Situated at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, the waters around Singapore have been recognised by maritime navigators as strategic as early as the 14th century AD, marking the access point between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. The key factor that underpinned this strategic significance was the development of a direct Indian Ocean-South China Sea trade, linking the economies of the West, the Indian Ocean littoral and the South China Sea.

According to the Daoyi Zhilue Jiaoshi, a Chinese account of the ports in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean littoral, written by the Chinese trader Wang Dayuan sometime in the mid–14th century, these were, namely, top-quality hornbill casques, middle-quality lakawood, and cotton. The niche market was successfully established, as these products, which were commonly found at other Southeast Asian ports, were unique in quality.

By the 15th century, Singapore had declined as an international trading port amid the rise of the Malacca Sultanate.

Pre-1819 Singapore’s role as an international trading port, which lasted for more than 300 years from the late 13th century, came to an abrupt end in the early 17th century, when the island’s main settlement and port were destroyed by a punitive force from Aceh. Thereafter, Singapore was devoid of any significant settlement or port until 1819, when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded Singapore and reestablished an international port on the island.

When Singapore was founded in 1819, the seas around the colony were only tentatively mapped. The whole exhibits a level of meticulousness and detail rarely apparent in earlier charts of the region and is technically superior to the better-documented British charts, such as the Thompson chart of 1846.