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A Brief History of Singapore

Fort Canning Archaeological SiteFort Canning Archaeological Site (9 July, 2006)


Singapore was first mentioned in the 3rd century, when it appeared in Chinese chronicles as pu luo zhong which is a transliteration of Pulau Ujong, which means "island at the end [of the peninsula]".

During the 13th century, it was called Temasek, which means "sea town". A century later, the ruler of Palembang named Sang Nila Utama, sailed close to the shore of the island. He saw a beast which resembled a lion, causing him to call the island "Singa Pura", which in Sanskrit means "Lion City". This was later written as "Singapura" in Malay, and transliterated as "Singapore". The lion that Sang Nila Utama saw could well have been the Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) a common wild cat that still roam the forests in Pulau Tekong off the northeast coast of the island.

As with Penang, Singapore was little more than a pirate haven, with small pockets of Malay settlements. Archaeological excavation on Fort Canning revealed pre-colonial settlements on the island. That hill was known then as Bukit Larangan (Forbidden Hill), and the locals were afraid of going up there, lest misfortune should fall on them.

List of Sights in Singapore; back to Discover Singapore

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.

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