ho had turned Muhammadan and was
possessed of great wealth and influence, named Utemuta Raja, also
made his submission, and was appointed head of the Javanese
community. He it was who supplied the Portuguese with the force of
600 Javanese soldiers.

Nor were these the only native trading communities which the
Portuguese Governor favoured. He gave particular encouragement to the
Chinese, the Burmese, who are generally called by the chroniclers
Pegus, and the Loochewans; but he declared war to the death with the
Malays, both as Muhammadans {107} and as the former rulers. In spite
of the assistance which the old Javanese chieftain had rendered him,
Albuquerque was soon placed on his guard against the ambitious
projects of Utemuta Raja. Ruy de Araujo gave information that he was
at the bottom of the plot formed in 1509 for the massacre of the
Portuguese, and that it was his son who had sworn to assassinate
Sequeira with his own hand. He further declared that if Albuquerque
sailed away and left Utemuta Raja in power, there would soon be an
end of the Portuguese domination in Malacca.

Albuquerque gave heed to the warning, and when he found that the
Javanese was taking advantage for his own profit of the power
committed to him, he promptly had him and the principal members of
his family arrested. They were tried before Pedro de Alpoem, the
Ouvidor or Chief Magistrate of the Portuguese in the East, and
condemned to death. The wife of Utemuta Raja, who was a native of
Java, promised to give a large sum of money in gold towards the
expense of building the fortress, if the Portuguese would let her
husband and children go. Albuquerque replied that the Portuguese did
not sell justice for money, but that he was willing to hand over the
corpses of the victims to be buried with native rites. The sentence
was carried out in the great square of Malacca, where the treacherous
banquet to Sequeira and his officers was to have been held, and
Utemuta Raja, his son, his son-in-law, and his grandson were all
beheaded. The execution was {108} followed by an attempted riot of
the Javanese, which was easily suppressed.

This execution struck terror into the inhabitants of Malacca, and
firmly established the Portuguese authority. Albuquerque then devoted
himself, while the fortress was being constructed, to opening up
relations with the neighbouring powers. He knew that the possession
of Malacca would be of no advantage if traders were not enc