in law of the Majapahit’s Royal.

That’s hitting two birds with a stone. The Sultan got a beautiful queen, and Malacca would be free from the disturbance those pirates.

Glossary:
Hang : Is a call name for a normal citizen; Hang Nadim, Hang Isap, Hang Mahmud (Tuah’s dad) etc.
Dang : Is a call name for a female: Dang Merdu Wati (Tuah’s mother), Dang Anum etc.
Tun : Respectable call name used in the palace protocol.
Sang : A respectable person equivalent as a Sheikh. Sang Adi Putera; even Sang Kelembai.
Si : Lower class call name as Si Luncai, Si Tanggang etc.

To be continued…
(Next change: Taming Sari)
THE LEGACY (PART 3)