Singapore Food in 1000 AD ● 300 Years before Sang Nila Utama ● 800 Years before Raffles

Image credit: Wikipedia

This is my personal exploration trip, searching for our food heritage starting from 1000 AD. I deliberately chose a very early starting point to get to the bottom-most layer (i.e. as much of a clean slate as possible) of our flavours and aromas. From there, build it up through layers upon layers of time till we arrive at the dishes we enjoy today. Join me on this delicious journey through time. This is only the first step of our journey - the beginning of the beginning.

Our world in 1000 AD was in the shadow of China's Song dynasty in the east and to our west, the Fatimid dynasty in Arabia. By that time, wind powered ships were already plying regularly between China and Arabia, trading Chinese silk, tea and porcelain with Arabian crystals and quartz among other things.

The east-west trade route (maritime Silk Road) straddled the Srivijaya empire of Indonesia and Chola empire of India. Both empires jostled and competed to service (and tax) the east-west trade route.

Song dynasty era statue of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Image credit: Wikipedia

The Song dynasty ruled China from 960 to 1279. The Song dynasty was a Confucian-Buddhist empire. Due to relentless pressure from Mongols in the north, the Song emperors were pre-occupied with defending its northern borders.




While the Song emperors were busy fighting off Mongols in the north, the empire's southern regions were prosperous. It was engaged in trade as it had surpluses to indulge in the finer things in life and Chinese silk, tea, porcelain etc were in demand overseas. 

Chinese trading ships were plying the east-west trade routes which grew in importance as the overland Silk Road was blocked by the Mongols. It was during the Song dynasty that the magnetic compass was invented, thus revolutionising sea navigation. Despite all these, the Song emperors could not pay much attention to the south seas and maritime trade routes. So, Chinese overseas presence was limited to transient Chinese traders.

(We can't blame the Song emperors as the dynasty was fighting for its life. They were eventually defeated by the Mongols in 1279, and China fell under a foreign power for the first time in history. The Mongol Yuan dynasty was to rule China till 1368 i.e. for nearly 100 years.) 

Fatimid caliphate era bowl fragment. Image credit: Wikipedia

The Fatimid dynasty ruled the Middle East and North Africa from 909 to 1171. Founder Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah was descended from Prophet Mohammed's favourite daughter Fatimah, hence the name Fatimid. At its height, Cairo was the capital city of the Fatimids. 




The Fatimids who were Shia Muslims were known for their religious tolerance and awarded government positions based on merit. During Fatimid rule, there were Sunni judges, a defence minister who was Christian, a Jewish treasurer and women were also involved in religious and political life. Scholarship, the economy and the arts flourished during Fatimid rule. The prosperous Fatimid caliphate had good diplomatic and trade relations with the Song dynasty of China.

Four hand Avalokiteçvara in Malayu-Srivijayan style. Image credit: Wikipedia

The Srivijaya empire ruled Indonesia from 650 to 1377. The Buddhist empire was based in Jambi and Palembang in south Sumatra. Its control spanned the whole of Sumatra, Malayan peninsula and most of Java island.





The Srivijaya was a thalassocratic empire, i.e. it was a maritime empire which controlled the seas and shorelines in its realm but did not extend its influence into the interior.

The island of Singapore (then known as Temasek) was within Srivijayan span of control.

Chola dynasty era Hanuman statue. Image credit: Wikipedia

The Hindu Chola dynasty ruled southern India from 300 BC to 1279. The Chola was both a land and maritime power with its height from 900s to 1030.



By the 900s, the Chola ports were direct competitors with the Srivijayan ports serving (and taxing) the east-west trade routes between China and Arabia. Ships served by Chola ports would bypass Srivijayan ports and vice versa as there was no need to make 2 stops for the journey between China and Arabia.

The Fatamids brought crystals and the Chinese brought silk - all came together in Srivijayan ports (Palembang, Jambi and Kedah) or Indian ports under the Cholas.

Neither, the Cholas nor Srivijayans had much goods that the Chinese or Arabians particularly wanted except for a convenient place to meet midway to trade. (Indian and Indonesian spices did not have an overseas market until the emergence of the Europeans, 400 years later.)

Talking about the Europeans, 1000 AD was smack in the middle of Europe's Mediaeval Age from 476 to 1492. After the Roman empire broke up in 476, numerous feuding kingdoms and fiefdoms sprouted up across Europe. The Europeans were pre-occupied with their own affairs i.e. wars till the first Crusade in 1096, and the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 marking the beginning of the Age of Discovery. Portuguese Vasco da Gama reached India only in 1499. The Portuguese showed up in Malacca only in 1509.

In short, in 1000 AD, the Europeans were not in our world yet.

Things came to a head in 1025 - the Cholas sent an armada to Srivijaya, roundly defeating the Indonesian fleet in the Straits of Malacca and sacked Palembang (the Srivijayan capital.)

The epic sea battle between the Cholas and Srivijayans is worth retelling. The Chola naval strategy was brilliant.

The Cholas sent out 2 fleets - a small diversionary force to the northern entrance of the Malacca Straits off Kedah in the Malay peninsula. The small decoy force lured the Srivijayan navy northwards to meet its Indian enemy (and to defend Kedah, a Srivijayan port).

Meanwhile, the Cholas' main force comprising a large armada crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Sunda Straits between Sumatra and Java, and landed at the doorstep of Palembang, the Srivijayan capital. The Cholas burnt Palembang to the ground and destroyed its port.

Next, the Chola main force turned northwards, raced up the Malacca Straits thus bottling the Srivijayan navy between the decoy and main force of Chola. Now at the Chola navy's mercy, the trapped Srivijayan ships were decimated.

Srivijayan power and control of the Indonesian archipelago declined after this military debacle.

Orang Laut distribution. Image credit: Wikipedia

While these momentous happenings took place around Singapore, it was in 1000 AD probably inhabited only by Orang Laut (sea people or sea gypsies). Orang Laut were sometimes fishermen, oftentimes pirates. Usually the local kingdom would forge arrangements with the Orang Laut to put their intimate knowledge of local waters to the good service of the empire. During the Srivijayan era, they guided merchant ships through the waters around Singapore to the Srivijayan ports of Jambi and Palembang.

Other than Orang Laut villages, Singapore (known as Temasek then) was uninhabited in 1000 AD. A pirates' nest, if you will.



According to the Malay Annals, in 1299, prince Sang Nila Utama from Srivijaya's Palembang landed in Temasek. By that time, the Srivijaya empire was well in decline and various princes and local chieftains were setting up kingdoms of their own. Sang Nila Utama decided to set up his own kingdom in Temasek.

On arrival, Sang Nila Utama and his party spotted a swift beast with red fur, black head and white breast. When told that the animal was a singa i.e. lion, Sang Nila Utama decided to name his island kingdom Singapura.

Why do these history matter?

Kopi More coffee stall in Singapore

Whereas many of us take over a dozen shots of our meal and post them on social media before we eat, records of food in the past are very rare. If we want to understand the food of our ancestors, we can only infer from circumstantial evidence like where they live, where they went, and who they met.

So what have we got after surveying the history of Singapore in 1000 AD?

As trading ships were wind powered, traders settled in trading hubs for months to wait for the Monsoons to change. So, locals were exposed to the food of the traders i.e. Indonesians and Malayans were exposed to Chinese and Arabian food in 1000 AD.

So, Arabic and Chinese influence already began to leave an overlay over indigenous food in Indonesia and Malaya, 300 years before Sang Nila Utama founded Singapura and 800 years before Raffles stepped foot on Singapore.

Obviously, this is only the start of the search - first step in a long journey. Let's build this together. Please share with me your insights by posting your comment. Thank you.

The Singapore food story continues in the next episode - What has the rise and fall of the Malacca Sultanate got to do with food in Singapore?

Written by Tony Boey on 11 Jun 2020