The Singapore Stone is a part of an ancient monolith features an undeciphered inscription at the mouth of the Singapore River, near the present-day Fullerton Hotel.
Many historians believed these writings held the keys to Singapore’s ancient past, but none could decipher its contents.
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| Image Credit: Wikipedia |
Other scholars believed the stone engravings to be in an ancient script, possibly Sanskrit, commonly used during the Majapahit era between the 12th and 14th centuries.
The original form of this mysterious artefacts was a large stone boulder which made from coarse sandstone measuring 3 m wide and 3 m high.
In June 1819, the monolith stone was first discovered by labourers who were clearing trees in the area. Apparently they were so frightened by it and they decide would not go back to finishing their job clearing the land.
At that time, it was observed that the boulder stone had about 50 lines of undecipherable inscriptions. It was believed that the ancient writings dated back to the Majapahit era.
Along with the ancient walls around Fort Canning, the Singapore Stone points to an ancient civilization linked to the Majapahit era.
According to Wikipedia, in the Hikayat Abdullah, Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (1796–1854), also known as Munshi Abdullah, recorded Raffles taking missionary Rev. Claudius Henry Thomsen and himself to see what Raffles described as a "remarkable stone" in October 1822.
Raffles apparently took the view that the writing had to be Hindu "because the Hindus were the oldest of all immigrant races in the East, reaching Java and Bali and Siam, the inhabitants of which are all descended from them".
The first effectual study of the rock fragments was done by epigrapher and Dutch scholar Hans Kern. He succeeded in deciphering only a few words, and gave the probable date of inscription as around 1230 CE.
Scholars have different views on the date and language of the script—the inscription is written in Kawi script and contains some Sanskrit words, but it has never been fully deciphered.
But unfortunately in 1843, by the orders of acting settlement engineer, Captain Stevenson, this historical object was blown up to widen the passageway at the mouth of the Singapore River, and to provide space for Fort Fullerton and its living quarters.
Fragments of the stone were then salvaged by Lieutenant-Colonel James Low who had opposed the blasting of the rock.
Several fragments were later sent to the Royal Asiatic Society’s museum in Calcutta, India for analysis in 1848, but their exact whereabouts are unknown.
The remaining fragment relic of the Singapore Stone is on display at Singapore History Gallery inside the National Museum of Singapore.
Until now, mystery still surrounds the enigmatic Singapore Stone.
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Stone
- https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_43_2005-01-26.html
- https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/the-singapore-story-through-60-objects/networks-through-time/singapore-stone/story
- https://www.littledayout.com/singapore-stone-a-mystery-cast-in-stone/
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