Early history of Singapore in the context of "Singapore"

The signing of the Treaty of Singapore on 6 February 1819 is officially recognised as the founding of modern-day Singapore. The Treaty allowed the British East India Company to open up a trading post in Singapore, marking the beginning of a British settlement. As Singapore was also a major trading port in ancient times, it is also often referred to as the founding of modern Singapore to reflect the fact that the history of Singapore stretches back further.

Since its signing, both the previous British colonial government and the present government of Singapore has held major commemorative events at every golden jubilee intervals, in 1869 (50th), 1919 (100th), 1969 (150th) and 2019 (200th), to mark Singapore's modern founding. A treaty of central importance to the modern history of Singapore and its national mythos, its legacy remains complex, with both critical and pragmatic views about what it represents and means for the country.

The Kingdom of Singapura (Malay: Kerajaan Singapura) was a Malay polity believed to have been founded as a Hindu–Buddhist kingdom during the early history of Singapore on the island of Temasek, lasting from 1299 until its decline and fall between 1396 and 1398. Conventional view marks c. 1299 as the founding year of the kingdom by Sang Nila Utama (also known as "Sri Tri Buana"), whose father is Sang Sapurba, a semi-divine figure who according to legend is the ancestor of several Malay monarchs in the Malay world.

The historicity of this kingdom based on the account given in the Malay Annals is uncertain and many historians only consider its last ruler, the Muslim convert Parameswara (or Sri Iskandar Shah), to be a historically attested figure in his role as the first ruler of the Malacca Sultanate. Archaeological evidence from Fort Canning Hill and the nearby banks of the Singapore River has nevertheless demonstrated the existence of a thriving settlement and a trade port in the 14th century, corroborating the eyewitness testimony of Yuan dynasty sojourner Wang Dayuan concerning the settlements of Long Ya Men and Ban Zu upon Temasek.

The official languages of Singapore are English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil, with the lingua franca between Singaporeans being English, the de facto main language in daily, governmental, legal, trade and commercial affairs. Among themselves, Singaporeans often speak Singlish, an English creole arising from centuries of contact between Singapore's multi-ethnic and multilingual society and its legacy of being a British colony. Linguists formally define it as Singapore Colloquial English. A multitude of other languages are also used in Singapore. They consist of several varieties of languages under the families of the Austronesian, Dravidian, Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan languages. The Constitution of Singapore states that the national language of Singapore is Malay. This plays a symbolic role, as Malays are constitutionally recognised as the indigenous peoples of Singapore, and it is the government's duty to protect their language and heritage. This is also largely due to Singapore's geographical location in the Malay Archipelago.

The three languages other than English were chosen to correspond with the major ethnic groups present in Singapore at the time: Mandarin Chinese had gained pre-eminent status (over the Southern Chinese dialects of the overseas Chinese) since the introduction of Chinese-medium schools; Malay was deemed the "most obvious choice" for the Malay community; and Tamil for the largest Indian ethnic group in Singapore, in addition to being "the language with the longest history of education in Malaysia and Singapore". In 2009, more than 20 languages were identified as being spoken in Singapore, reflecting a rich linguistic diversity in the city. Singapore's historical roots as a trading settlement gave rise to an influx of foreign traders, and their languages were slowly embedded in Singapore's modern day linguistic repertoire.