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Abstract

This paper will review and discuss the presence of healthcare facilities in Melaka while it was under Portuguese rule from 1511 to-1641. The presence of healthcare facilities, while recorded, has not been studied in detail. While most of Portuguese Melaka was destroyed by the Dutch bombardment of 1641, some of the healthcare facilities that existed in the city were recorded even though they were eventually destroyed by the Dutch as they took over the city. This paper will record some of these institutions and detail the type of healthcare provided. Here, Portuguese records will be reviewed and evidence of hospitals will be elaborated upon. This paper will rely solely on historical writings by modern scholars and where possible, ancient Portuguese records. This paper aims to enable us to better understand the role of hospitals in the city of Melaka and why the Portuguese emphasized building them from an early period.