Located about north of Sakam (see
Fort Provintia),
Sinkan was one of the most important stations of the Dutch during the 17th century.
Sinkan was the smallest of four main aboriginal villages near the Dutch base at Tayouan, with around 1,000 inhabitants. This fact led them to seek friendship and protection from the Dutch; Sinkan was the VOC's closest ally. During the governorship of
Pieter Nuyts, Sinkan unsuccessfully pursued protection from
Tokugawa Iemitsu. In 1861 Consul
Robert Swinhoe arrived at Taiwan-fu (modern-day Tainan) and became the first European writer to come into contact with the
Taiwanese aborigines after
Maurice Benyovszky in 1771. Swinhoe wrote that he was informed by a "thoroughly Chinese-looking" military officer that his ancestor was one of 3,000 Dutch soldiers remaining in the island during the reign of
Koxinga (and after
Dutch rule), and that his village of Sinkang was chiefly composed of the soldiers' descendants. Sinshih Township was created in 1945 as part of
Sinhua District,
Tainan County. In 1946, Sinshih Township was transferred to direct administration by Tainan County and in July, the villages of Dashe and Tanding, originally part of
Shanshang, were transferred to the administration of Sinshih Township. The former Sinshih District Office at No. 3, Jhongsing Street was demolished in 1983. The current Sinshih District Office at No. 12, Jhongsing Street was completed in March 1984. On December 25, 2010, Tainan City and County were merged. At the same time, Sinshih Township was renamed as Sinshih District. In May 2019, the
Taiwan Power Company announced plans to build a large solar energy power facility in Tainan. At that time, the Tainan city government had recently finished a bidding process to determine contracts in several areas including Sinshih District for
roof-top solar power generation. ==Geography==