Battle of Perlis River

Context

At 2 am on 9 September 1547, an Acehnese fleet silently approached Portuguese Malacca in an attempt to assault it by surprise. It numbered 3 galleys, 57 lancharas, 5,000 men (including both sailors and warriors, 300 hulubalangs, plus 80 mercenaries from the Ottoman Empire of which 20 were former Janissaries of Greek origin. Command was entrusted to the former Sultan of Pedir, Bayaya Soora. The Sultan of Aceh was hoping to conquer territory across the Malacca Strait, on the Malay Peninsula.

Acehnese attack on Malacca

Under cloudy or rainy and windy conditions, Bayaya Soora began landing his men, but they were unexpectedly counter-ambushed by the Portuguese, who were aware of their approach, and received them with matchlock fire, killing many. After quickly reembarking his men, Bayaya Soora sent the Portuguese captain of Malacca Simão de Melo a message, delivered by some fishermen he had captured and mutilated, written in their blood: he challended Melo to a single-duel, threatening among other things to "consider the King of Portugal as the lowliest vassal of Aceh" if he did not comply.

I, Bayaya Soora, who have the honor of carrying, enclosed in vessels of pure gold, the smile of the great sultan Alaradin, the sweetly perfumed candlestick of the holy house of Mecca, King of Acheen and of the lands of both seas, would have thee to know, that so thou mayst inform thy king, that I have taken up my position on this his seas, throwing fear and terror into your fortress with my fierce roaring; and here I wil remain as long as such may be my pleasure: and of this my purpose, I call upon the earth, and all nations comprising it, together with all the elements, the heavens with their moon, to bear me witness: all of which proclaim, by my mouth, that thy king is conquered, vanquished - a man of no repute, no valor - his troops defeated and destroyed by land; nor will he ever more be able to unfurl his standard, unless by the permission of him who gains the victory now. Let him then bow his head beneath the feet of my king, for from this day forth he will become his subject and my slave. And that thou thyself mayst confess the truth of this, I at this moment, and from the place where I now am, send thee this challenge and defiance. Let it be seen whether for his sake thou wilt dare to accept and answer it.

The message was received with amusement by the Portuguese command, but was ignored, and the Acehnese withdrew north.

Portuguese preparations

At that time, the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier resided in the city, who publicly criticised the garrison for not chasing the enemy. Nine light-galleys and 230 soldiers were then equipped to seek battle with the Acehnese, the supplies having been provided voluntarily by the people of Malacca. On 25 October 25 Portuguese flottilla set sail, numbering 9 light galleys and 230 soldiers, besides an unrecorded number of rowers, sailors, Indian auxiliaries and slaves, under the command of Dom Francisco de Eça.

The ruse of the Sultan of Johor

Sometime after the departure of Dom Francisco, a large fleet of over 300 vessels under the command of the Sultan of Johor anchored in the Muar River near Malacca. Having been informed that a Portuguese fleet had recently left to fight the Acehnese, the sultan offered captain Simão de Melo his condolences for "the total destruction" of the Portuguese fleet, and requested permission to both drop anchor in the harbour and also to land forces to help protect the city from the Acehnese. Suspecting treachery, Melo rejected the offer, claiming that "a great victory" had just been won and that he had enough soldiers to defend Malacca. The sultan did not move from the Muar and disptached light vessels north to gather information.