The Ancient History Of Singapore

The history of Singapore begins with one name - Sang Nila Utama. He was the youngest of three sons borne to Raja Chulan during his three years stay with Princess Mathabu'l-Bahri of the underwater kingdom.

Sang Nila Utama later became the ruler of Palembang when Demang Lebar Daun abdicated to become his Chief Minister. Some time later, he married Demang Lebar Daun's daughter, Wan Sendari. Palembang became a prosperous city under Sang Nila Utama's rule but he was beginning to get bored with the mundane activities and was aching for adventure.

He decided to leave Palembang under the care of his brother and set out to explore the coast (Sumatra) and to find another suitable site to build another city. While out at sea and heading toward the island of Bentan (Riau Islands), ruled by a powerful queen named Wan Sri Benian, the queen of Bentan wondered who Sang Nila Utama was. She had heard that he was a great leader but had no idea whether he was old or young.

When they met the next day, the queen saw how young he was and decided to adopt him. As the days passed, the queen grew so fond of him that she named him her successor.

Again, after a period of time, he grew bored and wanted adventure. He decided he wanted to go hunting at Tanjong Bemian to meet new challenges. Reluctantly, the queen acceded to his yearning. Preparations were swiftly made and the young Sang Nila Utama was on his way. The ship caught a good wind and arrived at Tanjong Bemian in no time.

While hunting in Tanjong Bemian, Sang Nila Utama caught sight of an island across the waters. He thought it looked promising and the beach was so white, like a sheet of cloth. He decided he wanted to take a look and almost immediately set sail.

En route to the island, the sky suddenly turned dark and the waters became choppy and rocked the wooden boat mercilessly. It was a violent thunderstorm and the crew threw practically everything overboard to no avail.

The helmsman told Sang Nila Utama that perhaps the heavens wanted his crown and asked him to throw it into the raging sea. He shouted, "As the descendent of Raja Chulan, I command the end of this thunderstorm!", and threw his crown into the waters. Almost immediately, the storm abated and they resume their journey to the island of Temasek.

As Sang Nila Utama surveyed the island (Singapore River bank), he counted nothing more than small rodents and squirrels as the inhabitants there. He was feeling rather depressed when he strangely felt as though they were being watched.

His men froze as a beast suddenly appeared from out of no where. They have never seen such a creature before. It was larger than a he-goat, had a black head, red body and white breast. It eyed the Raja who stood his ground.

The staring continued until the creature slowly turned and moved away. When the Raja turned around, none of his men were in sight. They had all disappeared in fear.

He inquired with the Chief Minister when he returned and was told that there was an ancient description of a lion and the description fitted the creature they saw. The Raja thought is was a truly magnificent creature and decided that he would stay and build his new city on the island of Temasek.

He renamed it 'SINGA-PURA'* in honour of the lion he saw. He established his new kingdom on a great hill (Fort Canning Hill) from where he could survey it easily. His wife, Wan Sendari, later gave birth to two sons.

*Singha is Sanskrit for lion while pura means town.

In the 1300s, Fort Canning Hill was home to the Malay rajas. Fort Canning Hill was also known as Bukit Larangan; or; The Forbidden Hill. It is the resting place for some (perhaps all) of the Malay rulers.

Concrete evidence of Singapore's past was through the discovery of gold ornaments three metres beneath the surface in 1926. Subsequent excavations led to the uncovering of bronze coins, glass beads, pottery shards, Chinese porcelain and other artifacts.

Today, you can trace the ancient history of Singapore through the 14th Century Walk found in Fort Canning Park.