The British governor Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and soon recognised the island as a natural choice for the new port.[40] The island was then nominally ruled by Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Sultan of Johor, who was controlled by the Dutch and the Bugis.[41] However, the Sultanate was weakened by factional division: Abdul Rahman, the Temenggong of Johor to Tengku Abdul Rahman, as well as his officials, were loyal to the Sultan's elder brother Tengku Long, who was living in exile in Penyengat Island, Riau Islands. With the Temenggong's help, Raffles managed to smuggle Tengku Long back into Singapore. Raffles offered to recognise Tengku Long as the rightful Sultan of Johor, under the title of Sultan Hussein, as well as provide him with a yearly payment of $5000 and another $3000 to the Temenggong; in return, Sultan Hussein would grant the British the right to establish a trading post on Singapore.[42] The Treaty of Singapore was signed on 6 February 1819.[43][44] 1825 survey map. Singapore's free port trade was at Singapore River for 150 years. Fort Canning hill (centre) was home to its ancient and early colonial rulers. In 1824, a further treaty with the Sultan led to the entire island becoming a part of the British Empire.[45] In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, then under the jurisdiction of British India. Singapore became the regional capital in 1836.[46] Prior to Raffles' arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese.[47] By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, more than half being Chinese.[45] Many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations.[48] In 1867, the Straits Settlements were separated from British India, coming under the direct control of Britain.[49] Later, in the 1890s, when the rubber industry became established in Malaya and Singapore,[50] the island became a global centre for rubber sorting and export.[45] Panorama of Singapore at sunrise, 1865, lithograph by Vincent Brooks. Singapore was not greatly affected by the First World War (1914–18), as the conflict did not spread to Southeast Asia. The only significant event during the war was the 1915 Singapore Mutiny by Muslim sepoys from British India, who were garrisoned in Singapore.[51] After hearing rumours that they were to be sent to fight the Ottoman Empire, a Muslim state, the soldiers rebelled, killing their officers and several British civilians before the mutiny was suppressed by non-Muslim troops arriving from Johore and Burma.[52] After World War I, the British built the large Singapore Naval Base as part of the defensive Singapore strategy.[53] Originally announced in 1921, the construction of the base proceeded at a slow pace until the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Costing $60 million and not fully completed in 1938, it was nonetheless the largest dry dock in the world, the third-largest floating dock, and had enough fuel tanks to support the entire British navy for six months.[53][54][55] The base was defended by heavy 15-inch (380 mm) naval guns stationed at Fort Siloso, Fort Canning and Labrador, as well as a Royal Air Force airfield at Tengah Air Base. Winston Churchill touted it as the "Gibraltar of the East", and military discussions often referred to the base as simply "East of Suez". However, the British Home Fleet was stationed in Europe, and the British could not afford to build a second fleet to protect their interests in Asia. The plan was for the Home Fleet to sail quickly to Singapore in the event of an emergency. As a consequence, after World War II broke out in 1939, the fleet was fully occupied with defending Britain, leaving Singapore vulnerable to Japanese invasion.[56][57] Japanese occupation Main article: Japanese occupation of Singapore British evacuation in 1945 after the Japanese surrender. Kallang Airport's control tower near the city has been conserved. During the Pacific War, the Japanese invasion of Malaya culminated in the Battle of Singapore. When the British force of 60,000 troops surrendered on 15 February 1942, British prime minister Winston Churchill called the defeat "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history".[58] British and Empire losses during the fighting for Singapore were heavy, with a total of nearly 85,000 personnel captured.[59] About 5,000 were killed or wounded,[60] of which Australians made up the majority.[61][62][63] Japanese casualties during the fighting in Singapore amounted to 1,714 killed and 3,378 wounded.[59][g] The occupation was to become a major turning point in the histories of several nations, including those of Japan, Britain, and Singapore. Japanese newspapers triumphantly declared the victory as deciding the general situation of the war.[64][65] Between 5,000 and 25,000 ethnic Chinese people were killed in the subsequent Sook Ching massacre.[66] British forces had planned to liberate Singapore in 1945/1946; however, the war ended before these operations could be carried out.[67][68] Post-war period Main article: Colony of Singapore Map of Singapore Town in 1951. After the Japanese surrender to the Allies on 15 August 1945, Singapore fell into a brief state of violence and disorder; looting and revenge-killing were widespread. British, Australian, and Indian troops led by Lord Louis Mountbatten returned to Singapore to receive the formal surrender of Japanese forces in the region from General Seishirō Itagaki on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi on 12 September 1945.[67][68] Meanwhile, Tomoyuki Yamashita was tried by a US military commission for war crimes, but not for crimes committed by his troops in Malaya or Singapore. He was convicted and hanged in the Philippines on 23 February 1946.[69][70]