The "highly interesting" settlement of "Sincapore", 1819–1825

Editor's Note: At the start of 1819, Thomas Stamford Raffles signed an agreement with the local Malay authorities to establish a British trading station on the island, an event that became an origin story for modern Singapore. Two hundred years later, Singaporeans view these events with mixed feelings, asking if the start of colonial rule is cause for celebration, and the way they are remembered or commemorated has become controversial.

The origins of modern Singapore's are complex, and the activities of Raffles and other British officials are only part of the story. The island became a small but significant part of Britain's colonial empire, but its importance lies in the fact that it served as an entrepôt for traders from South and West Asia, China, and the Indonesian archipelago. Asian trade networks pre-dated the British presence and operated out of multiple ports, but Britain's enclaves in Penang and Singapore shielded traders from regional politics, and flourished in part because their rise coincided with the collapse of the Dutch East India Company, the VOC. Because Singapore was a free port, a great deal of commercial activity took place outside the purview of British authorities, and it would not be unreasonable to say that this group of largely anonymous Asian merchants should be credited with the founding of Singapore.

Local political leaders, merchants active in the region, and the Dutch authorities watched the creation of a British settlement in Singapore with great interest. In India, publications such as the Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and Its Dependencies [Asiatic Journal] gathered information about the settlement supplied by private individuals or taken from newspapers, among them the Bengal Hurkaru, the Calcutta John Bull, and the Singapore Chronicle. The pages that follow contain passages from some of these sources that appeared between 1819 and 1825, and from a contemporary parliamentary report on Britain's far eastern trade. I have retained the spelling and punctuation in the original publications.

1819

Abstract of Original Correspondence. [c. Feb. 1819]

"Recent advices from Penang bring the important information that the British flag has been established in the Straits of Sincapore, by virtue of a treaty concluded with the legitimate sovereign of Singapore, who has placed Singapore and the neighbouring islands under our protection. This new settlement is within the direct track of the China trade, is independent of the establishments formed by any other power, and contains an excellent harbour, with great natural facilities both of defence and of convenience. The same advices also mention that the Netherland's government have established themselves at Rhio; and, by virtue of a treaty which they compelled the Rajah of that place to sign, assume a right of excluding us from all the adjacent islands, declaring the people their vassals.

"Will this information [our correspondent asks a question which we cannot answer] rouse ministers to the necessity of interposing before our trade is entirely excluded from the range of native ports between Penang and the Moluccas? And will not the commercial interests see it necessary to exert their influence, and claim to be heard on the occasion? These recent measures of the British authorities in India have happily presented one more opportunity of securing the legitimate right of this country to participate in the eastern trade, and of guarding against the establishment of a chain of foreign ports along the track of our trade to China. At the same time the unremitting advances and encroachments of the Netherland's government leave not a shadow of doubt as to their ultimate designs. The present moment, is critical, and if once lost may not be recovered."

We take the following paragraphs from a second letter, dated Penang, 28th Feb. This authority is not inferior to official.

Penang 28th Feb. – Sir Thomas Raffles has established a British station on the island of Singapore, in what are usually called the Straits of Sincapore. "This station is calculated to give us the complete command of the Straits of Malacca and a fair participation in the valuable trade of the Eastern Islands. It effectually breaks the...