WAS SINGAPORE REALLY A SLEEPY FISHING VILLAGE BEFOE 1819?
No, Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819.
Below are 2 sources from Fort Canning Park to prove that Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819:
Source A:
Longyamen-"The Dragon's Tooth Strait"
Point :The source tells me that Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819.
Evidence : The evidence stated that according to Wang Da Yuan a Chinese visitor of 1330, the inhabitants of Longyamen were bloodthirsty pirates who attacked ships passing by, stealing their cargoes and murdering their passengers. Only after safely navigating, could the merchants reach the port at the foot of Fort Canning.
Explanation : This suggests that Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village because some merchants who came to Fort Cannning in circa 1330 was attacked by pirates for their cargoes.This means that the merchants came to Fort Canning not for tourism but for trade with other merchants. Hence, Singapore is not a sleepy fishing village before 1819.
Source B:
White porcelain found at the construction site at Fort Canning
Evidence : At the Fort Canning trail, porcelains decorated with underglaze cobalt blue designs were discovered, and these artefacts dates back to the early 14th Century.
Explanation : These artefacts were popular with foreigners in the early 14th Century,before it was common in China itself. Hence, foreigners would not have came to Singapore for tourism but for trade.
Here are the other two sources we got from other platforms.
Source C (Internet) :
"After Sang Nila Utama founded Singapore (Temasek), he ruled from 1299 to 1347 according to the Malay Annals. Singapore was a prosperous as a trading settlement and a major port for 5 kings after that. However, she was attacked by invaders and was soon forgotten after that.
However, there were records about Singapore made by Chinese historians from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) indicating that it was a trading port. It seems like the Song Chinese were already trading with the original Singapore people before Sang Nila Utama. Also these Chinese traders became the ancestors of some of the later Peranakans, forming a group of original non-malay Singaporeans.
Besides, there were archaelogical evidences found like porcelain bowls from China and jewelries from other parts of Southeast Asia that were indicative that Singapore was a trading port that time."
Point : This suggests that Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819.
Evidence: This source states that Singapore was a trading port in 960AD by the Chinese historians from the Song Dynasty and the Song Chinese were already trading with the original Singapore people before Sang Nila Utama ruled.
Explanation : This means that Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819 because there were Song Chinese trading with Singapore people before 1819.
Source D (Internet) :
"Along with the ancient walls around Fort Canning, the stone points to an ancient civilisation linked to the Majapahit era which had set root on the island. The original rock was discovered in June 1819 by labourers clearing forest trees and jungle, on a spot called 'Rocky Point'. The first effectual study of the fragments was by epigrapher and Dutch scholar H. Kern. He succeeded in deciphering a few words, and gave the probable date of inscription as around 1230 AD. Even Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles was involved in trying to decipher the inscriptions on this huge rock. Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (a.k.a. Munshi Abdullah) recorded Sir Stamford Raffles taking Rev. Claudius Henry Thomsen and himself, to see what he described as a 'remarkable stone' in October 1822. Other scholars believed the stone engravings to be in an ancient script, possibly in ancient Sanskrit, commonly used between the 12th and 14th century Majapahit era. Many historians believed these writings held the keys to Singapore's ancient past but none could decipher its contents."
Point : Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819.
Evidence : It states that H. Kern studied the fragments of the Singapore stone and deciphered a few words, and gave the probable date of inscription as around 1230AD. Inscription were in ancient Sankrit and it was commonly used between the 12th and 14th century Majapahit era.
Explanation : This suggests that Singapore had their own writing system in the 12th century because people came to Singapore.
Source taken from : http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_43_2005-01-26.html
Reflection :
After this trip, we have come to realize that Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819 based on the four sources above; the longyamen, theporcelain source and the two sources from the internet. The history of Singapore is rich in its culture and we definitely can find out more about Singapore's history if we trace back, and Fort Canning park is definitely one of the places to visit if we want to find out more of Singapore's history other than the National museum of Singapore. It was pity we did not have much time to explore Fort Canning due to the limited time, nevertheless, we still managed to find the evidences we needed. Thus, our final answer is that Singapore is not a sleepy fishing village before 1819.
"Along with the ancient walls around Fort Canning, the stone points to an ancient civilisation linked to the Majapahit era which had set root on the island. The original rock was discovered in June 1819 by labourers clearing forest trees and jungle, on a spot called 'Rocky Point'. The first effectual study of the fragments was by epigrapher and Dutch scholar H. Kern. He succeeded in deciphering a few words, and gave the probable date of inscription as around 1230 AD. Even Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles was involved in trying to decipher the inscriptions on this huge rock. Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (a.k.a. Munshi Abdullah) recorded Sir Stamford Raffles taking Rev. Claudius Henry Thomsen and himself, to see what he described as a 'remarkable stone' in October 1822. Other scholars believed the stone engravings to be in an ancient script, possibly in ancient Sanskrit, commonly used between the 12th and 14th century Majapahit era. Many historians believed these writings held the keys to Singapore's ancient past but none could decipher its contents."
Point : Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819.
Evidence : It states that H. Kern studied the fragments of the Singapore stone and deciphered a few words, and gave the probable date of inscription as around 1230AD. Inscription were in ancient Sankrit and it was commonly used between the 12th and 14th century Majapahit era.
Explanation : This suggests that Singapore had their own writing system in the 12th century because people came to Singapore.
Source taken from : http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_43_2005-01-26.html
Reflection :
After this trip, we have come to realize that Singapore was not a sleepy fishing village before 1819 based on the four sources above; the longyamen, theporcelain source and the two sources from the internet. The history of Singapore is rich in its culture and we definitely can find out more about Singapore's history if we trace back, and Fort Canning park is definitely one of the places to visit if we want to find out more of Singapore's history other than the National museum of Singapore. It was pity we did not have much time to explore Fort Canning due to the limited time, nevertheless, we still managed to find the evidences we needed. Thus, our final answer is that Singapore is not a sleepy fishing village before 1819.
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