The first written records of Singapore dated to as early as the
2nd century when the island, 42km long and 23km wide, was
identified as a trading post in several cartographic references.
The Greek astronomer, Claudius Ptolemaeus, located a place called
Sabana in the area where Singapore lies and identified it as a
nominon emporion or designated foreign trading port, as part of a
chain of similar trading centres that linked Southeast Asia with
India and the Mediterranean.[1]
A 3rd century Chinese written record describing the island of Pu
Luo Chung (ÆÑÂÞÖÐ), probably a transliteration of the Malay Pulau
Ujong, "island at the end" (of the Malay peninsula). [2] The
Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) contains a tale of a prince of
Srivijaya, Sri Tri Buana (also known as Sang Nila Utama), who
landed on the island after surviving a shipwreck sometime during
the 13th century. Catching sight of a strange creature that he was
being told was a lion, he decided to found a settlement called
Singapura, which means "Lion City" in Sanskrit. It is unlikely that
there ever were lions in Singapore, though tigers continued to roam
the island until the early 20th century. [3][4]
There is record that in 1320, the Mongol sent a mission to obtain
elephants from a place called Long Yamen (or Dragon's Tooth
Strait), which is believed to be Keppel Harbour. [5] The Chinese
traveller Wang Dayuan, visiting the island around 1330, described a
small Malay settlement called Dan Ma Xi (µÂíÎý, from Malay
Tamasik) containing a number of Chinese residents. The island was
apparently a haven for pirates preying on passing ships. The
Nagarakretagama, a Javanese epic poem written in 1365, also
referred to a settlement on the island, which it called Temasek
(Sea Town).
Recent excavations in Fort Canning provide evidences that Singapore
was a major port in the 14th century[6] and was used as a trading
post for transactions between the Phoenicians and the Malay and
Chinese.
During the 1390s, Parameswara, the last Srivijayan prince, fled to
Temasek after being deposed by the Majapahit Empire.
Notwithstanding the legend from the Sejarah Melayu, the "Singapura"
name possibly dates to this period. Parameswara held the island for
a number of years, until further attacks from either the Majapahit
or the Ayutthaya kingdom in Siam forced him to move on to Melaka
where he founded the Sultanate of Malacca.[3] Singapore remained an
important part of the Malacca Sultanate and once served as the
fiefdom of the legendary laksamana (or admiral) Hang Tuah.[2]
Following the decline of Srivijayan power, Temasek was alternately
claimed by the Majapahit and the Siamese. Its fortifications
apparently allowed it to withstand at least one attempted Siamese
invasion. During the 16th and early 17th century, it briefly
regained some importance as a trading centre of the Sultanate of
Johor. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burnt down the settlement at the
mouth of Singapore River and the island sank into
obscurity.[4]
It wasn't until 1819, when Englishman Stamford Raffles established
a British trading post on the island, that modern Singapore was
founded.
From the above article which was extract from wikipedia shown that
history of Singapore gone way beyond text book history.
there are many more sources u can search from within singapore.
