Temasek (IPA:/təˈmɑːseɪk/tə-MAH-sayk or/-ɪk/tə-MAH-sikk, also speltTemasik orTumasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modernSingapore. The name appears in earlyMalay andJavanese literature, and it is also recorded inYuan andMing Chinese documents as 單馬錫 (pinyin:Dānmǎxī;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tan-má-sek) or 淡馬錫 (pinyin:Dànmǎxī;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tām-má-sek). Two distinct settlements were recorded inTemasek –Long Ya Men (Malay:Batu Berlayar) andBan Zu (Malay:Pancur).[citation needed] The nameTemasek continues to feature prominently in modern Singapore, particularly in the names ofnational honours, institutions, schools and corporations.
The origin of the nameTemasek was derived from the Malay wordtasik meaning "lake" or "sea", and may mean here "place surrounded by the sea",[1] or Sea Town. Another suggestion is that it may be a reference to a king ofSrivijaya, MaharajaTan ma sa na ho.[2] The name appears asTumasik in theNagarakretagama, anOld Javanese eulogy written in 1365, and may be analysed as the wordtasik "sea" infixed by-um- (active verb infix). The name is also mentioned twice in theMalay Annals and referred to in the Javanese workPararaton.Temasek is described in the account by the Chinese travellerWang Dayuan who visited the island around 1330 and wrote about aMalay settlement calledDanmaxi, a transcription of the nameTemasek. In a version ofMarco Polo's account of his travel, a place namedChiamassie that could be Temasik was mentioned in relation to the island kingdom ofMalayur.[2]Temasek may have also been mentioned in Vietnamese records asSach Ma Tich in the 14th century.[3]
George Henrik Werndly, writing in 1736, provided another explanation ofTemasek's origin and meaning. Citing Petrus van der Vorm, he claimed that the Malay word was itself from an Arabic expressionTamasûkh ( تمسوق ), a composite oftama (تم), andsûkh ( سوق ), meaning "market", "marketplace" or "place of purchase".Tamasûkh was a play on Ujong Tanah ("end of land"), which aptly describes Singapore's special position at the end of both theMalay Peninsula, as well as an imaginary line conceived by navigators to divide theIndian Ocean between the "lands above the wind", that is India and the Middle East and the "lands below the wind", the islands of theMalay Archipelago.[4][5]
Sometime in the 14th century, the nameTemasek was replaced bySingapura, a Malay name derived fromSanskrit which means "Lion City". Legend has it that the name was given bySang Nila Utama when he visited the island in 1299 and saw an unknown creature, which he was informed was alion. Although Chinese records continued to use the nameTemasek for some time afterwards (for example in theMao Kun map) and it was also used in TheMalay Annals, the nameTemasek had become obsolete and did not appear in European maps and documents from 1500 to 1800.[6] It was revived in colonial and more modern times, and is now used as names for institutions, corporations and national honours of the present-dayRepublic of Singapore.
While the earlyhistory of Singapore is obscured by myth and legend, some conclusions can be drawn fromarchaeological evidence and from written references by travellers. Archaeology points to an urbanised settlement on the site by the 14th century. At its height, the city boasted a large earthencity wall andmoat; many of the buildings were built with stone and brick foundations. Remains of old pottery, coins, jewellery and other artefacts have been found, with many of these artefacts believed to be imported from various parts of China, India,Sri Lanka, andIndonesia. These are sometimes seen as evidence of the city's status as a regional trade centre. An aquatic route, part of the largerSilk route, passed throughTemasek.[citation needed]
From the 7th to the 11th centuries, the island of Singapore was controlled by theSrivijaya empire based inSumatra. Diplomatic relationships betweenTemasek and Vietnam may have begun in the 13th century.[7]Temasek was a fortified city and trading centre in the 14th century. It was recorded that during theYuan dynasty, envoys were sent toLong Ya Men (Dragon's Teeth Gate, thought to be the entrance ofKeppel Harbour) in 1320 to obtain tame elephants. The people ofLong Ya Men then returned in 1325 with a tribute and trade mission to China.[8] In around 1330, the Chinese travellerWang Dayuan visited the island and mentioned two distinct settlements inTemasek:Long Ya Men andBan Zu (atranscription of the Malay namepancur meaning a "spring").[9] In his workDaoyi Zhilüe, Wang describedLong Ya Men as the two hills ofTemasek that looked like "Dragon's teeth" between which a strait runs, and wrote:
The fields are barren and there is littlepadi ... In ancient times, when digging in the ground, a chief came upon a jewelled head-dress. The beginning of the year is calculated from the [first] rising of the moon, when the chief put on this head-gear and wore his [ceremonial] dress to receive the congratulations [of the people]. Nowadays this custom is still continued. The natives and Chinese dwell side by side. Most [of the natives] gather their hair into achignon, and wear short cottonbajus girded about with black cottonsarongs.
— Wang Dayuan, translation byPaul Wheatley.[10][11]
Wang further mentioned thatlakawood and tin were products there and the natives traded with Chinese fromQuanzhou, but Chinesejunks on their way back from the Western Oceans (西洋) may be met by pirates there who attacked with two to three hundredperahus (boats). The description of the people may be the first known record of theOrang Laut who inhabited the region.[11]
Ban Zu was described as being sited on a hill, thought to be today'sFort Canning Hill, located behindLong Ya Men. In contrast to those ofLong Ya Men who were prone to acts of piracy, the inhabitants here were described as honest. They also "wear their hair short, with turban of gold-brocaded satin", and red-coloured clothing.[12][13] Ruins of the settlement on the hill were still visible in the early 19th century and was described by the ResidentJohn Crawfurd. In 1928, several pieces of gold ornaments dating to the mid-14th century were discovered at Fort Canning Hill.[14] Wang also reported that the Siamese attacked the city moat ofTemasek with around 70 ships a few years before he visited, and the city successfully resisted the attack for a month.[15][16]
By the 14th century, the Srivijaya empire had declined, and theMajapahit andAyutthaya Kingdom became dominant in the region and alternatively made claim toTemasek. TheNagarakretagama written in 1365 listedTumasik as a vassal of the Majapahit.[17] Portuguese sources indicate that during the late 14th century,Temasek was a Siamese vassal whose ruler was killed byParameswara from Palembang.[18] Parameswara was driven from Palembang by the Javanese after Parameswara challenged the Majapahit by setting up a lion throne that symbolised a revival of Palembang's claim over the Srivijaya empire.[19] According to a Portuguese account, Parameswara fled toTemasek, and eight days later killed the local chief with the title Sang Aji, named Sangesinga in a later account.[20] It has been proposed thatTemasek changed its name toSingapura in this period rather than in 1299 as suggested by the legend ofSang Nila Utama given in theMalay Annals.[21]
Portuguese sources indicate that Parameswara ruledSingapura for five years, he was then attacked by either theMajapahit or the Siamese, forcing him to move on toMelaka where he founded theSultanate of Malacca.[22]Singapura came under the influence of the Malacca in the 15th century and, after the fall of Malacca to the Portuguese, the control of theMalaySultanate of Johor in the 16th century. A settlement there was finally burnt to the ground by the Portuguese in 1613 and the island sank into obscurity for two hundred years until the early 19th century with the arrival ofStamford Raffles, a Britishcolonial official.[23]
The Mao Kun map shows on the position of theStrait of Singapore, a navigational route and instructions for sailing fromLongyamen toPedra Branca. In addition, it marks the nameLongyamen on what appears to beLingga Island, off theSumatran east coast. Supported by the testimony of Fei Xin, who sailed on four occasions with Zheng He, thatLongyamen was situated to the north-west of Sanfoqi, a polity believed to bePalembang, W.P. Groeneveldt believedLongyamen was the Strait of Lingga.[24]
J.V.G. Mills, who questioned the association of Keppel Harbour withLongyamen, carefully compared the sailing instructions on the Mao Kun Map with corresponding directions given in relevant itineraries found in three Ming era Chinese rutters, namely Shun Feng Xiang Song (順風相送, “Fair Winds for Escort”, dated circa 1430), Bing Qian (兵鈐, Military Manual, dated 1674) and Dong Xi Yang Kao (東西洋考, “A Study of the Eastern and Western Oceans”, dated 1617). Mill’s conclusion was that the Longyamen was the main Singapore Strait, and notKeppel Harbour.[25] This is precisely as drawn on the Mao Kun Map.
Significantly the instructions from Shun Feng Xiang Song and Dong Xi Yang Kao referred to aTemasek Gate (淡馬錫門) by which vessels passed no matter if they were sailing in and out ofLongyamen fromKarimun or Pedra Branca. Wang Dayuan's actual words were that "Longyamen is intersected with two mountains belonging to theTemasek natives, akin to a dragon teeth-like formation, with a water channel running through the middle". Teochews settlers who first came to Singapore in 1819 referred to theTelok Blangah area by Keppel Harbour as Sek-lak-mung (石叻門), meaning the "Gate of Selat", or the "Gate of the Strait". This showsTemasek Gate was Keppel Harbour and supports thatLongyamen was the main Strait of Singapore. Moreover, Wang Dayuan's writing was clear that the "dragon teeth" were mountains/hills, and not rocks.[26]
The Republic's two most important national honours are titledBintang Temasek (The Star of Temasek for acts of exceptional courage and skill or exhibiting conspicuous devotion to duty in circumstances of extreme danger) and theDarjah Utama Temasek (Order of Temasek, for outstanding and exceptional contributions to the country).
Other institutions that bear the name:
