Parameswara (sultan)

Parameswara
1st Sultan of Malacca, Raja of Singapura
An artist's impression of Parameswara.
Reign	Kingdom of Singapura: c. 1389–1398, Malacca Sultanate: c. 1402–1414
Predecessor	Sri Maharaja, Raja of Singapura
Successor	Megat Iskandar Shah of Malacca
Born	1344 Parameswara Singapura, Kingdom of Singapura
Died	1414 (aged 70 or 71) Malacca, Malacca Sultanate
Burial	Bukit Larangan, (Fort Canning, Singapore)
Issue	Megat Iskandar Shah of Malacca
House	Malacca
Father	Sri Maharaja, Raja of Singapura
Religion	Islam (previously Hinduism)

Parameswara (1344 – c. 1414), thought to be the same person named in the Malay Annals as Iskandar Shah, was the last king of Singapura. According to the Malay Annals, he ruled Singapura from 1389 to 1398. The king fled the island kingdom after a Majapahit naval invasion in 1398 and founded his new stronghold on the mouth of Bertam river in 1402. Within decades, the new city grew rapidly to become the capital of the Malacca Sultanate. Portuguese accounts however suggest he was from Palembang and usurped the throne of Singapura before he was driven out, either by the Siamese or the Majapahit.

The name Parameswara is derived from the Sanskrit word Parameśvar (Sanskrit: परमेश्वर), a Hindu concept literally meaning the "mighty Lord". The word "parama" meaning "the supreme" is added to Ishvara to intensify the title of God. Parameśvara is also one of the names of Lord Shiva.

There is basically only one record which give in some detail on the kingdoms of Singapura and Malacca - the Malay Annals written during the heyday of Malacca and re-compiled in 1612 by the Johor court. It is the basis for accounts of its founding, the succession of its rulers and its eventual decline. However, the accuracy and historicity of the Malay Annals is in doubt according to historians. Another important record, the Suma Oriental, was written shortly after the Portuguese conquest of Malacca. Both Suma Oriental and Malay Annals do contain similar stories about a fleeing Srivijayan prince arriving in Singapura and about the last king of Singapura who fled to the west coast of Malay peninsula to found Malacca. However, both accounts differ markedly when Suma Oriental identified the fleeing prince and the last king of Singapura as the same person known as "Parameswara". On the other hand, the more detailed Malay Annals identified the fleeing prince and the last king as completely two different persons separated by five generations. Suma Oriental noted further that the fleeing Srivijayan prince usurped the throne of Singapura from a Siamese viceroy named "Temagi" sometimes around the 1390s. The only Chinese first-hand account of 14th century Temasek (the name used before it was changed to Singapura), Dao Yi Zhi Lue written by Wang Dayuan, indicates that Temasek was ruled by a local chief (before the time of Parameswara).