Singapore.

rare early view of Singapore

Rare early view of Singapore showing its rapid growth since the arrival of Raffles in 1819.

The left-hand side of the image shows Pearl's Hill and Clarke Quay with River Valley and Government Hill (Fort Canning Hill Park) on the horizon, and the right shows Telok Ayer Basin stretching into the distance. In the town you can see Telok Ayer Street lined with shops as well as several important buildings including Thian Hock Keng Temple, Masjid Al-Abrar mosque, Nagore Durgha shrine, the Court House, Saint Andrew's Cathedral, and Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The entourage in the foreground is though to be that of Sultan Mahmud IV (r. 1835-1857) of the Riau-Lingga sultanate. The Johor-Riau-Lingga sultanate was partitioned into the Johor sultanate and Riau-Lingga sultanate in 1824 under the Treaty of London between the British and the Dutch.

Original tinted lithograph panorama, sheet size 50 x 100 cm; some marginal tears professionally repaired, image still crisp and unaffected.