Singapura

The Singapura dynasty ruled the small Malay trading kingdom of that name on Temasek, the future Singapore. According to the Malay Annals, its founder Sang Nila Utama, a prince of the Palembang royal house of Srivijaya, landed around 1299 and named his settlement Singapura, Sanskrit for lion city.

The chronicle counts five kings, including Sang Nila Utama, who still reigned in 1337, and Sri Wikrama Wira, whose port beat off a Siamese siege fleet in 1349. The kingdom grew rich on trade linking the archipelago, India and Yuan China, but a Majapahit expedition sacked the city around 1398.

The last king, Iskandar Shah, commonly identified with Parameswara, fled to the Malay Peninsula and founded the Malacca Sultanate around 1400. Much of the story is legendary, but archaeology and the Chinese traveler Wang Dayuan's account confirm a thriving fourteenth-century port.