Introduction
Was Singapore
a Sleeping Fishing Village
before 1819 ?
Source A: Inscription on the plaque of the
statue of Raffles along Singapore River
Source B: An excerpt from the Malay Annals
"And Singapura became a
great city, to which
foreigners resorted in great
numbers so that the fame of
the city and its greatness
spread throughout the
world."
An idyllic fishing village
prior to the arrival of the
British in 1819?
OR
A great ancient
kingdom?
Background information
 Located in Malay Archipelago
(a group of over 25,000
islands situated between the
Indian and Pacific Oceans)


Largest archipelago by area
3RD largest archipelago by the
number of islands in the
world
Reconstruction of ancient Temasek
 Long and involved process based on acquisition and analysis of
sources
 Example: The earliest colonial maps of Singapore were used
to model the Singapore river with its sandbar, the mangrove
swamp on the south bank of the river, and the Rocky Point at
the river mouth
Question: After watching this video, what
can you conclude about life in Temasek?
 Youtube Video: World of Temasek - The
Forbidden Hill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmMaaZ
ZGl
Website: http://worldoftemasek.com/ (for your own reference)


Archeological discovery of artefacts changed the “sleepy
fishing village” image of ancient Singapore
Artefacts revealed that an elite class lived on the hill in the
14th Century and gave credence to the legends from Sejarah
Melayu that describe a royal palace on the summit.
Sejarah Melayu
Archaeological Discoveries
Wang Dayuan
Archaeological Discoveries from the Forbidden Hill
 What do these gold ornaments reveal about this elite class
living on the hill?
 Might be worn by a member the royal family of Temasek.
They were wealthy enough to afford golden jewelry.
Archaeological Discoveries from the
Forbidden Hill
• What does this fragment of a
Yuan blue and white stemcup
reveal about this elite class living
on the hill?
• This elite class in Temasek could
afford the best products of the
Chinese kilns at Jingdezhen as it
is of a type used mainly
by Chinese elite for wine


Fort Canning Park (Bukit Larangan) means "Forbidden Hill" in
Malay. The local settlers back then believed it was the site of palaces
built by their ancestral kings.
The Keramat Iskandar Shah at the foot of the hill was believed to be
the resting place of the last Malay king of the island (Parameswara).

Fresh water from spring: Served as a bathing place for royalty
and a source of fresh water for the populace. This spring was
still supplying ships with fresh water well into the nineteenth
century, before eventually going dry.



14th Century: Siamese and Javanese
took turns to attack Singapore in order
to made it part of their empires
A fort was built to defend the town
from attacks
Walls of the fort supposed to have
stretched from the sea to Bukit
Larangan
Singapore river mouth area
 Today’s Empress Place and Fullerton Hotel
Drawn around 1845-1848



Dragon’s Teeth Gate (Long Ya Men) formerly
stood at the gateway to Keppel Harbour in
Singapore
Its unique features assisted Zheng He in
navigating the waters around Singapore during
his voyages to the west
Destroyed in 1848 to widen channel for larger
vessel to sail through


Long before Modern Singapore began, a vibrant
Malay community was already in existence here.
And, like all communities, they too have their
own legends and myths.
What do they tell us about the people’s
beliefs?
Fragment of
Singapore Stone
Archaological Discoveries from
other sites
1) Empress Place site: Various
theories for the purpose of this
winged rider statue include a
depiction of an ancestor of the rulers
of Temasek who emerged from the
ocean on a winged sea-horse.
2) St Andrew’s site: Experts can only
guess as to the purpose of a stone peg
with a human head – was it a fruitpitter used by people living in
Temasek? A game piece? A fastener?
“Raffles would not have been taken aback. A
big reason he chose Singapore as a base
rather than other islands in the vicinity was
that he was a scholar of the region’s history,
and had read of Singapore in a book called
the “Malay Annals”. His intention was to
revive an ancient seaport that already had a
glorious history.”
A comment by Mr Miksic