Review | History of Singapore over 700 years shows city state’s ups and downs amid long periods of obscurity

Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore details events from 1299 when a Srivijayan prince is recorded to have arrived at the island and founded Singapura

Regicide, civil war and trade all play their part, as well as a very dubious conception claim

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A key figure in Singapore’s history: statue of Stamford Raffles in downtown Singapore. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 1:00pm, 5 Jul 2019Updated: 3:11pm, 5 Jul 2019

Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore, by Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Peter Borschberg and Tan Tai Yong. Published by Marshall Cavendish

Even as Singapore marks 200 years since Englishman Stamford Raffles set up an East India Company factory there, the city state is promoting another date. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, a Srivijayan prince named Sri Tri Buana arrived at the island then known as Temasek and founded Singapura.

The motto of the bicentennial is “from Singapore to Singaporean”. The idea is that to understand what it means to be Singaporean today, the events from 1299 onwards need to be considered. Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore details this story.

The book is divided into chapters dedicated to each century, from the 14th to the 20th. These chapters all include a basic summary and are illustrated with maps, photos and paintings. There is even a colour fold-out showing a reconstruction of 14th-century Singapore.

Cover of Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore.

After 200 years, the kingdom founded by Sri Tri Buana was destroyed at the end of the 14th century. Here the story gets confusing, as the Malay Annals have the last sultan of Singapore, Iskandar Shah, being kicked out by the Javanese Majapahit empire, while Portuguese records have Parameswara, a Palembang prince, causing the downfall of Singapura.