The Suma Oriental of Tome Pires An Account of the East, from the Red Sea to Japan, Written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515 and The Book of Francisco Rodrigues : Rutter of a Voyage in the Red Sea, Nautical Rules, Almanack and Maps, Written and Drawn in the East Before 1515

About the his travels in Malaysia-Indonesia the author drew a book on Asian trade, the Suma Oriental que trata do Mar Roxo até aos Chins. He wrote the book in Malacca and India between 1512 and 1515, completing it before the death of Alfonso de Albuquerque (December 1515). He feels that this is the earliest European description of Malaysia and the oldest and most extensive description of the Portuguese east. It is a collection of varied i nf or mat i hi s t or y, geogr aphy,ethnography, botany, economi cs,commerce, etc., including coins,weights and measures. He was careful to study the accuracy of information gathered from merchants, navigators, and others with whom he had contact. This makes them a keen observer, despite their non-fluid prose, superior to other Portuguese writers of the time. The book, conceived to be an account for Manuel I of Portugal, and perhaps due to an assignment received in Li s bon bef or e hi s depar t ur e, i sc o n s i d e r e d o n e o f t h e m o s tconscientious first-hand sources for the study of Indian geography and trade of the time, and one of the mosti mpor t ant s our c e s of s t udy f orcontemporary Islam in Indonesia. The book contains 42 illustrations and maps which makes the discourse more valuable for the students and readers. About the é Pi r e s wa s a Po r t u g u e s ediplomat, explorer and apothecary who lived from 1512 to 1515 in Portuguese Malacca immediately after the Portuguese conquest, when the Europeans had just arrived in the South- East Asia. After difficultexperiences in India and the East Indies, he led the first official embassy of a European nation in China (from Portugal to the emperor of China, Zhengde, during the Ming dynasty ), where he died. Pires was the apothecary of the unfo