The Sultanate of Malacca
The world's busiest port — and the door the Portuguese kick in
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Malacca's advantage was meteorological: the north-east monsoon brought Chinese junks south, the south-west monsoon brought Indian and Arab ships east, and they could exchange cargo without waiting half a year. The sultanate developed a maritime legal code, the Undang-Undang Laut Melaka, and made Malay the trade language of the region — the basis of today's bahasa. The Portuguese conquest of 1511 did not end the trade but dispersed it to Aceh, Johor and Banten, and opened four centuries of European powers trying to control the strait.
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Malacca sat exactly where the monsoon winds met, so ships from China and from India could meet in one place. Eighty languages were spoken in its harbour. In 1511 the Portuguese arrived with cannon and took the city — Europe's first grip on the trade of Asia.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org