Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (6 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore .He is known as the "Father of Singapore".
Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley, 1781–1826, British East Indian administrator. He was one of the founders of Britain's empire in East Asia. Beginning his career (1795) as a clerk in the British East India Company, he was sent to Pinang, Malaya (Malaysia), in 1805 as assistant secretary. Through his knowledge of the Malay language and customs he played a large part in planning the capture of Java from the Dutch. He ruled Java as lieutenant governor (1811–15) and reduced the power of native princes. . While lieutenant governor of Bencooleen in Sumatra (1818–23), he introduced coffee and sugar cultivation and established schools. He secured the transfer (1819) of Singapore to the East India Company and initiated policies that contributed greatly to Singapore's vital role in the lucrative China trade. Raffles was outstanding for his liberal attitude toward peoples under colonial rule, his rigorous suppression of the slave trade, and his zeal in collecting historical and scientific information. He played the chief role in founding the Zoological Society of London and was its first president. He knighted in 1817.
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