Three Questions About the Early British Port of Singapore, c.1819–1830

ABSTRACT

This article examines the evolution of trade policies in early British Singapore from its founding in 1819 to about 1830. By focusing on this timeframe, it aims to shed light on the important shifts that occurred during this formative period. The article addresses three issues that are key to understanding the trajectory of early British Singapore. First, it explores the reasons behind the dissolution of the original power- and revenue-sharing arrangements between the British, the Temenggong, and Sultan Hussain by 1824. By investigating the reasons behind this termination, the article seeks to uncover the power struggles that (re-) shaped early governance in Singapore. Second, the article examines the roles played by traditional Malay commercial conventions and practices. As a result, a more multi-faceted understanding emerges of Singapore's commercial and cultural origins. Finally, the article investigates the driving forces behind the establishment of British Singapore as a free port supported by free trade. By exploring the motivation, timing and debates about policy, the article provides insights into the economic and political factors that propelled Singapore’s rise as a trading hub. The conclusions in this article offer a thought-provoking reassessment and reframing of Singapore’s early development as a port and British settlement.

KEYWORDS:

• Singapore
• Johor
• free trade
• free portissues
• Colonialism
• East India Company

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, xvii, 49; Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 160. For a problematisation of starting Singapore history in 1819, see Kwa, “Introduction,” 15–22; Kwa, “From Temasek,” 200–5; Kwa et al., Seven Hundred Years, 1–17.

2 Kwa, “Introduction”; Kwa et al., Seven Hundred Years.

3 Wright, William Farquhar.

4 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore; Tregonning, The British in Malaya; Wong, “The Trade of Singapore.”

5 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 19–52; Kwa, “Introduction,” 4; Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 368; Kwa et al., Seven Hundred Years; Kwa, “Singapore in 1819”; Wake, “Raffles and the Rajas”; Wright, “Pragmatism at Play.”

6 Borschberg, “Dutch Objections”; Marks, The First Contest; Kemp, “De Stichting”; Kemp, “Geschiedenis”; Kemp, De Teruggave.

7 Tregonning, The British in Malaya; Wong, “The Trade of Singapore”; Wong, “Singapore.”

8 Notable exceptions remain Trocki, Prince of Pirates; Barr, Singapore.

9 Trocki, Prince of Pirates, 61; Wake, “Raffles and the Rajas,” 68; Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 376.

10 Hooker and Raffles, “Raffles’ Singapore Regulations.” For the text of the treaties, see also Aitchison 294–334.

11 Bastin, The Founding, “Raffles Account,” 55, Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 29; Kwa et al., Seven Hundred Years, 187.

12 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 46–7.

13 Raffles confirms this limited nature of the arrangement, see Bastin, The Founding, “Raffles’ Account,” 53; also Marks, The First Contest, 42; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 39.

14 Winstedt, “A History,” 73; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 23; Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 151; Wright, “Pragmatism at Play,” 56; Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 368–9. For a Bugis-Malay perspective, see Ali al-Haji, The Precious Gift, 226–8.

15 For a Malay account of this elevation of Hussain to sultan, see Ali al-Haji, The Precious Gift, 227–9.

16 Assey, On the Trade; Bastin, The Founding, letter of Raffles to Farquhar from 16 January 1819, 36, speaks of ascertaining ‘how far [the ancient empire of Johor] has been dismembered’; ibid., “Raffles’ Account,” 52, 54; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 548n47; Kwa et al., Seven Hundred Years, 174. In a letter to Hastings from 15 Feb. 1819, in Bastin, The Founding, 65; Raffles asserted that in founding Singapore he was ‘happy to find not only the Authority with whom the Dutch treated at Rhio was incompetent to make arrangements for any of the States beyond the Port of Rhio, but that such states were not even included in his Treaty with the Dutch – Rhio alone being referred to’. A similar statement is also made in ibid., “Raffles’ Account,” 54, in which he accredits the Raja Muda as his source of information. Turnbull refers to the constituent parts of the Johor-Riau Empire as ‘fiefdoms;’ Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 23.

17 Bastin, The Founding, “Raffles’ Account,” 52, 53, 63.

18 Swettenham, British Malaya, 97.

19 Ali al-Haji, The Precious Gift, 227–31; Trocki, Singapore, 82.

20 For a full Dutch text of the 1784 treaty, see Netscher, De Nederlanders, app., LIX–LXVI; also Anon., Surat-surat, esp. 15–16. For a background to the 1784 treaty, see Vos, Gentle Janus, 16. For a full text of the 1818 treaty, see Netscher, De Nederlanders, LXXVII–LXXXIII. For Raffles’ understanding of the 1818 Dutch-Johor treaty, see Bastin, The Founding, “Raffles’ account,” 51, 54, and 65–66, ibid., letter by Raffles to Marquess of Hastings from 15 February 1819, 65–8. Additional background in Wright, “Pragmatism at Play,” 54; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 545–56. Swettenham erroneously reports that the Dutch had ‘seized’ the island of Bintan in 1818; Swettenham, British Malaya, 66. In an addendum to the second edition of his pamphlet On the Trade, Assey asserts that ‘the Netherlands’ government having already dispatched a force to Rhio previously to its arrival at the place and having compelled the raja to conclude a treaty, by virtue of which the island of Bintang is ceded to them’. A copy the text is found in Falck, Gedenkschriften, 557–8n1. Emphasis added.

21 Bastin, The Founding, 51, “Raffles’ Account”; Winstedt, “A History,” 73; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 546.

22 Trocki, Prince of Pirates, 45.

23 Ali al-Haji, The Precious Gift, 228; also Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 372–3; Glendinning, Raffles, 221–2.

24 Raffles surmised that this would happen, but expressed confidence in the merits of the British counter-arguments. Bastin, The Founding, letter of Raffles to Hastings, dated 15 February 1819, 65; also ibid., letter of Raffles to Hastings, from 28 Feb. 1819, 75; Borschberg, “The 1824 Treaties,” 49.

25 Bastin, The Founding, 93; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 27–30; Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 162; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 548.

26 Kemp, “De Singapoorsche,” 324; Wurtzburg, Raffles of the Eastern Isles, 505; Tarling, Piracy and Politics in the Malay World, 20; Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 162; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 548–58.

27 Kemp, “De Singapoorsche,” 330; Wurtzburg, Raffles of the Eastern Isles, 506.

28 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 31.

29 Chew, “The Foundation,” 39; Wake, “Raffles and the Rajas,” 61.

30 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 22, 37–8.

31 Kwa et al., Seven Hundred Years, 190; Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 366.

32 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 44.

33 This was in line with what the Dutch had agreed on in their 1818 treaty with Johor-Riau, article 18, where revenues from the port were to be shared equally between the Dutch and the sultan at Lingga. Raffles, however, criticised the Dutch for omitting to apportion revenues in their treaty. See Bastin, The Founding, “Raffles’ Account,” 52; also Glendinning, Raffles, 218.

34 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 32; Wright, “Pragmatism at Play,” 62.

35 Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 156–7.

36 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 32–3; Keay, The Honourable Company, 448, diplomatically observes that Sultan Hussain was ‘cordially disliked’. Concerning the followers of the Temenggong, see also Knapman, “Settler Colonialism.”

37 Lee, The British, 4.

38 Wake, “Raffles and the Rajas,” 66; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 38.

39 Chew, “The Foundation,” 39; Lee, The British, 5.

40 Wake, “Raffles and the Rajas,” 67; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 40.

41 Hooker and Raffles, “Raffles’ Singapore Regulations,” 256.

42 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 5.

43 Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 378, 380.

44 Borschberg, “The 1824 Treaties,” 50–1.

45 Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 378; Kwa et al., Seven Hundred Years, 191–2; Marks, First Contest, 43, Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 161.

46 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 47.

47 Borschberg, “The 1824 Treaties,” 51.

48 Winstedt, “A History,” 88.

49 Kemp, “De Stichting,” 450–2; Marks, First Contest, 174n151.

50 Falck, Gedenkschriften, 279, 560–1; Borschberg, “The 1824 Treaties,” 51–3.

51 Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 556–7; Borschberg, “The 1824 Treaties,” 54.

52 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 39.

53 Bastin, The Founding, 55; “Raffles’ Account”; Crawfurd, Journal, 566; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 35; Chew, “The Foundation,” 38–9; Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 376; Rajah, “John Crawfurd,” 11; Berry, “Raffles, Farquhar,” 42.

54 Bastin, The Founding, app. IV, 141.

55 Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 550–1.

56 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore; Wong, “The Trade of Singapore”; Wright, “Pragmatism at Play,” 58. For the significance of the Chinese junk trade to Singapore and the region generally, see Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 156.

57 Kwa, “Singapore in 1819”; Wake, “Raffles and the Rajas.”

58 Kwa, Pre-Colonial Singapore, 80; Wake, “Raffles and the Rajas,” 71.

59 Kwa, Pre-Ccolonial Singapore, 81.

60 Barr, Singapore; Kwa, Pre-Colonial Singapore.

61 Trocki, Prince of Pirates, 56.

62 Skott, “Imagined Centrality,” 168.

63 Milner, “Singapore’s Role,” 134–5.

64 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 35–6.

65 Trocki, Prince of Pirates, 65.

66 Kwa, Pre-Colonial Singapore, 82–5.

67 Hack, Margolin, and Delaye, Singapore, 21; Borschberg and Khoo, “Singapore as a Port City,” 29.

68 Milner, Kerajaan; Milner, The Malays. A helpful summary also in Barr, Singapore, 66–9.

69 Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 377.

70 Crawfurd, History, vol. III, 152; Milner, Kerajaan, 23; Milner, The Malays, 72.

71 Winstedt, “A History,” 86; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 32, 35; Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 376.

72 Winstedt, “A History,” 86, 88.

73 Wong, “The Trade of Singapore,” 197–8. This seems to contradict what Munshi Abdullah claimed, that Sultan Hussain was encouraged by Raffles to participate in commenda (entrusted capital) trade, but rebuffed this suggestion on the grounds that it would lower the status of a ruler in the eyes of his peers. Abdullah bin Kadir, The Hikayat Abdullah, 163; Winstedt, “A History,” 86; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 39.

74 Trocki, Prince of Pirates, 66.

75 Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 378.

76 Borschberg, “The Melaka Sultanate,” 345, 349–52.

77 Pires, Suma Oriental, vol. II, 264; Virunha, “Power Relations,” 145.

78 Andaya, “Orang Asli,” 31–4.

79 Wolters, History, Culture, 46.

80 Purbatjaraka, “Shahbandars,” 359–61.

81 Winstedt and de Josselin de Jong, “The Maritime Laws,” 56–7.

82 Concerning the London Convention of 1814 stipulating the return of colonies to the Netherlands after the Napoleonic Wars, see Kemp, “De Sluiting”; Kemp, De Teruggave; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 541. Concerning the feared revival of Dutch monopolistic policies, see Swettenham, British Malaya, 70; Turnbull, The Straits, 162.

83 Kwa et al., Seven Hundred Years, 188.

84 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 34–5.

85 Trocki, Prince of Pirates, 9; similarly Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 38; Ting, “Singapore’s Port,” 57–8.

86 Raffles, Statement, 54–5.

87 Raffles, Statement, 55.

88 Wong, “The Trade of Singapore.”

89 Ali al-Haji, The Precious Gift, 229; Khoo, “A Royal Wedding Gone Wrong,” 6–7; Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 33; Winstedt, “A History,” 83.

90 Ting, “Singapore’s Port,” 58–9.

91 Furnival, Netherlands India; Furnival, Colonial Policy and Practice.

92 Milner, “Who Created.”

93 Falck, Gedenkschriften, 568. Translated from Dutch by PB.

94 Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 156, 161.

95 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 47.

96 Cowan, “Early Penang,” 11; Marks, First Contest, 197; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 561.

97 Falck, Gedenkschriften, 560–1; Marks, First Contest, 197; Wong, “Singapore,” 58; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 561; Ting, “Singapore’s Port,” 58.

98 Developing the idea of Singapore as a new Malay kerajaan after 1819, see Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 366–84.

99 Wright, “Pragmatism at Play,” 63.

100 Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 561.

101 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 41; Glendinning, Raffles, 246–7.

102 Hooker and Raffles, “Raffles’ Singapore Regulations,” 260–1; Turbnull, History of Modern Singapore, 41, 45.

103 Wong, “Singapore,” 58. Concerning the tax-free policies Penang, see Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 59.

104 Wong, “Singapore,” 56.

105 Raffles, “Historical Sketch,” 27. Concerning Raffles’ authorship of this anonymously published piece, see Bastin, “Historical Sketch,” 112.

106 Raffles, “Historical Sketch,” 27–8.

107 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 45; Glendinning, Raffles, 221.

108 Wright, “Pragmatism at Play,” 61.

109 Raffles, “Historical Sketch,” 27–8.

110 Raffles, Memoirof the Life, vol. II, 242; also in Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 38.

111 Tarling, Piracy and Politics in the Malay World, 16; Borschberg, “Dutch Objections,” 543n13.

112 Bastin, The Founding, app. IV, 141–2.

113 Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 157.

114 Trocki, Prince of Pirates, 61.

115 Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 157.

116 Bastin, The Founding, “Raffles’ Account,” 56; Tregonning, The British in Malaya, 153; Wright, “Pragmatism at Play,” 62.

117 Bastin, The Founding, app. IV, 145.

118 Bastin, The Founding, 136.

119 Wong, “The Trade of Singapore,” 114; Wong, “Singapore,” 52–53.

120 Wong, “The Trade of Singapore,” 109.

121 Ng, “British Conceptions,” 33–4; Ng, “The Ideological Origins,” 69.

122 Raffles, Statement, 54–5; Bastin, The Founding; “Raffles’ Account,” 60.

123 Third Report, 282.

124 Wright, “Pragmatism at Play,” 49; Ng, “The Liberal,” 68–70.

125 Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 45.

126 Ng, “British Conceptions,” 32, 59.

127 Hooker and Raffles, “Raffles’ Singapore Regulations,” 253.

128 Wong, “Singapore,” 56.

129 Wong, “Singapore,” 58.

130 Wong, “The Trade of Singapore,” 179, 186.

131 Wong, “The Trade of Singapore,” 180–2.

132 One measure taken by Farquhar in the early years of Singapore was to create revenue farms on opium, gambling, alcohol and prostitution. See Turnbull, History of Modern Singapore, 40.

133 Wong, “The Trade of Singapore,” 183.

134 Wong, “Singapore,” 58.

135 Kwa, “Singapore in 1819,” 368, 379; Kwa, Pre-Colonial Singapore, 79.