:: Indonesia History ::
Fossilized
remains
of Homo erectus, popularly known as the "Java Man",
suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two
million to 500,000 years ago.Austronesian people, who
form the majority of the modern population, migrated to
South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia
around 2000 BCE, and confined the native Melanesian
peoples to the far eastern regions as they expanded.
Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of
wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth
century BCE, allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms
to flourish by the first century CE. Indonesia's
strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and
international trade. For example, trade links with both
Indian kingdoms and China were established several
centuries BCE. Trade has since fundamentally shaped
Indonesian history.
The nutmeg plant is native to Indonesia's Banda Islands.
Once one of the world's most valuable commodities, it
drew the first European colonial powers to Indonesia.
The nutmeg plant is native to Indonesia's Banda Islands.
Once one of the world's most valuable commodities, it
drew the first European colonial powers to Indonesia.
From the seventh century CE, the powerful Srivijaya
naval
kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the
influences of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported
with it. Between the eighth and 10th centuries CE, the
agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram
dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving
grand religious monuments such as Sailendra's Borobudur
and Mataram's Prambanan. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was
founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and
under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of
Indonesia; this period is often referred to as a "Golden
Age" in Indonesian history.
Although Muslim traders first traveled through South
East Asia
early
in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamized
populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in
northern Sumatra. Other Indonesia areas gradually
adopted Islam which became the dominant religion in Java
and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most
part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural
and religious influences, which shaped the predominant
form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java. The
first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when
Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to
monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb
pepper in Maluku. Dutch and British traders followed. In
1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company
(VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following
bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and
the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch
East Indies as a nationalized colony.
For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over
these territories was tenuous; only in the early 20th
century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become
Indonesia's current boundaries.The Japanese invasion and
subsequent occupation during WWII ended Dutch rule, and
encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian
independence movement. Two days after the surrender of
Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential
nationalist leader, declared independence and was
appointed president. The Netherlands tried to
reestablish their rule, and a bitter armed and
diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the
face of international pressure, the Dutch formally
recognized Indonesian independence.
Sukarno moved from democracy towards authoritarianism,
and
maintained his power base by balancing the opposing
forces of the Military, Islam, and the Communist Party
of Indonesia (PKI). An attempted coup on 30
September 1965 was countered by the army, who led a
violent anti-communist purge, during which the PKI was
blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed. Between
500,000 and one million people were killed. The head of
the military, General Suharto, out-maneuvered the
politically weakened Sukarno, and was formally appointed
president in March 1968. His New Order administration
was supported by the US government, and encouraged
foreign investment in Indonesia, which was a major
factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial
economic growth.
In 1997 and 1998, however, Indonesia was the country
hardest hit by the East Asian Financial Crisis. This
increased popular discontent with the New Order and led
to popular protests. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998. In
1999, East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia, after a
twenty-five-year occupation, which was marked by
international condemnation of repression and human
rights abuses. The Reformasi era following Suharto's
resignation, has led to a strengthening of democratic
processes,
including a regional autonomy program, and the first
direct presidential election in 2004. Political and
economic instability, social unrest, corruption, and
terrorism have slowed progress. Although relations among
different religious and ethnic groups are largely
harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence
remain problems in some areas. A political settlement to
an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in
2005.
Srivijaya Empire.
Sriwijaya, Shri
Bhoja[citation needed], Sri Boja or Shri Vijaya
(200s[citation needed]-1300s[ was an ancient Malay
kingdom on the island of Sumatra which influenced much
of the Malay Archipelago. Records of its beginning are
scarce while
estimations
range from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD[citation needed],
but the earliest solid proof of its existence dates from
the 7th century; a Chinese monk, I-Tsing, wrote that he
visited Srivijaya in 671 for 6 months;[3] the Kedukan
Bukit Inscription is dated 683. The kingdom ceased to
exist between 1200 and 1300 due to various factors,
including the expansion of Majapahit.[1] In Sanskrit,
sri means "shining" or "radiant" and vijaya means
"victory" or "excellence".
After it fell it was largely forgotten, and Europeans
had never really learned of it so never considered that
a large united kingdom could have been
present
in South-east Asia. The existence of Srivijaya was only
formally suspected in 1918 when French historian George
Coedès of the École française d'Extrême-Orient
postulated the existence of the empire. Around 1992 and
1993, Pierre-Yves Manguin proved that the centre of
Srivijaya was along the Musi River between Bukit
Seguntang and Sabokingking (situated in what is now the
province of South Sumatra, Indonesia).
Mataram Kingdom
Mataram was an Indianized
kingdom
based in Central Java between the 8th and 10th centuries
AD and was established by king Sanjaya, he was also
known as the founder of Sanjaya dynasty. The Sanjaya
dynasty reign the kingdom, but then in later period the
kingdom was ruled by Isyana Dynasty. Although initially
eclipsed in power by the rival Sailendra Dynasty, by 850
it had become the dominant power in Java and was a
serious rival to the hegemonic Srivijaya Empire.
Majapahit Empire
Majapahit was an Indianized
kingdom based in eastern Java from 1293 to around 1500.
Its greatest ruler was Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from
1350 to 1389 marked the empire's peak when it dominated
other kingdoms in the southern Malay Peninsula, Borneo,
Sumatra, Bali, and the Philippines.
The Majapahit empire was the last of the major Hindu
empires of the Malay archipelago and is considered one
of the greatest states in Indonesian history.[2] Its
influence extended to states on Sumatra, the Malay
Peninsula, Borneo and eastern Indonesia, though the
extent of its influence is the subject of debate.
DUTCH COLONIAL TIME
Dutch East India Company (
VOC ) DUTCH COLONIAL TIME
The Dutch East India Company
(Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC in
old-spelling Dutch, literally "United East Indian
Company") was established in 1602
,
when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a
21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in
Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the
world and the first company to issue stock.
It remained an important trading concern for almost two
centuries, paying an 18% annual dividend for almost 200
years, until it became bankrupt and was formally
dissolved in 1800, its possessions and the debt being
taken over by the government of the Batavian Republic.
The VOC's territories became the Dutch East Indies and
were expanded over the course of the 19th century to
include the whole of the Indonesian archipelago, and in
the twentieth century would form Indonesia.
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