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, extending throughout coastal areas of Borneo and the Philippines, before declining in the 17th century.