Raffles Place In British Era Singapore, 1920 Postcard
A 1920 postcard of Raffles Place in British Era Singapore. Sir Stamford Raffles the founder of Singapore established the Commercial Square in 1822. While developing the island, Stamford instructed an area to be left for business and commercial purposes. This area was renamed Raffles Place in his memory in 1858. Originally a low-lying marshy area, it was filled with earth from a nearby hill.
Sir Stamford Raffles of the East India Company was the administrator of the British East Indies. He landed on an island on the tip of the Malay Peninsula in 1819, choosing it as an ideal location for a trading post. Thus the beginning of modern Singapore dawned from there. One account of Singapore getting its name is from the Sanskrit word Singa Pura. Said to be bestowed by Rajendra I of the South Indian dynasty the Chola kingdom.
Read more Raffles Place, 50 Years of Transformation. See post Electric Tram In The Suburbs of British Era Singapore, 1910 PC.
Did you know- due to the result of past immigrations the population is diverse. Chinese predominate, Malays are the next largest ethnic group, and Indians make up the third largest. None of those three major communities is homogeneous.
From the collection- Raja Ravi Varma’s “Birth of Shakuntala” Oleograph 1894., Electric Tram & Madras Central Railway Station – Old Photo., St Stephen’s Church Ooty Hills – Vintage Postcard 1900.
