Kingdom of Singapura

The Kingdom of Singapura was a Malay polity on the island of Temasek, lasting from about 1299 until its fall between 1396 and 1398. According to the Malay Annals it was founded by Sang Nila Utama, also called Sri Tri Buana, a semi-divine figure regarded as the ancestor of several Malay dynasties; the historicity of these accounts is uncertain, and many historians consider only its last ruler, Parameswara, to be firmly attested, as the first ruler of Malacca. Archaeology on Fort Canning Hill and the banks of the Singapore River has nevertheless shown a thriving settlement and trading port in the fourteenth century, corroborating the report of the Yuan traveller Wang Dayuan about the settlements of Long Ya Men and Ban Zu. The port grew from a small trading outpost into a centre of international commerce linking the Malay Archipelago, India and China. Its position made it a prize claimed by both Ayutthaya in the north and Majapahit in the south, and the fortified capital was attacked by major invasions before being sacked, according to different sources, by Majapahit or by the Siamese. Parameswara fled west and founded the Sultanate of Malacca about 1400.