History of Singapore

The first records of Singapore date back to the 2nd-3rd centuries. At that time a vague reference to Singapore’s location was found in Greek and Chinese texts. It was then named as Sabana and Pu Luo Chung respectively. Legend is there that in the 13th century Srivijayan prince Sang Nila Utama landed on the island. There he saw a strange creature that he thought that was a lion. He decided to give a new name to the city and thus called it as Singapura. But in actual there have never been any lions on Singapore, so the mysterious beast was more probably a tiger. More historical records suggest that the island was settled at least two centuries earlier and was known as Temasek. This is Javanese for ‘Sea Town’ and also an important port for the Sumatran Srivijaya kingdom.

However, Srivijaya fell around 1400 and Temasek, battered by the feuding kingdoms of Siam and the Javanese Majapahit, fell into obscurity. At this time Singapura briefly retrieved importance as a trading centre for the Melaka Sultanate and later, the Johor Sultanate. However, Portuguese raiders then destroyed the settlement and Singapura faded into obscurity once more.

In the year 1819, the story of Singapore again began. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles made a deal with a claimant to the throne of the Sultan of Johor at his tenure. The British would support his claim and it happened in exchange for the right to set up a trading post on the island. Well-placed at the entrance to the Straits of Malacca, ranging the trade routes between India, China, Australia, and Europe, Raffles’ masterstroke was to declare Singapore a free port. There were no duties charged on trade. As traders flocked to escape burdensome Dutch taxes, the trading post soon grew into one of Asia’s most engaged one. Very soon the post started drawing people from far and wide and became very successful in trading.