I have written about Parameswara before in relation to Fort Canning in Singapore. He was a Hindu prince also known as Sri Tri Buana who had fled from Sumatra in 1299 and established a kingdom in Temasek which he renamed Singapura. His descendent Sri Sultan Iskandar Shah, also known as Parameswara, fled Singapura in 1398 (or 1396?) following a foreign attack and ended up founding Melaka and the start of a new Malay Sultanate (and ultimately the Old Johor Sultanate).
What I did not know until today was that Parameswara first settled along the Muar River, hence the great Melakan Empire really started here in Muar. He built a fort known as Kota Biawak Busuk, or Fort of Smelly Monitor Lizards; just look down at the river bank next to the Bentayan Bus Terminal and you can still see lizards basking on the shore or swimming in the river. It certainly smells here too, but I think that is the waste from the F&B stalls.
If you look back towards the city, you can see the waterway from the site of Kota Biawak Busuk heading into town. The inland waterways became crucial highways for these settlers, both for trading and for defense against invaders.
Parameswara didn’t favour this area so he moved inland along the Muar River to Pagoh. We went in search of Tapak Sejarah Kota Buruk at Tanjung Selabu where he was supposed to have stayed for 5-10 years before moving to Melaka, but the access road was blocked. Parameswara stayed by the river as a defensive move against the Siamese, but eventually moved to Melaka with its greater prospects of money making activities (e.g., taxing the maritime traders).
This land around Pagoh is covered with palm oil plantations and the factories making the furniture for which Muar is famous. The land had recently been purchased for a factory, so the owners had blocked off the access road to one of the most important historical sites in the history of Malaysia.
When Parameswara settled in Melaka, he started the dynasty of Melaka Sultans and reigned from 1400-1414. The story of the Sultans of Melaka is found in the preceding blog.
Click here to return to Muar - the Royal Town of Johor
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