Sometime around 1400, a Hindu sultan, Parameswara, the local ruler of the Sumatran city of Palembang (which lies about halfway between modern Singapore and Java) defied the Hindu Majapahit ruler of Java and was forced to flee north toward Singapore and the strait. After first conquering Singapore, Parameswara then settled in Malacca, which derives its name from an old Malay word, malaqa, meaning “hidden fugitive.”63
