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How were spices a reason for British interest in Southeast Asia?

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How were spices a reason for British interest in Southeast Asia?

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Watch this video to understand the importance of spices and why Southeast Asia mattered to the Europeans

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Join us on a journey to learn about the magical history of spices

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How did India-China trade attract the British to Southeast Asia?

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How did India-China trade attract the British to Southeast Asia?

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Watch this video to learn about trade between Britain and China.

Think about how this trade relates to Southeast Asia

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Empire's Opium Trade - Empire - Episode 4 - BBC

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How did India-China trade attract the British to Southeast Asia

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How did India-China trade attract the British to Southeast Asia

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Watch this video to learn about the British East India Company: why it was created and how it affected India

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East India Company |How British came and occupied India(British Rule in India- History)|The openbook

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Dutch presence in East Indies (Indonesia) motivated the British to establish a port in Singapore. Explain how.

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Dutch presence in East Indies (Indonesia) motivated the British to establish a port in Singapore. Explain how.

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Watch this video to learn about the Dutch East India Company and how the Dutch established control in the East Indies.

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How one of the most profitable companies in history rose to power - Adam Clulow

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British needed a better port in Southeast Asia. Explain how this led to the British searching for another port that was Singapore.

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British needed a better port in Southeast Asia. Explain how this led to the British searching for another port that was Singapore.

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Read this post to understand why the British needed a better port.

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To conclude, why was Singapore selected? Write down three reasons why Singapore was selected. 

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To conclude, why was Singapore selected? Write down three reasons why Singapore was selected. 

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Watch this video to learn about Stamford Raffles' search for a new port and why he decided on Singapore

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1819 - Raffles Journey to Find a New Trading Base

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Any other questions about the Europeans in Southeast Asia?

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Spices don’t grow in cold climates and therefore British had interest to come to south east Asia for these highly priced expensive spices. They also thought it was a medicine for plague which was a dangerous disease in the past.

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Mdm Wee:

Yes, they were in great demand in Europe and trading spices made traders rich. Spices can only grow in warm climates in Southeast Asia

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Exotic spices cannot be grown in colder climates, the British have to travel to the east to civilisations like Asia, The Middle East and North East Africa to buy spices to ship back to their own country.

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Mdm Wee:

Yes, spices grow in warmer climate in Southeast Asia. Spices were in demand and valuable so trading them was lucrative for the Europeans

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The European climate was very cold which is why they couldn’t grow spices hence they had to travel to Asia the Middle East and north east and Africa to buy spices and ship it back to their country. They also thought that spice nutmegs was a cure for the plague, a deadly disease at that time which pushed up the demand for it and made it expensive to buy.

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Mdm Wee:

Good work, the cool climate in Europe made it impossible to cultivate spices. spices were in great demand in Europe and fetched high prices so British came to Southeast Asia

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British were interested in spices from Southeast Asia because spices don’t grow in cold climates where the British live. Spices were also highly sought-after by many people as it provided many different uses such as seasoning food and was believed to cure the Plague.

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Mdm Wee:

Yes, the spices were fascinating and magical to the Europeans hence their prices were high. British were interested in Southeast Asia because trading them made a lot of $$ for the British.

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What are some kinds of spices that the British trade in Southeast Asia?

Cinnamon

Pepper

Turmeric

Cardamom

The Europeans think that spices were exotic and magical back then. And because spices do not grow in Europe, the British travelled to Southeast Asia to get them. The Europeans stated to explore the globe further to find more spices and thus the spices became even more expensive and more valuable. They used the spices for flavoring, preserving their food, making perfume, making dyes and sometimes making medicine.

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Mdm Wee:

Great details, Kaira & Clara.

Yes, as the spices seemed magical- their prices were high. This meant that British could make a lot of $$ from spices. and the place to get spices was Southeast Asia.

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They were a reason of interest as exotic spices do not grow in colder climates where the British lived. They had to travel to east civilisations like Asia to buy spices, which was very time consuming as it took weeks or months to sail back and wars were also fought over trade routes all the time. At that time, spices were in high demand as they were used for many purposes-to flavour and preserve food, make perfumes and dyes, and sometimes even medicine, which pushed up the demand for spices.

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Mdm Wee:

Valid points. The high demand and uses of spices jacked up the price of spices. Hence, trading spices made traders rich. Since Southeast Asia was the region spices were cultivated, the British were very interested in SEA,

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Exotic spices cannot grow in colder climate like Britain so British travel to Southeast Asia to buy spices back home.

Spices found were very highly prized so the British would come to Asia to explore more about spices.

The colourful and fragrant aromas of spices was very exotic and magical to the British.

The British came to Asia to get spices and it can be used for flavouring and preserving their food. It can also be used to make perfumes, dyes and medicine.

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Mdm Wee:

Valid points! Spices were precious and whoever traded them could become rich.

Yes, it's not easy to cultivate spices in Europe so the British were interested in Southeast Asia and its spices.

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Ans:

Spices do not grow in colder climates where the Europeans live.

The Europeans were inspired to use the colourful and fragrant aromas from the spices to use them for flavouring, preserving their food, perfume, dyes and sometimes for medicine.

They make food taste great.

The Europeans could only get spices from Asia, Middle East and North East Africa.

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Mdm Wee:

Good points. the points showed why spices were valuable and expensive. whoever traded spices could become rich. hence, the British were very interested in Southeast Asia

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Avery and Cerelia Chong Yu Tian crunchy 

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Avery and Cerelia Chong Yu Tian crunchy 

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British people heard interesting stories by spice traders about the process of growing spices so british got FOMO from the Dutch having so much trade in spices and wanted to join in since exotic spices could not grow in cold climates. So they were looking for convenient places to set up trading ports and trade spices. Since there was a lot of India-China trade, the Southeast Asia countries in between both of them were in good locations for traders to stop by and trade. Therefore British were interested in Southeast Asia for their spice trade.

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Mdm Wee:

Good points and details, girls.

yes, the British wouldn't want to miss out the lucrative spice trade. spices had many uses and its value jacked up because spices were fascinating and magical for the Europeans. Southeast Asia is where spices could be cultivated.

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The spices did not grow in colder climates and spice traders made up interesting stories about how they had found the spices. The spices were also used to enhance the flavour of their food and can also be used for other purposes such as perfumes, dyes and medicines. The Elizabethans also thought that nutmeg was a cure for a plague. Thus, these spices were a reason for British interest in Southeast Asia.

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Mdm Wee:

Yes, due to the myth and demand for spices, their prices were high and whoever traded them, made a lot of money. Since spices were cultivated in Southeast Asia, many British were interested in Southeast Asia.

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They wanted to have the tea that only china produced but china did not want to trade with them thus thy used India to produce opium to trade for tea in china. The British also took over India and stationed their army there and found that it was a foothold to colonisation.

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British were interested in Southeast Asia for their spices, as spices were thought to cure diseases back then and spices did not grow in cold climate where the British lived. Spices were considered to be exotic and therefore highly priced.

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Mdm Wee:

Yes, the high demand for spices in Europe made their spices here. whoever traded spices became rich. hence, the British were very interested in Southeast Asia.

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The British wanted profitability for spices as the spices didn’t grow in cold climates like Britain. Thus, the British had to make their way to Singapore to obtain the spices.

The spices were also very sought after, thus the British wanted possession of them as they were affordable.

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Mdm Wee:

Yep, spice trade was lucrative, whoever traded them, made a lot of money. Naturally the British would be interested in Southeast Asia as this is where the spices were grown.

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China was the only place tea was grown in the 19th century but they had severely restricted trade with the west for three centuries. But to get the tea they crave, the British had opium to trade which the Chinese craved even more. The British grew opium poppies in India where they processed it in factories on a colossal scale which was then shipped to China and sold to smugglers with profits.

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Spice the were important as the Europeans though that the spices were exotic and magical and were inspired to use them for many purposes . For example, flavouring, preserving their food and to make perfumes and dyes. As the spices do not grow in colder places like in Europe, the Europeans went all the way to Southeast Asia to buy the spices and ship them back home.

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Mdm Wee:

Yes, good points. Spices could only be cultivated in warmer regions like Southeast Asia. Spices were in high demand in Europe, hence prices were high. The British wanted to trade spices so they came to Southeast Asia

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The British were interested in South East Asia as exotic spices do not grow in colder climates such as in the West. Therefore Europeans travelled to South East Asia. The Europeans noticed that some exotic spices were very valuable and had many purposes. Hence, encouraging them to buy more spices. This is why there was a lot of trade for spices, allowing more traders and merchants to come to Singapore to buy spices.

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Mdm Wee:

yes, valid points.

Spices were in high demand in Europe. hence their prices were high. Spice trade was very profitable. Naturally the British would come to Southeast Asia to trade spices to make money...

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India-China trade attracted the British to Southeast Asia because…

Back then, China was the only place tea was produced and grown

For 3 centuries, China restricted trade with the West (aka the Europeans)

They would beg the Chinese empire to take some British products in exchange for tea. But they refused.

In the end, they traded opium for the tea, which was highly wanted by the Chinese at that time. There was an estimation of 12 million Chinese addicted to opium!

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In the past, the British traders had to travel in a ship though the sea in order to reach Southeast Asia since exotic spices do not grow in colder climates and the journey would take up to weeks or even months. The Europeans thought that the spices were colourful and magical and used it for many purposes. Moreover, The Elizabethans thought that nutmeg was a cure for the plagues. Hence, spices were a reason for British interest in Southeast Asia.

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Mdm Wee:

Yes, the Europeans loved spices as spices had many uses. The demand for spices was high enabling those who traded spices to make a lot of money. Hence, the British were very interested in Southeast Asia and the spice trade.

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(Crunchy)( yum yum Jim) Cerelia and avery

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(Crunchy)( yum yum Jim) Cerelia and avery

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China had severely restricted trade with the west but British wanted tea that china had. So they came to Southeast Asia to try to trade for the tea. India and china were very big on trading these items so the Brits wanted to stop in between those countries to hopefully get it.

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The British craved the tea from China, India was trading opium in exchange for tea and the British were then interested. Therefore, the British went to store opium in India and sold it to smugglers in China and got the tea in the end

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The British wanted the Chinese tea but the Chinese refused to trade with them so they traded opium which they grew in India and used the profits to get tea. The India trade was under the British as they produced the items in India then gained the money from the items.

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In the early 19th century, China was the only place in which tea was grown. China had severely restricted trade with the West for three centuries. The British were desperate and even sent a delegation to China and begged the emperor to open up his country and take some British products in exchange for tea. The British presented to the emperor all sorts of trinkets but he remained unimpressed. To get the tea that they wanted, the British had only one thing to trade that many Chinese craved even more. Opium was a drug that was illegal in China though the ban was widely ignored. The British grew opium poppies in India where they processed it in factories on a colossal scale. It was shipped to China and sold to smugglers with the profits, the British traders bought China’s tea.

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After seeing the Dutch build a port in East Indies, the British had a fear of missing out, and wanted to establish a port somewhere else. As Singapore had its own strengths, and it was in between the China and India trade, the British decided to establish their port in Singapore.

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There was special tea originated from China, and the British wanted possession of them, however, they didn’t want to o trade with the Chinese, so they bought opium from India.

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They went to Southeast Asia for china’s tea so they traded their opium in return as they knew that the people in china were addicted to it.

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The British was attracted to the India-China trade with China’s tea but China had restricted trade with the West for three centuries. In the end, the British traded opium with China so as to obtain the tea they wanted and as a result, many people in China were addicted to opium.

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Question: How did India-China trade attract the British to Southeast Asia?

Ans:

Many British wanted Chinese tea from China but China had restricted its trade with the West. As many Chinese craved opium, the British decided to grow opium poppies in India there they processed it in factories on a colossal scale which was shipped to China and sold to smugglers which profits the British traders bought Chinese Tea.

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The British really wanted tea and China was the only country that produced tea, but China refused to trade with the West. Hence, the British decided to use opium ad trade it for tea with China.

The India would fall into the British territory. The company also reigned supreme in other Asian and African countries, colonising many areas to extend the British Colony. The British got a foothold in a country that was a gateway between East and West.

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ASIA MARKET WAS LARGEST AT THAT TIME AND SPICES WERE IN GREAT DEMAND IN EUROPE. NUTMEG WAS PRECIOUS BUT ONLY GROWN IN BANDA ISLAND, INDONESIA. BRITISH WANTED CONTROL OVER NUTMEG SO THEIR INVESTORS WOULD BE RICH.

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The Dutch decided to control the Banda islands that produced nutmeg which was very valuable. They became wealthier and famous which probably encouraged the British to join them and establish a port in Singapore.

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The British saw that India was trading opium with china for silk. Then, china restricted trading with the westerns as they did not like them. However, the westerns wanted to trade something with them for tea. Hence, the westerns thought they they could trade opium with them for tea as a lot of people in the past smoked opium.

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The British needed another port, Singapore back then was in between the India - China trade, so traders would pass by Singapore while trading at other countries. Penang and Bencoolen was also not appealing to the British as peanut butter wasn’t good enough for them. Singapore is more accessible so as to play the role as both a naval based and as a port for ships to refuel, restock so as to facilitate trade with China.

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China was the only country growing tea, and the British wanted tea, but China didn’t want to open up their borders to trade with them. So the British sold opium to China and used the money to buy Chinese tea. Also there were spices in India and land for them to station their armies. After they took over India, they used the land to grow opium poppies, which they sold to China. They then took over Indian trade. Since they took over China and India, they needed a place for their boats to travel through, which just so happened to be south-east Asia, and if they could take over Southeast Asia, it would be beneficial to trade from Britain to India/China. They could also use Southeast Asia for a trading place for the Chinese tea and opium.

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In the early 19th century, China was virtually the only place where tea was grown. The British desperate to trade with China in return for tea, but China refused, seeing no value in the British goods. Hence, the British used India to grow opium poppies and traded opium with China.

The East India Company was set up to foster and expand trade in the East Indies and Far East. It eventually took over the reins of the government of the areas where it traded. The company reigned supreme in India and other Asian and African countries, colonising many areas and expanding the British empire.

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The British had faurmaur (fomo), so they established a trading port, similar to the East Indies, somewhere else. As there was trade ongoing between India and China, the British set up a port in Singapore to carry out trade.

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British wanted opium flowers so they went to India which is where the flowers were. They also went over to India and stationed their east India company there.

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The British was encouraged to establish a port in Southeast Asia because…

During the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company was the most profitable corporation created at that time,

In 1602, it cornered the booming spice market and pioneered trade routes between Asia and Europe. The company had a lot of power, this power could be abused and used to create war, etc.

The British had great demand for Nutmeg, which was only produced in Indonesia. And because of the power that the Dutch had, they could seize control over the producers of Nutmeg in Indonesia and become rich as they would increase prices and gain even more money and power.

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How did India-China trade attract the British to South East Asia?

In the past, tea was only made in China. However, China had restricted trade with the West for three centuries. The British had a liking to chinese tea and offered to trade British products for chinese tea. Even though China had banned the use of Opium, more than 12 million people ignored the ban and became addicted. Drugs made in India were shipped to China illegally and secretly sold to smugglers.

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The British wanted the Banda island as it grew one of the highly wanted spices —nutmeg. The Dutch also wanted the nutmeg and they fought for the nutmeg by setting up traps around and trying to stop smugglers. In the end the British started a port in Singapore for the spice trade.

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China was the only place tea was grown. China had closed trade with the West, and the British had to send a delegate to the Emperor to beg him to sell them tea. Even after offering to give them British item in return for tea, the Chinese emperor refused. The British decided to grow opium poppies in India and process them there before shipping it to China smugglers With the profits, British traders bought Chinese tea.

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1. Singapore’s sheltered harbour and accessible drinking water

2. Might be able to come to an agreement with local rulers

3. Singapore could achieve every advantage of geographical and local which they could desire

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The British wanted Singapore to be appealing for trade between the different countries. As many ships would pass by Singapore, the British then decided to set up another trading port for traders.

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When the Dutch built a port in the East Indies, the British were very FOMO and also wanted to build a port somewhere else. Thus, they established a port in SG, where it was between the china and India trade.

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Seeing how the Dutch took over Banda and the production of nutmeg, the British also wanted to have some type of “weapon” against the Dutch so that they would not be losing their money on the nutmeg and they could also make the Dutch pay for something the British had.

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They needed a better port in Southeast Asia because…

The Malay Archipelago, which was a good trading centre in Southeast Asia in the early 19th century, they were rich in natural resources like spices which were sold at low prices. The Europeans wanted to exploit this market as they could get a lot of money.

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The British needed to facilitate the trade with china due to failure of their other ports and needed to break the dutch's monopoly over trades in south east asia. The malay archipelago was rich with natural resources, like spices, that were of great demandin europe and were sold at low prices. This benefited them so they waned to set up a port to reap these benefits.

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They wanted to break the Dutch monopoly over the trade in Southeast Asia.

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What methods did Europeans use to maintain power in Southeast Asia? They’re such a red flag!!

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Mdm Wee:

Good question!

it depends. sometimes, the Europeans merely negotiated with local kings and rulers like offering them $ or protection through a treaty, and the land/country goes to the Europeans. Europeans will take over and rule.

other Europeans might use force or violence to make local rulers submit to Europeans' demands. As Europeans were more advanced (firearms) they defeated the local rulers in Southeast Asia easily. Since the locals lost the fight, they had to give the Europeans whatever they demanded.

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The British needed to facilitate the lucrative trade that they had with China due to the failure of their other ports. They also needed to break the Dutch’s monopoly over trades in South East Asia.

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Firstly, Singapore had a sheltered bay and had accessible drinking water so more people would want to come to Singapore trade. Secondly, Singapore was habitable unlike the island that Farquhar had favoured. Lastly, it was in between china and India which was also ideal.

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They needed to break the Dutch’s monopoly over the trades in South east Asia.

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The British wanted to monitor their trade with China and also facilitate the trades around. The British’s ports in Penang and Bencoolen were out of the way for many traders and they only go there to fill petrol. As the British wanted to control the spice trade too, they thought Singapore was a good place for trading and a better port compared to the others.

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Why don’t the British and Dutch help each other?

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Mdm Wee:

When it came to trade and making money and acquiring territories... they were rivals. Everyone loves money right?

However, they did sign the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in 1824 to cooperate and divide the region between themselves. Dutch took East Indies (Indonesia) while British had Singapore and Malaya. Dutch and British realised they needed each other because France was their common enemy in Europe.

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The British felt left out as the Dutch cornered the booming spice market and pioneered trade routes between Asia and Europe.

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The spices the British wanted were only growing in Asia and they had to establish a new port inn Banda island for a nutmeg which was a very precious spice, that made sure that their investors kept on investing and the company is long lasting.

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Singapore was selected as a port because…

Sir Stamford Raffles were impressed by Singapore’s sheltered harbour and accessible drinking water.

They found out that they were able to come to an agreement with local rulers on 15 February 1819.

The Karimun Islands had a rocky island and inhospitable harbour which was a disadvantage. After visiting Singapore, they decided that it was much better there and therefore decided to set up a port there instead.

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Raffles was concerned that the Dutch would expand their territory across johor. They might also thwart British trade with china.

They were impressed by Singapore’s sheltered harbour and accessible drinking water.

They thought they might be able to come to agreement with local rulers.

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The Dutch had a port in the East Indies and the British has a fear of missing out and wanted to establish their own port as well. Hence, when they found Singapore, they thought that Singapore has a good location as it is between china and India and Singapore has its own strengths.

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Singapore had accessible drinking water and the location where Singapore is is between China and India. They were also able to come to an agreement with the local rulers.

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the british needed a port to secure their trade with china, check the spread of dutch superiority in south-east asia, to ensure the safety of their ships, and the failure of all their ports that were already set up.

They wanted to ensure that the dutch monopoly of south-east asian trade does not spread too much. as the malay archipelago had lots of natural resources, and the center of trade, britain wanted to have a trade port there as spices were sold at cheap prices at malay archipelago, gaining a greater source of income for the GREAT BRITSH EMPIRERERER.

There was a strait near singapore, and so boats easily crossed it. as that strait was the straits of malacca, a main trading strait, Singapore was a strategic spot to set up a british port. As it was near many dutch ports, they could curb the dutch monopoly of SEA.

as the dutch charged high prices or the ships to go through, the british see singapore as a free of charge lace for their ships to go through, and thus id was more opular than a dutch port there.

t was important to sustain the lucrative trade route with india and china.

As singapore was in SEA, the british technically had control over some of SEA instead of the dutch.

PEnang and bencoolen were too far, thus they are not a good location. thus they looked for a better geographical location (singapore)

ehehehehhehehehehehehe

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Three reasons why Singapore was selected:

Singapore was in a good location and the previous island they wanted to choose was to rocky. Singapore was sheltered, has accessible drinking water and the British thought that they would be able to agree with the locals there easily to sign an agreement.

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The Asian market for spices was largest at that time and Europeans really loved spics especially nutmeg. However, Nutmeg was only cultivated at the Banda Islands. The Europeans official from the Dutch East India Company persuaded the Orang Kaya to sign a treaty for Nutmeg to be sold at deflated prices. The Dutch staged a massive invasion to make Bandanese leaders sign another document. The Bandanese were tortured by the Dutch and many died or committed suicide. The Dutch were very successful s thy had control over the nutmeg.

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What potential did they see in SG

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Mdm Wee:

potential in terms of setting a port. Singapore's location allowed the British to control the sea routes leading to India, Middle East and Europe and to China too.

British knew that traders from East and West would pass Singapore during the shipping journey. Ships needed to rest to replenish food and water, at the same time, trade. hence Singapore was perfect for this.

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It was accessible

It was harboured by drinking water

Sir Stamford raffles also needed a new harbour

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The British needed to facilitate the lucrative trade that they had with china due to the failure of their other ports in that area which needed the Dutch monopoly over trades in south east Asia. The British set up a port in SEA because of the breaking of the Dutch monopoly.

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1. why do they still want singapore even though we are so small

2. how does the british profit from their trading ports

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Mdm Wee:

1. Singapore's location is good. middle of East and West and many ships/traders traveling to these regions needed to stopover to rest, refuel or replenish goods. they would also trade. hence, Singapore's location is an excellent spot for British port.

2. they bought and sold goods at higher prices to traders from everywhere. that was how they made money. later the British companies helped to re-export goods too, to make money

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The Dutch tore another society apart and claimed their country as their own, growing both in strength and size. This encouraged the British to also build a port in Singapore to grow stronger and gain more control.

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1. Why didn’t the Dutch try to compete with the British for Singapore?

2. What made the Dutch so obsessed with ‘collecting’ SEA islands?

3. When did the Dutch first come to power?

4. Who started the hunt for SEA islands?

5. Where was the first place that the Dutch had conquered from SEA?

6. How did the Dutch come to power?

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Mdm Wee:

1. The Dutch didn't see SG's potential as a port. They were more interested in East Indies (Indonesia) because of the spices, land and other resources. SG was small. it didn't have spices or minerals or even land... the Dutch didn't think that SG had value

2. The Dutch, and other Europeans were building up their empires- they were competing to see who were more powerful, richer. The Spaniards were in the Philippines while the French were eyeing Indochina (Vietnam). meanwhile the British was interested in Myanmar, Singapore, Malaya and Thailand

3. WDYM? Must have time period... haha

4. I would say... the Portuguese? they appeared in Melaka in 1511... the Portuguese were one of the early explorers from Europe.

5. East Indies- Indonesia- the city of Batavia (Jakarta today)

6. Money and weapons. arms. they used force to take territories in Southeast Asia and control the local people

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Why do they want Singapore, Korea seems more interesting and they have Samsung and bibimbap 🇰🇷🍜🍚🥢

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Mdm Wee:

Lol. Between 16th to 19th century- there was no Samsung. Bibimbap not Europeans' interest. Also Korea is in East Asia... 'too far' for the Europeans. Korea was also under China's influence...

Singapore would make a good port for the British because traders from anywhere were likely to pass and stopover in SG

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How did the British prevent the singaporeans from overthrowing them?

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Mdm Wee:

Back in the past, before World War 2 (1945), people in SG were not 'Singaporeans' but immigrants. Immigrants from India, China, Malaya, East Indies, Middle East etc.

As immigrants, they only wanted jobs or trade. They would eventually return to their homelands.

Hence, the people in SG didn't mind British rule. They had no attachment to Singapore.

However, after 1945, some people decided to see SG as their forever home, they started pressurising the British to leave SG so that the people could rule SG themselves.

British rule in SG was never violent. Overall, the British did not exploit SG that much or treat the people here cruelly. although there were riots to kick the British out, the British introduced changes for SG to become 'independent'.

Phew- that whole chunk is S2 History :P

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Some questions that we had were…

How long did the British take to travel to Singapore?

Isn’t it troublesome to have a port so far away from England?

How long did it take for Singapore to blossom into a productive trading port?

Other than the places that the British was said to have considered as a trading port in the video, what other places were considered? Why weren’t they chosen instead? What were the flaws of those places?

Was Singapore really the best place to establish a trading port?

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Mdm Wee:

1. Depends- by sail: about a year, from Europe, past South Africa to India and Southeast Asia. By steamship, with a few months

2. The British did have ports in England for trading in Europe. However, if they wanted to come to Asia to trade, then it made sense for them to have ports in Asia

3. I don't have exact time frame, but I would think within the first few years... because British made SG a free port with free trade

4. Karimun was considered... but too rocky. they did consider locations in Indonesia, but out of bounds as the Dutch were in control. As for places like other parts of Malaya- there would not be many ships or traders passing by.

5. YES. It is right smack in the middle of Europe/Middle East and Asia. Ships that wanted to travel from one region to the other would pass SG. SG was safe also. sheltered from storms, tsunamis etc.

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Which European country mainly dominated South East Asia?

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Mdm Wee:

Dutch- East Indies (Indonesia)

British- Malaya, Singapore, Burma (Myanmar)

French- Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia)

Spain- Philippines

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The British needed a port to be set up in SEA along the main trade route-the straits of Melaka- so as to facilitate the trading by British traders in SEA. Th part would o be able to keep a check on the rising Dutch influence in that area anddd also prevent the Dutch from further expansion. The Straits of Melaka was also suitable due to is location, allowing the British to ensure the safety of British ships.

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The British had to facilitate the lucrative trade that the British had with China due to the failures of their other ports in that area and also the need to break the Dutch’s monopoly over trades in Southeast Asia.

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Singapore had an appealing location as it was in between India and china, so when traders had to go to china or India, they had to pass Singapore. The Dutch monopoly over trade in SEA was one of the major reasons that had resulted in the British setting up a port in SEA.

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The british wanted singapore because:

1. They were pried that the dutch would extend their control over all of johors territories, sabotaging their trade routes with china.

2. they wanted to take the karimun islands but then the governor general bannerman of penang was angry and insisted that karimun islands was his territory and told them to leave. so they left and found singapore, which was suggested by one of farquhar’s men, daniel ross.

3. in singapore, there was a sheltered harbour and easily available drinking water and was suitable for people, but the karimun islands were rocky and inhospitable, leading them to pick singapore as a port after learning that the island was not under dutch rule and had nice locals.

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When the Dutch state created the Dutch East India Company, it granted the organisation the power to wage war, conduct diplomacy and seize colonies throughout Asia. The Dutch East India Company was intended to make money and battle competing European empires. At that time, the Asian market was the largest and spices were in great demand in Europe. The Dutch controlled the Bunda Islands that produced Nutmeg which was highly sought after. This helped the Dutch to become very wealthy and that motivated the British to set up a port in Asia, Singapore.

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After the Napoleonic Wars had ended, the British had to return all Dutch colonies in SEA according to the Kew letters, which resulted in the instant change of control over trade in SEA. The Dutch then disallowed any of the British traders at any Dutch port with the exception of Batavia, which greatly cut the amount of profit the British could gain from trading in SEA.

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1) They were impressed by Singapore’s shelter harbour

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Reason 1

singapore had an excellent location along the maritime silk road

Reason 2

it was easy for traders to stop by with goods

Reason 3

it was easy to compete with other ports under the control of the dutch

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Why didn’t the British and the Dutch be friends?? They so not friendly, lets not be friends with them.😒

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1) Singapore had a sheltered bay and accessible drinking water

2) Singapore is habitable unlike the other island that Farquhar favoured

3) The geographical location of Singapore is ideal and is between India and China, along the Straits of Melaka.

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Why did British and Dutch keep fighting, why not be on good terms?

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Mdm Wee:

They were competing for trade and territories- hence they were 'fighting'. Not physical fighting. Both countries were 'allies' as they had a common enemy at that time: France.

later, they settled their rivalry with the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty to divide the region. British would take SG and Malaya while the Dutch would take East Indies.

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The British also wanted to ensure that the Dutch monopoly of SEA trade did not spread and grow too much.

The British needed to set up a port in South East Asia (SEA) to facilitate the trading of British traders in SEA, and Singapore was in between India and China. Hence, traders would pass by Singapore on their way to trade with India/China.

Penang and Bencoolen were also too far away, making them unsuitable in the eyes of the British. Hence the British looked for a better geographical location and found Singapore.

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1. Singapore had a sheltered harbour and accessible drinking water.

2. The Karimun Islands were too rocky and inhospitable for traders.

3. Singapore was in between China and India. At that time, China-India trade was very successful, hence more traders on their way to India/China could stop in Singapore.

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Exotic spices didn’t grow well in cold climates like Europe. The colourful and fragrant aromas of the spices seemed very exotic and magical and hence they were very expensive. Europeans used spices for flavouring and preserving their food, making perfumes and dyes and sometimes even medicine.

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Mdm Wee:

Valid points. Since spices weren't readily available in Europe, the demand and value for spices went up. whoever traded spices made a lot of money and the British traders wouldn't want to miss the opportunity in Southeast Asia.