Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800
Beneath the modern skyscrapers of Singapore lie the remains of a much older trading port, prosperous and cosmopolitan and a key node in the maritime Silk Road. This book synthesizes 25 years of archaeological research to reconstruct the 14th-century port of Singapore in greater detail than is possible for any other early Southeast Asian city.
The picture that emerges is of a port where people processed raw materials, used money, and had specialized occupations. Within its defensive wall, the city was well organized and prosperous, with a cosmopolitan population that included residents from China, other parts of Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean. Fully illustrated, with more than 300 maps and colour photos, Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea presents Singapore's history in the context of Asia's long-distance maritime trade in the years between 1300 and 1800: it amounts to a dramatic new understanding of Singapore's pre-colonial past.
"John Miksic's Singapore & the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800 is a must-have for anyone interested in history, archaeology, social and cultural anthropology of Singapore and Southeast Asia as a whole." - Anton O. Zakharov
“a splendid new book...” Banyan, The Economist
John N. Miksic is Professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore and the Head of the Archaeology unit, Nalanda-Sriwijaya Center at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. His other works published by NUS Press include Philippine Ancestral Gold and Earthenware in Southeast Asia.
Publication Year: 2013
520 pages, 257mm x 157mm
Illustrated with more than 300 maps and colour photographs
ISBN: 978-9971-69-558-3, Paperback
ISBN: 978-9971-69-574-3, Hardback