Shabandar of Singapura

The title shahbandar, which means “Lord of the Harbour” in Persian, is sometimes translated into English as "harbourmaster", but the word does not accurately reflect the status of the shahbandar. Shahbandar were often foreigners who were deemed trustworthy by local rulers. They supervised the collection of customs duties and the warehousing of imports, and managed the ruler’s investments. Indonesian rulers often invested in ships and cargoes, evading the approbation attached to commerce by various means. Shahbandar were responsible for resolving disputes between foreigners and local inhabitants, and usually had the authority to make treaties. This combination of roles fits the theory that long-distance trade evolved as a means to acquire status symbols before it became a source of profitability.

Tomé Pires, a Portuguese author who lived in Malacca from 1512 to 1515, had described four shahbandar there, each responsible for merchants from different areas: “They are the men who receive the captains of the junks. [. . . ] These men present them to the Bemdara (the royal treasurer), allot them warehouses, dispatch their merchandise, provide them with lodging if they have documents, and give orders for the elephants.^[1]

Another Portuguese, Emanuel Godinho de Erédia, wrote that Singapura in 1398 was governed by a Xabandar(shahbandar). Eredia’s report is accompanied by a detailed map of the Straits of Singapore and Sabbang dated 1604.^[2] The map depicts a number of place names on the south coast of Singapore that still exist today: Tanah Merah, Sungei Bedok, Belakang Mati (now known as Sentosa), and Tanjong Rhu. Another name in the vicinity of the Singapore River, Xabandaria, indicates that Singapore still had a shahbandar then, probably an official of Johor. Singapore must have had external trade to make such an appointment worthwhile. The name Xabandaria also appears on at least two other maps of Singapore from around 1650. A Flemish merchant who spent some time in the region in the early 17th century called Singapore the “Island of the Old Xabandaria”.^[3]

A quantity of late 16th-century Chinese blue and white ceramics was dredged up in the Kallang River estuary in the 1970s. Most of these were lost, but a few were salvaged and studied by Prof Kwa Chong Guan of the Department of History, National University of Singapore. The discovery suggests that Chinese ships may have sheltered in this estuary during that period. It is also possible that an official shahbandar post existed there, but modern development has unfortunately made it impossible to confirm or refute this theory.^[4]

References
1. Pires, T. (1944). The Suma oriental of Tomé Pires, an account of the East, from the Red Sea to Japan, written in Malacca and India in 1512–1515, and The book of Francisco Rodrigues, rutter of a voyage in the Red Sea, nautical rules, almanack and maps, written and drawn in the East before 1515 (A. Cortesao, Trans.) (p. 265) [Microfilm: NL 14208 (Vol. 1), NL 26012 (Vol. 2)]. London: Hakluyt Society. 
2. de Erédia, M. G. (1997). Eredia's description of Malaca, Meridional India, and Cathay (J. V. Mills, Trans.). MBRAS reprint 14. Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Call no.: RSING 959.5118 GOD.
3. Borschberg, P. (2004). The Straits of Singapore: Continuity, change and confusion.  In I. Lim, (Ed.), Sketching the straits: A compilation of the lecture series on the Charles Dyce Collection (pp. 33–48).  Singapore: NUS Museums, National University of Singapore. Call no.: RSING 759.2911 SKE.
4. Miksic, J. N., & Low, M. G. C-A.  (Eds.). (2004). Early Singapore 1300s–1819: Evidence in maps, text and artefacts. Singapore: Singapore History Museum. Call no.: RSING 959.5703 EAR-[HIS].