In 1812, Tengku Hussein, heir to the Sultan of Johor on the Malay peninsula, was in Pahang getting married when his father died. As he waited for monsoon winds to return to Johor he received word that his younger brother had become the new Sultan. It was a contested claim, but Hussein remained in exile.

Seven years later, Hussein and Thomas Stamford Raffles, British lieutenant governor of the British colony of Bencoolen on western Sumatra, landed at a small Malay settlement near ancient Temasik, where Srivijaya had once ruled and Parameswara came as a pirate king before moving to Malacca. The area had a superb natural harbor, timber strands, and fresh water spreading out from the mouth of a river. Here, at Singapore, Raffles came with an ambition. He wanted the British to establish a port to overcome Dutch dominance in the region, a goal underscored by the critical importance of China routes for the British India trade, and growing interests in the opium market. The Dutch had been resisting the British with high tariffs and port restrictions.