Archeological Finds that Prove a Legend

For most of the last two centuries, the creation of Singapore has been credited to Sir Stamford Raffles, the British East Indian administrator. Raffles was searching for a site for a British port on the Malay-Indonesian archipelago connecting the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea when, in 1819, he stumbled on an ideally located fishing village. Or so the story went until the mid-1980s when archaeologists began uncovering artefacts that told an entirely different tale.

Myth becomes reality

Stamford Raffles chose ‘his’ fishing village mostly for its strategic location, but he also believed that this humble settlement was, in fact, the site of an ancient kingdom he had read about in the fifteenth century Malay Annals. According to the Annals, this kingdom was founded by a Sumatran prince who, after spotting a gleaming white shore across the sea one day, sailed over, caught sight of a lion and named this new land 'Singapura' (meaning 'Lion City’ in Sanskrit).

The prince and his descendants ruled Singapura for many decades, turning it into a great port city whose fame spread across the world. Eventually, Singapura was conquered by the Javanese, its king was forced to flee and, by the time Raffles landed here, all traces of its former glory had disappeared. A new Singapore began to take shape and the tale of princes, lions and kingdoms faded into legend; a beguiling backstory for the country’s name.

And so it remained until archaeological excavations that took place between 1984 and 2015 under what is now Fort Canning Park in downtown Singapore. The archaeologists unearthed thousands of artefacts – Chinese pottery, Chinese and Sri Lankan coins, Indian and Javanese glass beads, Indian bangles – that provide evidence that the myth is rooted in reality. The lion maybe legend, but it seems that Singapore was a thriving, cosmopolitan city back in the fourteenth century too.

We invite you to come and see these fascinating artefacts for yourself at the National Museum of Singapore and visit Fort Canning Park as part of our Captivating Holiday to Singapore and Gaya Island Resort.