From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire

This paper attempts to reconstruct the famed city of Melaka at its height in the 15th and 16th centuries, to its subsequent dispersion in the 17th to 19th centuries. Melaka’s cultural-political influences and impact as a center of the common Melayu based culture and civilisation can be gauged from...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jahn Kassim, Puteri Shireen, Ibrahim, Illyani, Kamaruddin, Kamariah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of L'Aquila 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/76279/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/76279/1/76279_From%20centre%20to%20centrifugal%20dispersion.pdf
_version_ 1848788260882481152
author Jahn Kassim, Puteri Shireen
Ibrahim, Illyani
Kamaruddin, Kamariah
author_facet Jahn Kassim, Puteri Shireen
Ibrahim, Illyani
Kamaruddin, Kamariah
author_sort Jahn Kassim, Puteri Shireen
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper attempts to reconstruct the famed city of Melaka at its height in the 15th and 16th centuries, to its subsequent dispersion in the 17th to 19th centuries. Melaka’s cultural-political influences and impact as a center of the common Melayu based culture and civilisation can be gauged fromits original center in Melaka city as its initial axis of power; which dispersed into surrounding regions. Through visual, cartographic and lithographic sources, the city – before 1511 - is reconstructed and its architecture and core areas are modelled. Subsequently, after its fall, its influences was traced as centrifugal forces, which manifest in terms of cultural and stylistic forms that expanded beyond the realm of its initial center and limits of its port city. As its center of power reconsolidated into surrounding regions; its infl uence goes beyond the compact Melayu city and re-consolidated into a transnational regional and cultural powerbase. The paper combines both historical and modelling methods to demonstrate the essentially ‘Melayu’ or Malay urban-architectural form of the center, and its survival in terms of a socio-cultural dominion rather than physical city-form. It remained a Malay based yet multilcultural polity which survived despite changes in its center of power. Its centrifugal dispersion is represented by reverberations of its architectural stylistic forms in surrounding regions and its centripetal influence was its cultural force that can still be seen throughout centuries in the sketches, paintings and depictions of urban life, landscape and architecture of the 17th to the 19th centuries in the South East Asian archipelago region. The paper reflects how forms of architecture, landscape and urban design are traces of a common culture and civilisation that stretches beyond present national borders and which reflect and resonates with the nature of a maritime-based culture which is reflective of a transnational, multi national and multi cultural nature of a regionally-based nation-state in medieval times.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T17:38:00Z
format Article
id iium-76279
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T17:38:00Z
publishDate 2019
publisher University of L'Aquila
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling iium-762792020-04-08T04:23:15Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/76279/ From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire Jahn Kassim, Puteri Shireen Ibrahim, Illyani Kamaruddin, Kamariah NA Architecture Medieval architecture NA2695 Architectural drawing and design NA4100 Special classes of buildings This paper attempts to reconstruct the famed city of Melaka at its height in the 15th and 16th centuries, to its subsequent dispersion in the 17th to 19th centuries. Melaka’s cultural-political influences and impact as a center of the common Melayu based culture and civilisation can be gauged fromits original center in Melaka city as its initial axis of power; which dispersed into surrounding regions. Through visual, cartographic and lithographic sources, the city – before 1511 - is reconstructed and its architecture and core areas are modelled. Subsequently, after its fall, its influences was traced as centrifugal forces, which manifest in terms of cultural and stylistic forms that expanded beyond the realm of its initial center and limits of its port city. As its center of power reconsolidated into surrounding regions; its infl uence goes beyond the compact Melayu city and re-consolidated into a transnational regional and cultural powerbase. The paper combines both historical and modelling methods to demonstrate the essentially ‘Melayu’ or Malay urban-architectural form of the center, and its survival in terms of a socio-cultural dominion rather than physical city-form. It remained a Malay based yet multilcultural polity which survived despite changes in its center of power. Its centrifugal dispersion is represented by reverberations of its architectural stylistic forms in surrounding regions and its centripetal influence was its cultural force that can still be seen throughout centuries in the sketches, paintings and depictions of urban life, landscape and architecture of the 17th to the 19th centuries in the South East Asian archipelago region. The paper reflects how forms of architecture, landscape and urban design are traces of a common culture and civilisation that stretches beyond present national borders and which reflect and resonates with the nature of a maritime-based culture which is reflective of a transnational, multi national and multi cultural nature of a regionally-based nation-state in medieval times. University of L'Aquila 2019-06-22 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/76279/1/76279_From%20centre%20to%20centrifugal%20dispersion.pdf Jahn Kassim, Puteri Shireen and Ibrahim, Illyani and Kamaruddin, Kamariah (2019) From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire. DISEGNARECON, 12 (22). 9.1-9.17. ISSN 1828-5961 http://disegnarecon.univaq.it/ojs/index.php/disegnarecon
spellingShingle NA Architecture
Medieval architecture
NA2695 Architectural drawing and design
NA4100 Special classes of buildings
Jahn Kassim, Puteri Shireen
Ibrahim, Illyani
Kamaruddin, Kamariah
From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire
title From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire
title_full From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire
title_fullStr From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire
title_full_unstemmed From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire
title_short From centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘Melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval Melaka empire
title_sort from centre to centrifugal dispersion of the maritime ‘melayu’ culture: modelling the regional reverberations of the medieval melaka empire
topic NA Architecture
Medieval architecture
NA2695 Architectural drawing and design
NA4100 Special classes of buildings
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/76279/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/76279/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/76279/1/76279_From%20centre%20to%20centrifugal%20dispersion.pdf