History of Regional Trade in Southeast Asia: Singapore as an Entrepôt

This book explores maritime Southeast Asia’s trade development during the long nineteenth century, with a focus on the role of Singapore as a regional trade hub. Classical literature attributes the trade growth in modern Southeast Asia to the progress of Western colonisation and assumed Singapore’s prosperity as a result of her status as a free port-city for British economic influence over Asia. Challenging this conventional historiography, this monograph sheds fresh light on the role of Si...