Singapore and the voice of the most illustrious archaeologists and anthropologists

The first human settlements in the Malay Archipelago probably date back to about 40.000 years ago, age to which, according to some archaeologists, we can date back the human skull discovered in Niah Caves, located in todays State of Sarawak, which is situated in the north of the Island of Borneo. Still very little is known about the origins of these ancient civilizations, despite the most reliable theories pose these populations closely related to the first inhabitants of Australia and New Guinea¹.

The oldest archaeological human find in the Malay Peninsula dates back to around 10.000 – 11.000 years ago. We talk about a human skeleton better known with the name of “Perak Man”, brought to light in Gua Gnug Runtuh Caves in 1991 by a team of Malaysian archaeologists led by prof. Zuraina Majid, directress of the Centre for Archaeological Research Malaysia² belonging to Universiti Sains Malaysia³. Despite of the millenary dating, the genetic characteristics of this skeleton seem to have much in common with those of Negrito ethnic populations that still inhabit the rainforests in the North of Malay-Plateau. The first foreign populations that came into conact with indigenous Negritos, as reported by the Malaysian historian and documentary filmmaker Alan D’Cruz, were the so called Senoi, which gradually descended from the central and Southern regions of Thailand around 2500 B.C. while, Between 1500 and 500 B.C., a third wave of migrants arrived from Indonesian Archipelago.

Anything but sporadic were the contact chances with Indian merchants to whom we must recognize a significant impact on the cultural, political and religious life in Malaysia. In fact, thanks to Indian merchants and sailors, in Malaysia were introduced  Buddhism, Hinduism and a multitude of loan words coming from Sanscrit as bahasa (language) and raja (monarch). If on one hand the post-colonial history of Singapore is rich of documents confirming its reliability, on the other hand certainties about its historical origins gradually become vaguer and vaguer.

The first references to Singapore Island in fact come to us from the stories of some Chinese sailors dated around the third century B.C. Chinese sailors were used to refer to Singapore Island with the name Puo-lo-chung, which literally means “the Island located at the end of the peninsula”⁴.

Singapore and the legend of Parameswara

The first empire extending its dominion over the Malay Arcipelago seems to have been the Funan Empire (between 200 and 649)⁵, whose center of power was located in modern Cambodia⁶. A far greater influence on our Malay Archipelago was exerted instead (from 7th to 13th century) by the powerful Srivijaya Empire, whose control extended from the Strait of Melaka to the entire Southern Malaysia, including the current Singapore Island and much of the Indonesian Archipelago⁷. The largest empire ever existed on the islands of the Malay Archipelago was the Melaka Empire. Its foundations are connected with several important episodes  whose protagonist was Parameswara, the young legendary renegade prince coming from a small Kingdom in the South of Sumatra Island. Parameswara, after fighting against the hegemony  exerted on Sumatra Island by Majapahit Empire, declared his small kingdom indipendent, arousing the fury of Majapahit Emperor. Forced to flee, Parameswara landed on an Island  named Temasek (the original name of Singapore) and after being accepted by the local sovereign, only eight days later, he mercilessly killed him and proclaimed himself king of Singapore. According to a loca legent, Paramesvara himself gave the Island the name Singapura (from Sanscrit “Lion City”), as soon as he landed in the island he was seized by the vision of a mystical wild animal similar to a lion⁸.

Since in that period Temasek was a vassal state belonging to the Thai Empire, as a concequence of the punitive expedition commissioned by Thai Emperor, the renegade prince and his followers were forced to escape again. Having found refuge in a small fishing village nestled on the coast of Southern peninsular Malaysia, which, after  Parameswara’s arrival (around 1400) took the name of Melaka⁹, the fugitives, following their leader, decided to tet ther their stronghold. In order to cope with the threat of continuous  Thai raids, Parameswara immediately tried to entrust the destiny of his village to the protection of the powerful Chinese Empire, by offering the Emperor Ming cospicuous tributes. Since the moment the Chinese Emperor took Parameswara’s sronghold into his protection Melaka saw the coming of its golden age. Thanks to its ideal strategical position, Melaka became the hub of all principal Asian trades¹⁰.

With the dawn of the thirteenth century arrived the first contacts with Islam, carried on the coasts of Sumatra Island by some Indian merchants who had embraced the Muslim faith. During the following centuries Islam, starting from what had become the Sultanate of Melaka, progressively spread throughout all the islands of the Indonesian and Malay Archipelago until around seventeenth century, with the establishment of the Sultanate of Brunei, it extended its influence over the whole Island of Borneo¹¹.

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Dr. Biagio Faraci

Technical translator, consecutive business interpreter, personal web - teacher of English, German and Italian for foreigners, expert in sociolinguistics, internationalization of business communication, strategic localization of business communication, intercultural mediation and corporate language training, I help individuals, professionals and companies to internationalize and / or efficiently localize their communication in the world of Web 2.0, establish a strong presence and find new customers in foreign markets through customized strategies.
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