One of the earliest rulers of Singapore, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince, is the pre-colonial founder of Singapore. The one who named Singapore after seeing a lion, Sang Nila Utama plays an important part in the founding of Singapore.Recorded in the Malay annals, this is the story of how Sang Nila Utama discovered Singapore and came up with its name. On a visit to the off-coast islands of Palembang South Sumatra, Sang Nila Utama went to a nearby island to go and hunt. While he was running after a deer he was hunting up a hill, he saw another island with a white sandy beach. After finding out that it was called Temasek, he decided to visit that island. Half way, there was a big storm, his men through everything aboard but the boat still kept sinking. Out of desperation, Sang Nila Utama threw his crown into the water and the storm immediately stopped. At Temasek, he started to hunt wild animals. He saw a majestic looking animal with an orange body, black head and white breast. He asked his minsters what it was and they said it was a lion. This was considered as a good sign and so he renamed the island Singapura. This is how Singapore was named and founded.
