Trace and Tell your Family's Empire Stories
Country Histories
Singapore is an island city-state lying at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula and is the smallest country in Southeast Asia.
As a stop-off on the shortest shipping route between India and China, Singapore proved itself to be a valuable asset for imperial powers in Southeast Asia. During the years of British rule Singapore established itself as thriving centre of trade and developed a vibrant ethnic and cultural mix.
As part of Malaysia, Singapore became independent of Britain in 1963. It seceded from Malaysia as the Republic of Singapore in 1965 and has gone on to become one of the wealthiest countries in Southeast Asia.
Browser by chapterRaffles saw the potential of the area and, after some political manoeuvring, signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah on behalf of the British East India Company to develop Singapore as a trading post and settlement. This island rapidly became a thriving port with millions of Spanish dollars' worth of trade passing through by 1825.
At least part of Singapore's strategic value was due to the opium trade. Since the mid-eighteenth century the British East India Company had pursued a monopoly on opium production and export in India. Opium was smuggled into China and traded in return for valuable Chinese tea, for which there was a growing demand in Britain. The opium trade was extremely profitable and led to a succession of wars between China and Britain when China sought to outlaw it.
