Malacca, an extensive region, situate in Southern India, consisting of a large peninsula connected by the isthmus of Kraw, extends from the 1st to the 12th de- grees of N. lat., and from the 98th to the 104th degrees of E. long., and is 775 miles in length by 125 in average breadth. The country is a long, narrow strip of land, traversed by a chain of lofty mountains, and covered with extensive forests and marshes, so that it is very difficult to penetrate into the interior. A range of ex- tremely bleak mountains, running through it from one extremity to the other, gives rise to innumerable streams, the courses of which, from the proximity of the moun- tains to the sea, are short, and are so obstructed at the mouths by bars and sand-banks that they can not be ascended bj' vessels of any size. At the southern ex- tremity of the continent are the islands of Bintang, Batang, and Singapore, with many others, so thickly clustered together that they are only separated from the continent by narrow straits, and seem to be a prolonga- tion of the land. On the west coast also there are nu- merous islands.
History. — The political state of Malacca has been sub- ject to many revolutions, having been occasionally de- pendent on Siam when that monarchy was in the height of its power, and when its supremacy was owned by the whole peninsida. But, since the Siamese have j-ielded to the increasing power of the Burmans, all the southern portion of the peninsula has shaken off the yoke, and the northern states pay only a moderate tribute. The whole of the sea-coast from that latitude to Port Roma- nia is still possessed by the Malays, who are mixed in some ])laces with the burgesses from Celebes, and who have a small settlement at Salengore. The northern and inland parts of the peninsula are inliabitcd by the Patany people, who appear to be a mixture of the Siam- ese and IMalays, and who occupy independent villages. The negro race is found in the interior among the ab- original natives. The great majority of the inhabitants are, however, of the ]\Ialay race, who are wcW kno^vn and widely diffused among all the eastern islands. The origin of this remarkable race is not distinctly known ; they are understood, however, not to be natives of this country, but to have come originally from the district of Palembang, in the interior of Sumatra, situate on the banks of the River Malaya. Having cmssed over about the end of the 12th century to the opposite continent, they, in 1252, founded the city of Malacca. Sultan Mohammed Shah, who ascended the throne in the 13th century, was the first Mussulman prince who ex- tended his rule over Malaccp, During part of the 15th centurj' Malacca was under Siamese sovereigns. In 1509 sultan Mahmud repelled the aggression of the
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king of Siam, but in 1511 he was conquered by the Por- tuguese under Albuquerque. In 1642 it became the possession of the Dutch, and in 1824: it was finally trans- ferred to the British among the cessions made by the king of Netherlands in exchange for the British posses- sions on the island of Sumatra, E. long. 100°, N. lat. 5^ (comp. Cyclop. Brit. s. v.).
Rdlijhm. — Until the inroads of the Mohammedans in the 13th century, the inhabitants of Malacca were pagans or followed some corrupt form of Hindu idol- atry. With the Mussulman reign the religion of the Crescent became the predominating belief. Christian- it}' was introduced in the l(5th century by the Portu- guese. One of the earliest laborers here was the re- nowned Spanish Jesuit, Francis Xavier (q. v.). Unfor- tunately, however, for the success of the Gospel truth, the conduct of the Romish priesthood and of the Portu- guese authorities was very unkind toward the natives. Not much better was the influence of the Dutch. Though Protestantism, with their entrance, superseded Roman- ism in a measure, the government hesitated to encourage the Christian missions, and gave great liberty to Moham- medans, lest the latter should be tempted to insurrection, and Holland Ije deprived of these valuable possessions. To this day the Mussulmen continue to make converts in Malacca. The Romanists maintain a suffragan bishop at the capital (of like name as the country). For further details on the success of Christianity in Malacca at pres- ent, see the articles India ; Malays. See also Grunde- mann, Missionsatlas, No. 7, 21, and 24 ; Cameron, Ou7- Trop. Possess, in Malayan India (Lond. 1865).
Llal'achi (llch. MalaW, ''~}<'b'0, 7nesseiirjer ; Sept. in the title Mn\o;;^('nc:, but in ch. i, 1 it renders uyyt- Xog avToi', Vulg. Mulachias), the last of the minor prophets, and the latest writer in the canon of the O. T. (comp. ch. iv, 4, 5, G). What is known of him is so in- timately connected with his prophecies that it will be most convenient to consider the whole subject together. In doing so we freely use the articles in Smith's and Kitto's JJictionaries.
I. Personal Account, — The name IMalachi is rendered by some my antjel, but it is usually regarded as contracted from Malachijah, " messenger of Jehovah," like Abi (2 Kings xviii, 2) from Abijah (2 Chron. xxix, 1). . The traditionists regard the name as having been given to the prophet on account of the beauty of his person and his unblemished life. The name means an angel, angels being, in fact, the messengers of God; and, as the prophets are often styled angels or messengers of Jeho- vah, it is supposed by some that " Malachi" is merely a general title descriptive of this character, and not a proper name. So Hengstenberg, Christol. iii, 372 scj. Of his personal history nothing is known (see Dr. Da- vidson in Home's Introd. new ed. ii, 894 sq.). A tradi- tion preserved in Pseudo-Epiphanius {De Vitis Proph.) relates that jMalachi was of the tribe of Zebulun, and born after the captivity at Sopha (2o(pa, ? Saphir) in the territory of that tribe. According to the same apocryphal story he died young, and was buried with his fathers in his own country. Jerome, in the preface to his Commentary on Malachi, mentions a belief which was current among the Jews, that Malachi was identical with Ezra the priest, because the circumstances recorded in the narrative of the latter are also mentioned by the prophet. The Targum of Jonathan ben-Uzziel, on the words "by the hand of Malachi" (i, 1), gives the gloss " whose name is called Ezra the scribe." With equal probability Malachi has been identified with Mordecai, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel. The Sept., as above noted, renders "by Malachi" (Jlal. i, 1), -'by the hand of his angel;" and this translation appears to have given rise to the idea that Malachi, as well as Haggai and John the Baptist, was an angel in human shape (comp. JMal. iii, 1 ; 2 Esdr. i, 40 ; Jerome, Comm. in Hag. i, 13). Cyril alludes to this belief only to express his disapprobation, and characterizes those -who hold it as romancers {61 v.— U u