Early history of Singapore
Encyclopedia
The early history of Singapore refers to the history of Singapore
before 1819, when the British established a trading settlement on the island and set in motion the history of 'modern Singapore'. Prior to 1819, Singapore was known by several names in written records dating back as early as the 2nd century, which identified the island as a trade port of some importance. The island was controlled by different kingdoms in Southeast Asia
including the Siamese, Java
nese, and Sultanate of Malacca from the 14th century and the Sultanate of Johor from the 16th century.
The first written records of Singapore date to the 2nd century, when the island was identified as a trading post in several cartographic references. The Greek astronomer, Claudius Ptolemaeus, located a place called Sabana in the area where Singapore lies and identified it as a nominon emporion or designated foreign trading port, as part of a chain of similar trading centres that linked Southeast Asia
with India
and the Mediterranean. A 3rd century Chinese
written record described the island of Pu Luo Chung (蒲羅中), probably a transliteration of the Malay
Pulau Ujong, "island at the end" (of the Malay peninsula
).
There is record that in 1320, the Mongol
sent a mission to obtain elephants from a place called Long Ya Men
(龍牙門 or Dragon's Tooth Strait), which is believed to be Keppel Harbour
. The Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan
, visiting the island around 1330, described a small Malay
settlement called Dan Ma Xi (淡馬錫, from Malay Tamasik) containing a number of Chinese residents. The island was apparently a haven for pirates preying on passing ships. The Nagarakretagama
, a Javanese epic poem written in 1365, also referred to a settlement on the island, which it called Temasek
(Sea Town).
The quasi-mythological Sejarah Melayu
(Malay Annals) contains a tale of a prince of Srivijaya
, Sri Tri Buana (also known as Sang Nila Utama
), who landed on the island after surviving a shipwreck in the 13th century. On the island, the prince saw a strange creature, which he was told was a lion
. Believing this to be an auspicious sign, he decided to found a settlement called Singapura, which means "Lion City" in Sanskrit
. However, it is unlikely there ever were lions in Singapore, though tiger
s continued to roam the island until the early 20th century.
Recent excavations
in Fort Canning
provide evidence that Singapore was a port of some importance in the 14th century, used for transactions between the Malays and Chinese.
Following the decline of Srivijayan power, Temasek was alternately claimed by the Majapahit and the Siamese. Its fortifications apparently allowed it to withstand at least one attempted Siamese invasion. Historians believe that during the 1390s, Parameswara
, the last Srivijayan prince, fled to Temasek from Palembang
after being deposed by the Majapahit Empire
. While these are parallels between the mythical Sang Nila Utama and historical Parameswara, these should be seen as distinct. Notwithstanding Sejarah Melayu legend, the "Singapura" name possibly dates to this period. Parameswara held the island for a number of years, until further attacks from either the Majapahit
or the Ayutthaya kingdom
in Siam forced him to move on to Melaka where he founded the Sultanate of Malacca. Singapore became part of the Malacca empire, and once served as the fiefdom
of the legendary laksamana
(or admiral) Hang Tuah
.
During the 16th and early 17th century, it briefly regained some importance as a trading centre of the Sultanate of Johor. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burnt down the settlement at the mouth of Singapore River
and the island sank into obscurity. It was not until 1819, when the Englishman Stamford Raffles
established a British trading post on the island, that modern Singapore was founded
.
History of Singapore
The history of Singapore dates to the 11th century. The island rose in importance during the 14th century under the rule of Srivijayan prince Parameswara and became an important port until it was destroyed by Acehnese raiders in 1613. The modern history of Singapore began in 1819 when Englishman...
before 1819, when the British established a trading settlement on the island and set in motion the history of 'modern Singapore'. Prior to 1819, Singapore was known by several names in written records dating back as early as the 2nd century, which identified the island as a trade port of some importance. The island was controlled by different kingdoms in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
including the Siamese, Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
nese, and Sultanate of Malacca from the 14th century and the Sultanate of Johor from the 16th century.
The first written records of Singapore date to the 2nd century, when the island was identified as a trading post in several cartographic references. The Greek astronomer, Claudius Ptolemaeus, located a place called Sabana in the area where Singapore lies and identified it as a nominon emporion or designated foreign trading port, as part of a chain of similar trading centres that linked Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
with India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and the Mediterranean. A 3rd century Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
written record described the island of Pu Luo Chung (蒲羅中), probably a transliteration of the Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
Pulau Ujong, "island at the end" (of the Malay peninsula
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
).
There is record that in 1320, the Mongol
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
sent a mission to obtain elephants from a place called Long Ya Men
Long Ya Men
Long Ya Men or Dragon's Teeth Gate, a craggy granite outcrop, formerly stood at the gateway to Keppel Harbour in Singapore. The Long Ya Men served as navigational aids to ancient mariners sailing through the swift waters of the narrow channel between them...
(龍牙門 or Dragon's Tooth Strait), which is believed to be Keppel Harbour
Keppel Harbour
Keppel Harbour is a stretch of water in Singapore between the mainland and the southern islands of Pulau Brani and Sentosa. Its naturally sheltered and deep waters was to meet the requirements of British colonists attempting to establish a Far East maritime colony in that part of the world, and...
. The Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan
Wang Dayuan
Wang Dayuan was a traveller from Quanzhou, China during the Yuan Dynasty in the 14th century. He made two major trips on ships. During 1328-1333, he sailed along the South China Sea and visited many places in Southeast Asia and reached as far as South Asia, landing in Sri Lanka and India...
, visiting the island around 1330, described a small Malay
Malay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
settlement called Dan Ma Xi (淡馬錫, from Malay Tamasik) containing a number of Chinese residents. The island was apparently a haven for pirates preying on passing ships. The Nagarakretagama
Nagarakretagama
The Nagarakretagama or Nagarakrtagama, also known as Desawarnana, is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king and the monarch of the Majapahit Empire. It was written as a kakawin by Mpu Prapanca in 1365 . The Nagarakretagama contains detailed descriptions of the Majapahit Empire...
, a Javanese epic poem written in 1365, also referred to a settlement on the island, which it called Temasek
Temasek
Temasek was the name of an early city on the site of modern Singapore. From the 14th century, the island has also been known as Singapura, which is derived from Sanskrit and means "Lion City"...
(Sea Town).
The quasi-mythological Sejarah Melayu
Sejarah Melayu
Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals is a Malay literary work which covers a period of over 600 years that chronicles the, then and now, Genealogies of Rulers in the Malay Archipelago...
(Malay Annals) contains a tale of a prince of Srivijaya
Srivijaya
Srivijaya was a powerful ancient thalassocratic Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, modern day Indonesia, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. The earliest solid proof of its existence dates from the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6...
, Sri Tri Buana (also known as Sang Nila Utama
Sang Nila Utama
Sang Nila Utama was a Srivijayan prince from Palembang who founded the kingdom of Singapura in 1324. He was officially styled as Sri Maharaja Sang Utama Parameswara Batara Sri Tri Buana...
), who landed on the island after surviving a shipwreck in the 13th century. On the island, the prince saw a strange creature, which he was told was a lion
Asiatic Lion
The Asiatic lion also known as the Indian lion, Persian lion and Eurasian Lion is a subspecies of lion. The only place in the wild where the lion is found is in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India...
. Believing this to be an auspicious sign, he decided to found a settlement called Singapura, which means "Lion City" in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
. However, it is unlikely there ever were lions in Singapore, though tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
s continued to roam the island until the early 20th century.
Recent excavations
Archaeology in Singapore
Archaeology in Singapore is a niche discipline. Although there is a lack of government support for archeological work, many artifacts have been unearthed at sites around the island...
in Fort Canning
Fort Canning
Fort Canning is a small hill slightly more than 60 metres high in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Singapore's central business district...
provide evidence that Singapore was a port of some importance in the 14th century, used for transactions between the Malays and Chinese.
Following the decline of Srivijayan power, Temasek was alternately claimed by the Majapahit and the Siamese. Its fortifications apparently allowed it to withstand at least one attempted Siamese invasion. Historians believe that during the 1390s, Parameswara
Parameswara (sultan)
Parameswara , also called Iskandar Shah or Sri Majara, was a Malay-Hindu prince from Temasek who founded the Malacca Sultanate around 1402.-Etymology:...
, the last Srivijayan prince, fled to Temasek from Palembang
Palembang
Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...
after being deposed by the Majapahit Empire
Majapahit Empire
Majapahit was a vast archipelagic empire based on the island of Java from 1293 to around 1500. Majapahit reached its peak of glory during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 marked by conquest which extended through Southeast Asia. His achievement is also credited to his prime...
. While these are parallels between the mythical Sang Nila Utama and historical Parameswara, these should be seen as distinct. Notwithstanding Sejarah Melayu legend, the "Singapura" name possibly dates to this period. Parameswara held the island for a number of years, until further attacks from either the Majapahit
Majapahit Empire
Majapahit was a vast archipelagic empire based on the island of Java from 1293 to around 1500. Majapahit reached its peak of glory during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 marked by conquest which extended through Southeast Asia. His achievement is also credited to his prime...
or the Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
in Siam forced him to move on to Melaka where he founded the Sultanate of Malacca. Singapore became part of the Malacca empire, and once served as the fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
of the legendary laksamana
Laksamana
The Laksamana is a position within the armed forces, similar to the position of admiral in Malay people sultanates and in present-day countries like Malaysia and Indonesia...
(or admiral) Hang Tuah
Hang Tuah
Hang Tuah is a legendary warrior/hero who lived during the reign of Sultan Mansur Shah of the Sultanate of Malacca in the 15th century. He was the greatest of all the laksamana, or sultan's admirals, and was known to be a ferocious fighter...
.
During the 16th and early 17th century, it briefly regained some importance as a trading centre of the Sultanate of Johor. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burnt down the settlement at the mouth of Singapore River
Singapore River
The Singapore River is a river in Singapore with great historical importance. The Singapore River flows from the Central Area, which lies in the Central Region in the southern part of Singapore before emptying into the ocean...
and the island sank into obscurity. It was not until 1819, when the Englishman Stamford Raffles
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore . He is often described as the "Father of Singapore"...
established a British trading post on the island, that modern Singapore was founded
Founding of modern Singapore
The founding of modern Singapore in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles paved the way for Singapore to become a modern port and established its status as a gateway between the Western and Eastern markets....
.