by Su Lin Lim
| 1400 | Founding of Melaka by Parameswara, c.1400 |
| 1403 | First official Chinese trade envoys arrive in Melaka. |
| 1406 | Probable date of the arrival of Admiral Zheng He (Cheng Ho), commander of the Chinese Imperial Fleet, in Melaka on the first of his 7 voyages to the Indian Ocean |
| 1411 | Parameswara journeys to China with an entourage of 540 and meets the Ming Emperor. The same year, he embraces Islam and changes his name to Raja Iskandar Shah. |
| 1446 | Sultan Muzaffar Shah, Parameswara’s great-grandson, begins his reign. Melaka prospers under his strong rule. He establishes Islam as the state religion and defeats the Thais in battle near Muar. |
| 1456 | Tun Perak becomes Bendahara (Prime Minister). Serving four Sultans, he is responsible for Melaka’s rise to power in maritime Southeast Asia. |
| 1459 | Sultan Mansur Shah succeeds Muzaffar Shah. Admiral Zheng He brings Chinese Princess Hang Li Po as a wife for the sultan. |
| 1509 | Arrival of Portuguese explorer, Diego Lopez de Sequiera, commander of the first Royal Portuguese trading expedition. His fleet is attacked by Malays but escapes, leaving behind 20 men as prisoners. |
| 1511 | Portuguese forces, led by Alfonso d’Albuquerque, capture Melaka. A’ Famosa, a stone fortess is built around the present St. Paul’s Hill. Within this fortress, palaces for the governor and bishop, a college and other public buildings are constructed. |
| 1545 | St. Francis Xavier visits Melaka on the first of his four sojourns, as a base in the East. He tries to get permission to travel to China from here. |
| 1548 | The first school in Melaka, St. Paul’s College, is established by St. Francis for the Portuguese Catholics and newly converted natives. |
| 1587 | Johor Malays launch a land and sea attack on Melaka, saved by Portuguese reinforcements from Goa. The Portuguese retaliate by looting and razing the Johor capital to the ground. |
| 1606 | First Dutch fleet arrives in Melaka under the command of Cornelis Matelief de Jonge. An attack is staged with Johor’s help. After a 3-month siege, Portuguese reinforcements arrive from Goa and successful ward off the attack. |
| 1641 | The Dutch capture Melaka with the help of Malays in Johor. The city, decimated by war, is rebuilt and the fortifications improved. |
| 1645 | Cheng Hoon Teng temple is founded by Kapitan China, Li Kup. It is currently the oldest functioning Chinese temple in Malaysia. |
| 1650 | The Stadhuys, home of the Dutch governor and his retinue, is built. |
| 1710 | St. Peter’s Church, the oldest functioning Christian church in Malaysia, is built after the Dutch restore freedom of religion to the Catholics. |
| 1753 | Christ Church, the Dutch church next to the Stadhuys in the Town Square, is completed after 12 years of construction. |
| 1795-1818 | Melaka is temporarily held by the British EIC during the Napoleonic Wars, to prevent it falling into French hands. Governor William Farquhar ordered to demolish the fort in order to transfer the population to Penang settlement. Although the destruction was halted midway by Sir Stamford Raffles (founder of Singapore), only the gateway was preserved. The treaty of Vienna signed at the end of the Wars. Melaka is restored to the Dutch. |
| 1824 | The Anglo-Dutch treaty signed. Dutch trade Melaka to the British in exchange for Bengkulu/Bencoolen (Sumatra). Melaka and Sumatra officially separated. |
| 1826 | The Straits Settlements of Penang, Melaka and Singapore are set up by the British. |
| 1867 | The Straits Settlements becomes a Crown Colony under the Colonial Office. |
| 1901 | The Queen Victoria fountain is erected in commemoration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (1837-1897). |
| 1942 | World War II- Japanese occupy Malaya and take Melaka from British |
| 1945 | Japanese surrender; Melaka is returned to British hands |
| 1948 | Malaysia’s internal war against Communism (The Emergency) begins and lasts for 12 years. |
| 1956 | Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, announces the news of impending independence to 50,000 people gathered on the Padang Pahlawan, in Melaka. |
| 1957 | Malaya gains independence. The last British Resident Commissioner of Melaka, H.G. Hammett, hands the instrument of independence to the first local governor on 31st August. |