History Chapter 1

• • History is the study of the past.
  • History is not the past and cannot fully show how it was like in the past.
• • History is constructed based on clues. These clues are called sources.
  • Types of sources are: Artefacts, Pictorial Records, Written Accounts and Records, Oral Accounts and Scientific Data.
• • Historians ask questions about the past.
  • Historians gather sources.
  • Historians examine the sources to extract information in order to form a response to the questions asked.
  • Historians exercise reasoning to write a logical conclusion about the past.
• • BCE stands for Before Common Era.
  • CE stands for Common Era.
• • A decade refers to a time period of 10 years.
  • A century refers to a time period of 100 years.
  • A millennium refers to a period of 1000 years.
• • Chronology is the arrange of past events according to the order in which they took place.
  • Historians place events in chronological order in order to help them better understand what happened during a specific time period in the past.
• • Singapore is located at the Southern Tip of the Malay Peninsula.
  • Singapore is part of the region Southeast Asia, which lies to the south of China and east of India.
• • Chinese goods such as silk and ceramics were in demand as far away as Europe.
  • Products from Southeast Asia such as spices, scented woods and shells were highly valuable in China and India.
• • The Silk Road became less safe for traders due to increased danger (Robbers) and difficulties involved travelling across the Silk Road.
  • Traders had to travel via the Maritime route instead.
• Travellers from China, India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia who passed through this region would stop at various ports to pick up items to trade, acquire supplies such as food and water, repair their ships or wait for favourable weather conditions before continuing on their journeys.
• • Singapore lies off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, along a waterway known as the Straits of Melaka.
  • Ships sailing from China and India and beyond would have to pass through the Straits of Melaka as the quickest route to their destinations.
  • This reduces the amount and cost of supplies needed as well as the risk of pirate attacks and accidents.
• • Singapore's location allowed it to benefit from monsoon winds.
  • The Southwest monsoons blow from June to September.
  • The Northeast monsoons blow from December to March.
• • Archaeology is the study of the physical remains of past human societies.
• • Singapore declined most likely because of the climatic and economic changes that affected the trade with China. This reduced one of the major sources of early Singapore's wealth.
  • Singapore also fell prey to external wealth.
  • In the 14th century, the Melaka Sultanate was founded along the Straits of Melaka, north of Singapore. The Sultanate became one of the dominant trading centres in the region, and soon extended control over much of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, and eventually overshadowed Singapore.
• • The rivalry between the maritime nations of Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands began to focus on Asia as they raced to tap its markets and establish trading settlements across the region.
  • While European influence was growing in the region, the Melaka Sultanate was weakened and divided by power struggles and internal rivalries.
• • The Portuguese took over Melaka, and the Sultan with his loyal group of officials and Orang Laut warriors, they fled south.
• • The sultan's successor established a new kingdom along the Johor River, and came to be known as the Johor Sultanate.
• • Under the Johor Sultanate, Singapore revived some of its trading functions that had been lost during the period of Melaka's dominance.
• • Singapore declined again from the mid-17th century due to political changes in the region. After 1610, the Dutch turned their attention southwards towards the Sunda Straits and Java, away from the Straits of Melaka.
• • Another factor for Singapore's decline was the political crisis that resulted from the assassination of the childless Sultan Mahmud Shah II in 1699. The capital of Johor Sultanate then shifted to Riau.
  • Since the Johor capital was no longer in the Johor River region, there was no longer need for a Shahbandar in Singapore