Pilots for the strait's eastern end are hired where the Johor river opens onto the approaches, and so is protection; a ship that has bought neither is at risk from the moment it rounds the point.
The river itself runs far back into forest and is a good place to live out of reach of a fleet. Temasek, the island at the strait's turning, is an empty shore in 1200: the town called Danmaxi appears in Wang Dayuan (1349) and Tumasik in the Nagarakretagama (1365), and the Fort Canning finds are of the fourteenth century.
Who he is
- Title
- Headmen of the boat communities of the Johor river
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source names the holder for any date near 1 January 1200.
Overlord
None named.
What it holds
- The river mouth and its pilots
- Fresh water and bays on the eastern approaches
How things stand that morning
Not recorded. The place works; who speaks for it is not known.
Places of note
- Temasek (the site of Singapore): An empty shore in 1200; a convention of the later sources places Singapura in 1299.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Thin: later lists and the campaign board's inference.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Core only.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia (English): Orang Laut
- J. N. Miksic and Goh Geok Yian, Ancient Southeast Asia (2016) and J. Miksic, Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea (2013), read from memory, not rechecked
- OMNIA board note (a lead only, checked against the sources above)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.