Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island
At the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait lies Pedra Branca, an island of granite rock situated in hazardous waters. Its unexceptional presence belies a rich cartographical history and infamous reputation for leading ships to grief since antiquity. Pedra Branca was first pushed into the spotli...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155438 |
| _version_ | 1811682050737963008 |
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| author | Ong, Brenda Man Qing Perono Cacciafoco, Francesco |
| author2 | School of Humanities |
| author_facet | School of Humanities Ong, Brenda Man Qing Perono Cacciafoco, Francesco |
| author_sort | Ong, Brenda Man Qing |
| collection | NTU |
| description | At the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait lies Pedra Branca, an island of granite rock situated in hazardous waters. Its unexceptional presence belies a rich cartographical history and infamous reputation for leading ships to grief since antiquity. Pedra Branca was first pushed into the spotlight when the British constructed the Horsburgh Lighthouse in 1851. It later caught international attention when a heated territorial dispute for the island between Singapore and Malaysia arose, lasting from 1979–2018, with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) eventually granting rights to Singapore. The ensuing legal battle led to renewed interest in the geography and post-19th century history of the island. The most recent breakthrough, however, provides a glimpse into an even earlier history of Pedra Branca—and by extension, Singapore—as shipwrecked remains dating from the 14th century were uncovered in the surrounding waters. Historical research on the ancient history of Pedra Branca has been mostly neglected by scholars over the years; thus, this paper aims to shed some light on this enigmatic history of the island and at the same time establish its history and significance by utilizing pre-British-colonization historical cartographical data from as early as the 15th century. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:50:41Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/155438 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:50:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1554382023-03-11T20:05:59Z Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island Ong, Brenda Man Qing Perono Cacciafoco, Francesco School of Humanities Humanities::Linguistics::Historical linguistics Pedra Branca Historical Cartography Toponymy Claims of Sovereignty Singapore At the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait lies Pedra Branca, an island of granite rock situated in hazardous waters. Its unexceptional presence belies a rich cartographical history and infamous reputation for leading ships to grief since antiquity. Pedra Branca was first pushed into the spotlight when the British constructed the Horsburgh Lighthouse in 1851. It later caught international attention when a heated territorial dispute for the island between Singapore and Malaysia arose, lasting from 1979–2018, with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) eventually granting rights to Singapore. The ensuing legal battle led to renewed interest in the geography and post-19th century history of the island. The most recent breakthrough, however, provides a glimpse into an even earlier history of Pedra Branca—and by extension, Singapore—as shipwrecked remains dating from the 14th century were uncovered in the surrounding waters. Historical research on the ancient history of Pedra Branca has been mostly neglected by scholars over the years; thus, this paper aims to shed some light on this enigmatic history of the island and at the same time establish its history and significance by utilizing pre-British-colonization historical cartographical data from as early as the 15th century. Published version 2022-02-25T06:32:11Z 2022-02-25T06:32:11Z 2022 Journal Article Ong, B. M. Q. & Perono Cacciafoco, F. (2022). Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island. Histories, 2(1), 47-67. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/histories2010005 2409-9252 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155438 10.3390/histories2010005 1 2 47 67 en Histories © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::Linguistics::Historical linguistics Pedra Branca Historical Cartography Toponymy Claims of Sovereignty Singapore Ong, Brenda Man Qing Perono Cacciafoco, Francesco Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island |
| title | Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island |
| title_full | Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island |
| title_fullStr | Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island |
| title_short | Pedra Branca off Singapore : a historical cartographic analysis of a post-colonial territorially disputed island |
| title_sort | pedra branca off singapore a historical cartographic analysis of a post colonial territorially disputed island |
| topic | Humanities::Linguistics::Historical linguistics Pedra Branca Historical Cartography Toponymy Claims of Sovereignty Singapore |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155438 |
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