The Bruneian Empire or Empire of Brunei was a Malay Sultanate, centred in Brunei on the northern coast of Borneo island in Southeast Asia. The kingdom was founded in the early 7th century, started as a small seafaring trading kingdom ruled by a native pagan or Hindu king known by the Chinese as Po-Li or Po-Ni (渤泥). Bruneian kings converted to Islam in around the 15th century, after which it grew substantially since the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese,[3][4] extending throughout coastal areas of Borneo and the Philippines, before declining in the 17th century.[5]