Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c14.t3.23

v2.c14.t3.23

With the downfall of the Majapahit empire at the beginning of the fifteenth century A. D., Siam must have again tried to consolidate its authority in Malay Peninsula. But now the Malay states tried to shake off the yoke of both Java and Siam. We have already seen above, in connection with the history of Java, that China took advantage of the downfall of the Majapahit empire to pose as the protector of its vassal states, and thereby play an imperial rôle in the affairs of the Malay Peninsula and Malay Archipelago. The Peninsular states thus naturally turned towards China, specially as the authority of China was more nominal than that of either Java or Siam. This is clearly indicated by the fact that various states like Pahang, Kelantan, and Malacca now send tributes to China.