The founding of Melaka comes from two differing sources - Sejarah Melayu and Suma Oriental. Both accounts share similar information, yet the founder of Melaka in each accounts are two different people separated by five generations, with Sejarah Melayu relating the story of Iskandar Shah, a descendant of the legendary Sang Sapurba as the one who started it all after fleeing Temasek to escape the Majapahit attack, while Suma Oriental tells of Parameswara, a Palembang prince that escapes a Siamese attack and finds his way to Melaka.
Sabri Zain mentions that "You can see that the early history of the peninsula is not an exact science and you can sympathise with the poor modern historian who has to consolidate and reconcile such differeng accounts.
The Sejarah Melayu's . . . main theme was to laud the splendour, greatness and superiority of the Melaka Sultanate - and it was written at a time when the Johor court, successors of the Melaka Sultan, were being attacked by Portugese and Achinese. The Sejarah Melayu was probably an attempt by the Johor court to overcome its sense of lost fortunes by regaining the past glories of a mythical golden age.
That said, one must also remember that (Tomé) Pires himself intended the Suma Oriental to serve as a reference book for the new Portugese masters of Melaka and, as such, while apprearing more 'authentic', could not have been completely free of bias against their vanquished foes."
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References:
http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/parames1.htm
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