by Andre Sanchez

Born the son of a ship’s cook, Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles is best known for the founding of Singapore, although another achievement of his, little known by most other than historians, is that he almost won Java for the British.

Although he started work for the British East India Company as a clerk, hard work and an extensive knowledge of the Malay language enabled him to attain a high position within the Company in an age when the East India Company was practically a law unto itself, and responsible for colonizing parts of East Asia for the British government.  Virtually all it could not do without government approval was to declare war.

The Dutch had always been strong in East Asia through the work of the Dutch East India Companiy,  and when Raffles mounted a military expedition and succeeded in taking Java from the Dutch in 1811, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the island.  The Dutch, however, were never happy with this and after the Naponeonic war, the British government agreed to give Java back to Holland under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. 

Raffles was disgusted by this, and although he travelled to London to try to get the British government to change its mind, it was part of British European foreign policy and the treaty had been signed. He returned to East Asia in 1817 where he took over the lieutenant-governorship of Fort Marlborough in Sumatra. This too was to eventually be seceded to the Dutch by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824.  However, in 1817 Raffles still had the Dutch in his sights, and his crowning glory was soon to come.

During a visit to Calcutta in 1818, he was able to get permission from the Governor-General of India at the time, Lord Hastings, to set up a settlement in Singapura, an island off the Malay peninsula, between Malaysia and Indonesia that was in a very strategic position for East Asian trade.   He established the absence of a Dutch presence on the island, and quickly signed an agreement with the self-proclaimed Sultan of Johore, Hussein Shah, also known as Turku Long. However, there was some dispute as to whether the real Sultan was this man or his brother, and the Dutch were very angry at Raffle’s actions.

In fact, the situation between the Dutch and the British in South East Asia had been very tenuous since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and steps were taken in London to try to ensure that Raffles did not pull the Dutch tail, but the distances involved were too great and Singapore had been secured in front of Holland’s eyes.

Singapore was founded by Thomas Stanford Raffles on 6th February, 1819, and handed over to the British East India Company, although if the messenger from London had reached him prior to that it might not have happened. Had Raffles not been determined to gain a form of personal revenge over the Dutch for Java, it is likely that Singapore would have become Dutch.  By the time that the new Anglo-Dutch Treaty was signed in 1824, the British had realized the significance of Singapore and its strategic situation between Malaysia and Indonesia, and it stayed in British hands, Britain ceding Sumatra to the Dutch in recompense.

During his time in Singapore, Raffles did much for the native population, establishing schools and churches, but also allowed religious freedom.  He left Singapore as a British colony when he returned to Sumatra later that year.  While in Asia, he had developed a strong interest in the flora and fauna of the area, and when Sumatra was handed back to the Dutch in 1824, he returned to London and founded the Zoological Society of London and London Zoo. Unfortunately a large number of his notes, drawings and specimens were destroyed by a fire on board ship during his journey back to London.

Sir Thomas Stanford raffles died in 1826, the day before his 45th birthday, having achieved much in his relatively short life.  He will always be remembered as the founder of Singapore, though given the choice, he would likely rather have been remembered as the man who won Java from the Dutch and made it a British colony. 

However, due to the temerity of the British government, and its desire to appease Holland, this was not to be.

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles: Diplomat and Adventurer was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com