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Thomas Stamford Raffles

3 stories mention Thomas Stamford Raffles on DeadlyCurious.

The Cabinet June 24, 2026 · Borobudur, Central Java

The Largest Buddhist Monument in the World Had Been Buried for a Thousand Years When Stamford Raffles Asked About It

Borobudur is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument on the central plain of Java — 2,672 relief panels, 504 buddha statues, six concentric square terraces topped by three circular ones. It had been abandoned by about 1100 AD and buried under volcanic ash and jungle vegetation for the next seven centuries. [Stamford Raffles](/articles/stamford-raffles-singapore) heard about it in 1814 and sent a survey team.

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The Footnote June 24, 2026 · Pulau Lebar, west Sumatra

The Largest Flower in the World Smells Like Rotting Meat and Is Named After Stamford Raffles

In May 1818, an expedition led by [Stamford Raffles](/articles/stamford-raffles-singapore) and the surgeon-botanist Joseph Arnold found a 1-metre red flower in the Sumatran rainforest. It weighed about 7 kilograms, smelled of carrion, and had no leaves, stem, or roots. Arnold caught a fever and died on the trip back. The flower was named for both of them.

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The Footnote June 24, 2026 · Singapore

The Scottish Officer Who Actually Ran Singapore for Its First Five Years While Raffles Was Somewhere Else

[Stamford Raffles](/articles/stamford-raffles-singapore) signed the founding treaty for Singapore on 6 February 1819 and then sailed away. William Farquhar — a 49-year-old Scottish officer who had spent 24 years in the East India Company — was left in charge as the first Resident. He ran the colony for five years and was written out of its founding myth.

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