14th Century Singapore: The Temasek Paradigm

Abstract

Over two centuries have passed since the revelation of the existence of an ancient settlement in Singapore, but knowledge of this pre-colonial polity has not advanced much with time. Despite the archaeological recovery of material cultural remains of this settlement in recent years, historical discourse on the subject remains largely confined to either the epistemological significance of this settlement in the colonial and post-colonial histories of the Malay-speaking people in the Malay Archipelago, or the general importance of this landmark within the context of maritime trade in Southeast Asia. More often than not, artefacts are used only to highlight these narratives but are themselves seldom addressed.

This thesis is hence dedicated to the study of these artefacts as primary sources of 14th century Singapore. It seeks to address a fundamental question which underlies all narratives of the settlement but has hitherto been inadequately addressed by conjunctures and hypotheses: How complex was this pre-colonial Singapore society? In doing so, this thesis will first address the historiographical issues underlying this question by reviewing existing literature and primary sources concerning this pre-colonial entity. Deductions from the analysis of material cultural remains sampled from the archaeological site at the churchyard of the Saint Andrew?s Cathedral (STA) will next be made. Finally, statistically-measured variations in their site distribution will reflect the nature of the settlement?s spatial organization from which the degree of social complexity in pre-colonial Singapore can eventually be discerned.