Singapore in the cycles of the longue durée

This article examines the history of singapore over the course of about five centuries from the founding of temasek-singapura at the end of the thirteenth century until the establishment of a british trading post in 1819. contrary to the dominant historiographical tradition during the period of british imperialism,singapore not was not an obscure place devoid of history before raffles created a british base on the island. an attack in the late 1300s destroyed the existing settlement,but singapore subsequently passed through at least three long-term up- and down-cycles,each lasting for a century or more. in the early nineteenth century a new economic up-cycle was underway,and the link to the british empire provided a significant stimulus. © 2017 project muse.