# Crawfurd Treaty

* related portals: Bilateral documents, Singapore, East India Company.
* sister projects: Wikidata item.
This Treaty of Friendship between the East India Company and the Sultanate of Johore established permanent British presence on Singapore.
Honourable English East India Company.
Article I.
Peace, friendship, and good understanding shall subsist for ever between the Honourable the English East India Company and their Highnesses the Sultan and Tumungong of Johore and their respective heirs and successors.
Article II.
Their Highnesses the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah and Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah hereby cede in full sovereignty and property to the Honourable the English East India Company, their heirs and successors for ever, the Island of Singapore, situated in the Straits of Malacca, together with the adjacent seas, straits, and islets, to the extent of ten geographical miles, from the coast of the said main Island of Singapore.
Article III.
The Honourable the English East India Company hereby engages, in consideration of the cession specified in the last Article, to pay to His Highness the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah, the sum of Spanish Dollars thirty-three thousand two hundred (33,200), together with a stipend, during his natural life, of one thousand three hundred (1,300) Spanish Dollars per· mensem, and to His Highness the Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah, the sum of twenty-six thousand eight hundred (26,800) Spanish Dollars, with a monthly stipend of seven hundred· (700) Spanish Dollars during his natural life.
Article IV.
His Highness the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah hereby acknowledges to have received from the Honourable the English East India Company, in fufilment of the stipulations of the two last Articles, the sum of thirty-three thousand two hundred (33,200) Spanish Dollars, together with the first monthly instalment of the above-mentioned stipend, of Spanish Dollars one thousand three hundred (1, 300), and His ​Highness the Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah also hereby acknowledges to have received from the Honourable the English East India Company, in fulfilment of the stipulations of the two last Articles, the sum of twenty-six thousand eight hundred Spanish Dollars (26,800), with one month's instalment of the above stipend of seven hundred Spanish Dollars.
Article V.
The Honourable the English East India Company engages to receive and treat their Highnesses the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah, and Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah, with all the honours, respect, and courtesy belonging to their rank and station, whenever they may reside at, or visit the Island of Singapore.
Article VI.
The Honourable the English East India Company hereby engages in the event of their Highnesses the Sultan and Tumungong, their heirs or successors, preferring to reside permanently in any portion of their own States, and to remove for that purpose from Singapore, to pay unto them, that is to say, to His Highness the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah, his heir or successor, the sum of twenty thousand (20,000) Spanish Dollars, and to His Highness the Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah, his heir or successor, the sum of fifteen thousand (15,000) Spanish Dollars.
Article VII.
Their Highnesses the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah and the Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah, in consideration of the payment specified in the last Article, hereby relinquish for themselves, their heirs, and successors, to the Honourable the English East India Company, their heirs and successors for ever, all right and title to every description of immovable property, whether in lands, houses, gardens, orchards, or timber trees, of which their said Highnesses may be possessed within the Island of Singapore or its dependencies at the time they may think proper to withdraw from the said island for the purpose of permanently residing within their own States, but it is reciprocally and clearly understood that the provisions of this Article shall not extend to any description of property which may be held by any follower or retainer of their Highnesses beyond the precincts of the ground at present allotted for the actual residence of their said Highnesses.
Article VIII.
Their Highnesses the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah, and the Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah hereby engage that, as long as they shall continue to reside within the Island of Singapore, or to draw their respective monthly stipends from the Honourable the English East India Company, as provided for in the present Treaty, they shall enter into no alliance and maintain no correspondence with any foreign power or potentate. whatsoever, without the knowledge and consent of the said Honourable· the English East India Company, their heirs and Successors.
Article IX.
The Honourable the English East India Company hereby engages, that, in the event of their Highnesses the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah, and the Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah removing from the Island of Singapore, as contemplated in the 6th Article, and being distressed within their own territories on such removal, to afford them, either at Singapore or Prince of Wales' Island, a personal asylum and protection.
Article X.
The contracting parties hereby stipulate and agree, that neither party shall be bound to interfere in the internal concerns of the other's government, or in any political dissensions or wars which may arise within their respective territories, nor to support each other by force of arms against any third party whatever.
Article XI.
The contracting parties hereby engage to use every means within their power respectively, for the suppression of robbery and piracy within the Straits of Malacca, as well as the other narrow seas, straits, and rivers bordering upon, or within their respective territories, in as far as the same shall be connected with the dominions and immediate interests of their said Highnesses.
Article XII.
Their Highnesses the Sultan Hussain Mahomed Shah, and the Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah hereby engage to maintain a free and unshackled trade everywhere within their dominions, and to admit the trade and traffic of the British nation into all the ports and harbours of the kingdom of Johore and its dependencies, on the terms of the most favoured nation.
Article XIII.
The Honourable the English East India Company hereby engages, as long as their Highnesses the Sultan Hussain ​Mahomed Shah and the Datu Tumungong Abdul Rahman Sri Maharajah shall continue to reside on the Island of Singapore, not to permit any retainer or follower of their said Highnesses who shall desert from their actual service, to dwell or remain in the Island of Singapore or its dependencies. But it is hereby clearly understood, that all such retainers and followers shall be natural born subjects of such parts of their Highnesses' dominions only in which their authority is at present substantially established, and that their names, at the period of entering the service of their Highnesses, shall have been duly and voluntarily inscribed in a register, to be kept for that purpose by the chief local authority for the time being.
Article XIV.
It is hereby mutually stipulated for and agreed, that the conditions of all former Conventions, Treaties, or Agreements entered into between the Honourable the English East India Company and their Highnesses the Sultan and Tumungong of Johore, shall be considered as abrogated and annulled by the present Treaty, and they are hereby abrogated and annulled accordingly, always, however, with the exception of such prior conditions as have conferred on the Honourable the English East India Company any right or title to the occupation or possession of the Island of Singapore and its dependencies, as above-mentioned.
Done and concluded at Singapore, the day and year as above written.
(Signed) SULTAN HUSSAIN MAHOMED SHAH.
(Signed) J. CRAWFURD.
DATU TUMUNGONG ABDUL RAHMAN SRI MAHARAJAH.
{Signed) AMERST.
{Signed) EDWARD PAGET.
(Signed) F. FENDALL.
Ratified by the Right Honourable the Governor-General in Council, at Fort William in Bengal, this Nineteenth day of November, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-four.
(Signed) GEO. SWINTON, Secretary to Government.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse