Insight Indonesia - Indonesia History
ABOUT INDONESIA - HISTORY
Prehistory
Geologically the area of modern Indonesia appeared sometime around
the Pleistocene period when it was still linked with the Asian
mainland. The archipelago formed during the thaw after the latest
ice age. The area's first known humanlike inhabitant some 500,000
years ago was "Java Man" (first classified as Pithecanthropus
erectus, then subsequently named a part of the species Home
erectus). Recent discoveries on the
island of Flores were dubbed
“Flores Man" (Homo Floresuensis), a miniature hominoid that grew
only three feet tall, although whether this is a separate species is
in dispute. Nevertheless, Flores Man seems to have shared some
islands with Java man until only 10,000 years ago, when they became
extinct.
Early History
Indian scholars wrote about the Dvipantara or Jawa Dwipa Hindu
kingdom in Java and
Sumatra around 200 BC.The earliest archeological
record from the present era is from the Ujung Kulon National Park,
West Java, where an early Hindu archeological relic of a Ganesha
statue from the 1st century AD was found on the summit of Mount
Raksa in Panaitan Island. There is also archeological evidence of a
kingdom in Tatar Sunda/Sunda Territory (West Java) dating from the
2nd century, and according to Dr Tony Djubiantono, the head of
Bandung Archeology Agency, Jiwa Temple in Batujaya, Karawang, Java
was also built around this time.
Three rough plinths dating from the beginning of the fourth century
are found in Kutai, East Kalimantan, near Mahakam River. The plinths
bear an inscription in the Pallava script of India reading "A gift
to the Brahmin priests". In addition, the "Batu Tulis" monument (a
huge black boulder) near Bogor, West Java, dates from around 450. On
this monument, King Purnawarna inscribed his name and made an
imprint of his footprints, as well as his elephant's footprints. The
accompanying inscription reads, "Here are the footprints of King
Purnawarna, the heroic conqueror of the world". This inscription is
in Sanskrit and is still clear after 1500 years.
Pre-Colonial Civillization
A number of Hindu and Buddhist states flourished and declined across
Indonesia. By the time of the European Renaissance, the two largest
islands in what is now Indonesia,
Java and Sumatra had already seen
over a millennium of civilization and two major empires. The
political history of Indonesia during the fourteenth and fifteen
centuries is not well known due to scarcity of evidence. Two major
states dominated this period; Majapahit in East Java, the greatest
of the pre-Islamic Indonesian states, and Malacca on the west coast
of the Malay Peninsula, arguably the greatest of the Muslim trading
empires.
Kingdom of Mataram
Mataram was an Indianized kingdom based in Central Java (the area
surrounding modern-day Yogyakarta) between the 8th and 10th
centuries. The centre of the kingdom was moved from Central Java to
East Java by Mpu Sindok. The move may have been caused by an
eruption of the volcano Mount Merapi, or a power struggle. The first
king of Mataram was Sanjaya, who drove the Sailendras from Java and
left inscriptions in stone. The monumental Hindu temple of Prambanan
in the vicinity of Yogyakarta was built by Daksa. Dharmawangsa
ordered the translation of the Mahabharata into Old Javanese in
996.The kingdom collapsed into chaos at the end of Dharmawangsa's
reign under military pressure from Srivijaya. Airlangga, a son of
Udayana of Bali and a relative of Dharmawangsa re-established the
kingdom (including Bali) under the name of Kahuripan.
Srivijaya Empire
Srivijaya (- sri meaning glitters or radiant, - jaya meaning success
or excellence) was an ancient Malay kingdom on the island of Sumatra
which influenced much of the Malay Archipelago. Records of its
beginning are scarce, and estimates are from the 200s to the 500s.
It ceased to exist around the year 1400. Around 500 the roots of
Srivijaya developed around present-day Palembang, and around the
year 600 Chinese records mention two kingdoms on Sumatra based at
Jambi and Palembang, as well as three kingdoms on Java.
Srivijaya was centered in the coastal trading center of present day
Palembang. The empire was a thalassocracy and did not extend its
influence far beyond the coastal areas of the islands of Southeast
Asia. Srivijaya was organised in three main zones the estuarine
capital region centred on Palembang, the Musi River basin which
served as hinterland and rival esturarine zones capable of formng
rival power centres. The capital zone was administered directly by
the ruler. The hinterland zone remained under its own local datus or
chiefs who were organized into a network of allegiance to the
maharaja. Force was the dominant element in the empire's relations
with rival river systems such as the Batang Hari river basin centred
on Jambi. The ruling lineage intermarried with and allied with the
Sailendras of Central Java.
Although historical records and archaeological evidence are scarce,
it appears that by the seventh century, Srivijaya established
suzerainty over large areas of Sumatra, western Java, and much of
the Malay Peninsula. Dominating the Malacca and Sunda straits,
Srivijaya controlled both the Spice Route traffic and local trade,
charging a toll on passing ships, and remained a formidable sea
power until the thirteenth century. This spread the Malay culture
throughout Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and western Borneo.
A stronghold of Vajrayana Buddhism, Srivijaya attracted pilgrims and
scholars from other parts of Asia. These included the Chinese monk
Yijing, who made several lengthy visits to Sumatra on his way to
study at Nalanda in India in 671 and 695, and the eleventh-century
Buddhist scholar Atisha, who played a major role in the development
of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet. Travellers to these islands
mentioned that gold coinage was in use on the coasts, but not
inland.
In 1068, Rajendra Chola, the Chola king of Tamil Nadu, conquered
Kedah from Srivijaya. The Cholas continued a series of raids and
conquests throughout what is now Indonesia and Malaysia for the next
20 years. Although the Chola invasion was ultimately unsuccessful,
it gravely weakened the Srivijayan hegemony and enabled the
formation of regional kingdoms based, like Kediri, on intensive
agriculture rather than coastal and long distance trade.
Srivijaya influence waned by the 11th century. The island was in
frequent conflict with the Javanese kingdoms, first Singhasari and
then Majapahit. Islam eventually made its way to the Aceh region of
Sumatra , spreading its influence through contacts with Arabs and
Indian traders. By the late 13th century, the kingdom of Pasai (in
northern Sumatra ) converted to Islam. At the same time Srivijaya
was briefly a tributary of the Khmer empire and later the Sukhothai
kingdom. The last inscription dates to 1374, in a crown prince,
Ananggavarman, is mentioned.By 1414 Parameswara, the last prince of
Srivijaya converted to Islam, and founded the Sultanate of Malacca
on the Malay Peninsula.
Singhasari and the Majapahit Empire, Two empires would originate in
Eastern Java, and would drive Srivijaya and assume its territory:
the Singhasari and the Majapahit. Singhasari was a kingdom located
in east Java between 1222 and 1292. The Majapahit Empire would
emerge later, and ruled much of the southern Malay Peninsula,
Borneo, Sumatra, and Bali from about 1293 to around 1500. The
founder of the Majapahit Empire, Kertarajasa, was the son-in-law of
the ruler of the Singhasari kingdom, also based in Java. After
Singhasari drove Srivijaya out of Java altogether in 1290, the
rising power of Singhasari came to the attention of Kublai Khan in
China and he sent emissaries demanding tribute. Kertanagara, ruler
of the Singhasari kingdom, refused to pay tribute and the Khan sent
a punitive expedition which arrived off the coast of Java in 1293.
By that time, a rebel from Kediri , Jayakatwang, had killed
Kertanagara. The Majapahit founder allied himself with the Mongols
against Jayakatwang and, once the Singhasari kingdom was destroyed,
turned and forced his Mongol allies to withdraw in confusion.
Gajah Mada, an ambitious Majapahit prime minister and regent from
1331 to 1364, extended the empire's rule to the surrounding islands.
A few years after Gajah Madah's death, the Majapahit navy captured
Palembang, putting an end to the Srivijayan kingdom. Although the
Majapahit rulers extended their power over other islands and
destroyed neighboring kingdoms, their focus seems to have been on
controlling and gaining a larger share of the commercial trade that
passed through the archipelago. About the time Majapahit was
founded, Muslim traders and proselytizers began entering the area.
After peaking the 1300s, Majapahit power began to decline with a war
over succession that started in 1401 and went on for four years.
Majapahit found itself unable to control the rising power of the
Sultanate of Malacca. Dates for the end of the Majapahit Empire
range from 1478 to 1520. A large number of courtiers, artisans,
priests, and members of the royalty moved east to the island of Bali
at the end of Majapahit's existence.
The Spread of Islam
Islam was first established in Indonesia sometime during the 12th
century and, through assimilation, supplanted Hinduism by the end of
the 16th century in Java and Sumatra. Only Bali retained a Hindu
majority. In the eastern archipelago, both Christian and Islamic
missionaries were active in the 16th and 17th centuries, and,
currently, there are large communities of both religions on these
islands. The spread of Islam was driven by increasing trade links
outside of the archipelago; in general, traders and the royalty of
major kingdoms were the first to adopt the new religion. Dominant
kingdoms included Mataram in Central Java , and the sultanates of
Ternate and Tidore in the Maluku Islands to the east. Although it is
known that the spread of Islam began in the west of the archipelago,
the fragmentary evidence does not suggest a rolling wave of
conversion through adjacent areas; rather, it suggests the process
was complicated and slow.
Sultanate of Mataram
Sultanate of Mataram was the third Sultanate in Java. The first was
Demak Bintoro and the second was Pajang. According to Javanese
records, Kyai Gedhe Pamanahan became the ruler of the Mataram area
some time within the in the 1570s with the support of the kingdom of
Pajang to the east, near the current site of Surakarta (Solo).
Pamanahan was often referred to as Kyai Gedhe Mataram after his
ascension.
Pamanahan's son, Panembahan Senapati Ingalaga, replaced his father
on the throne around 1584. Under Senapati the kingdom grew
substantially through regular military campaigns against Mataram's
neighbors. Shortly after his accession, for example, he conquered
his father's patrons in Pajang.
The reign of Panembahan Seda ing Krapyak (c. 1601-1613), the son of
Senapati, was dominated by further warfare, especially against
powerful Surabaya, already a major center in East Java. The first
contact between Mataram and the Dutch East India Company (VOC)
occurred under Krapyak. Dutch activities at the time were limited to
trading from limited coastal settlements, so their interactions with
the inland Mataram kingdom were limited, although they did form an
alliance against Surabaya in 1613. Krapyak died that year.
Krapyak was succeeded by his son, who is known simply as Sultan
Agung ("Great Sultan") in Javanese records. Agung was responsible
for the great expansion and lasting historical legacy of Mataram due
to the extensive military conquests of his long reign from 1613 to
1646.
After years of war Agung finally conquered Surabaya. The city was
taken not through outright military invasion, but instead because
Agung surrounded it on land and sea, starving it into submission.
With Surabaya brought into the empire, the Mataram kingdom
encompassed all of central and eastern Java, and Madura; only in the
west did Banten and the Dutch settlement in Batavia remain outside
Agung's control. He tried repeatedly in the 1620s and 1630s to drive
the Dutch from Batavi , but his armies had met their match, and he
was forced to share control over Java.
In 1645 he began building Imogiri, his burial place, about fifteen
kilometers south of Yogyakarta. Imogiri remains the resting place of
most of the royalty of Yogyakarta and Surakarta to this day. Agung
died in the spring of 1646, with his image of royal invincibility
shattered by his losses to the Dutch, but he did leave behind an
empire that covered most of Java and stretched to its neighboring
islands.
Upon taking the throne, Agung's son Susuhunan Amangkurat I tried to
bring long-term stability to Mataram's realm, murdering local
leaders that were insufficiently deferential to him, and closing
ports so he alone had control over trade with the Dutch.
By the mid-1670s dissatisfaction with the king fanned into open
revolt, beginning at the margins and creeping inward. Raden
Trunajaya, a prince from Madura, lead a revolt fortified by
itinerant fighters from faraway Makassar that captured the king's
court at Mataram in mid-1677. The king escaped to the north coast
with his eldest son, the future king Amangkurat II, leaving his
younger son Pangeran Puger in Mataram. Apparently more interested in
profit and revenge than in running a struggling empire, the rebel
Trunajaya looted the court and withdrew to his stronghold in East
Java leaving Puger in control of a weak court.
Amangkurat I died just after his expulsion, making Amangkurat II
king in 1677. He too was nearly helpless, though, having fled
without an army or treasury to build one. In an attempt to regain
his kingdom, he made substantial concessions to the Dutch, who then
went to war to reinstate him. For the Dutch, a stable Mataram empire
that was deeply indebted to them would help ensure continued trade
on favorable terms. They were willing to lend their military might
to keep the kingdom together. Dutch forces first captured Trunajaya,
then forced Puger to recognize the sovereignty of his elder brother
Amangkurat II.
Colonial Era
Beginning in the sixteenth century, successive waves of Europeans
the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British sought to dominate the
spice trade at its sources in India and the 'Spice Islands' (Maluku)
of Indonesia. This meant finding a way to Asia to cut out Muslim
merchants who, with their Venetian outlet in the Mediterranean ,
monopolised spice imports to Europe. Astronomically priced at the
time, spices were highly coveted not only to preserve and make
poorly preserved meat palatable, but also as medicines and magic
potions.
The arrival of Europeans in South East Asia is often regarded as the
watershed moment in its history. Other scholars consider this view
untenable, arguing that European influence during the times of the
early arrivals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was
limited in both area and depth. This is in part due to Europe not
being the most advanced or dynamic area of the world in the early
fifteenth century. Rather, the major expansionist force of this time
was Islam; in 1453, for example, the Ottoman Turks conquered
Constantinople, while Islam continued to spread through Indonesia
and the Philippines. European influence, particularly that of the
Dutch, would not have its greatest impact on Indonesia until the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The Portuguese
Europeans were, however, making technological advances; new found
Portuguese expertise in navigation, ship building and weaponry
allowed them to make daring expeditions of exploration and
expansion. Starting with the first exploratory expeditions sent from
newly-conquered Malacca in 1512, the Portuguese came to Indonesia
seeking to dominate the sources of valuable spices and to extend
their Roman Catholic missionary efforts. Maluku comprised a varied
collection of principalities and kingdoms that were occasionally at
war with each other but maintained significant inter-island and
international trade. Through both military conquest and alliance
with local rulers, they established trading posts, forts, and
missions in eastern Indonesia including the islands of Ternate ,
Ambon , and Solor. The height of Portuguese missionary activities,
however, came at the latter half of the sixteenth century, after the
pace of their military conquest in the archipelago had stopped and
their east Asian interest was shifting to Japan, Macau and China ;
and sugar in Brazil and the Atlantic slave trade in turn further
distracted their Indonesian efforts.
The Portuguese presence in Indonesia was reduced to Solor, Flores
and Timor in modern day Nusa Tenggara, following defeat in 1575 at
Ternate at the hands of indigenous Ternateans, Dutch conquests in
Ambon, north Maluku and Banda, and a general failure for sustained
control of trade in the region. In comparison with the original
Portuguese ambition to dominate Asian trade, their influences on
Indonesian culture are small: the romantic keroncong guitar ballads;
a large number of Indonesian words which reflect Portuguese's role
as the 'lingua franca' of the archipelago alongside Malay; and many
family names in eastern Indonesia such as da Costa, Dias, de Fretes,
Gonsalves, etc. The most significant impacts of the Portuguese
arrival were the disruption and disorganisation of the trade network
mostly as a result of their conquest of Malacca, and the first
significant plantings of Christianity in Indonesia. There have
continued to be Christian communities in eastern Indonesia through
to contemporary times, which has contributed to a sense of shared
interest with Europeans, particularly among the Ambonese.
Dutch East-India Company
The Dutch followed the Portuguese aspirations, courage, brutality
and strategies but brought better organization, weapons, ships, and
superior financial backing. Although they failed to gain complete
control of the Indonesian spice trade, they had much more success
than the previous Portuguese efforts. Beginning in 1602 with the
founding of the Dutch East India Company, the Dutch took three
centuries to establish themselves as rulers of what is now Indonesia
, exploiting the fractionalisation of the small kingdoms that had
replaced Majapahit. Unlike the Portuguese, the Dutch established a
permanent foothold in Java, from which the Dutch ultimately
established a land-based colonial empire known as the Dutch East
Indies into one of the world's richest colonial possessions.
Although the full extent of the colonial territory was not
established until the early Twentieth century, it was these
boundaries that formed the modern nation of Indonesia that was
declared in 1945. Portuguese Timor, however, remained under
Portuguese rule until 1975 when it was invaded and occupied, and
declared the Indonesia province of East Timor until 1999. The logo
of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East-India Company (VOC). In
the 17th and 18th centuries the Dutch East Indies were not
controlled directly by the Dutch government, but by a joint-stock
trading company, the Dutch East India Company (in Dutch: Verenigde
Oostindische Compagnie or VOC). The VOC had been awarded a monopoly
on trade and colonial activities in the region by the Dutch
parliament in 1602, but had no territory of its own in Java. In
1619, the Company conquered the Javanese city of Jayakarta, burned
it to the ground and then founded the city of Batavia (present-day
Jakarta ), modelling it on Amsterdam. A primary aim of the VOC was
the maintenance of its monopoly of the spice trade in the
archipelago. It did this through the use and threatened use of
violence against the peoples of the spice-producing islands, and
against non-Dutch outsiders who attempted to trade with them. For
example, when the people of the Banda Islands continued to sell
nutmeg to English merchants, the Dutch killed or deported virtually
the entire population and repopulated the islands with VOC
indentured servants and slaves who worked in the nutmeg groves. The
VOC became deeply involved in the internal politics of Java in this
period, and fought in a number of wars involving the leaders of
Mataram and Banten (Batam).
Dutch State Rule
After the VOC went bankrupt at the end of the 18th century and after
a short British rule under Thomas Stamford Raffles, the Dutch state
took over the VOC possessions in 1816. A Javanese uprising was
crushed in the Java War of 1825-1830. After 1830 a system of forced
cultivations was introduced on Java, the Cultivation System (in
Dutch: cultuurstelsel ). This system brought the Dutch and their
Indonesian collaborators enormous wealth. The cultivation system was
a government monopoly and was abolished in a more liberal period
after 1870.During Dutch rule, several important treaties that
delineate modern Indonesian borders were signed. One of them was the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. This particular treaty effectively
delineated the border of future British Malaya and Dutch East
Indies.
In 1901 the Dutch adopted what they called the Ethical Policy, which
included somewhat increased investment in indigenous education, and
modest political reforms. Under Governor-general J.B. van Heutsz the
government extended more direct colonial rule throughout the Dutch
East Indies, thereby laying the foundations of today's Indonesian
state.
Early Nationalist Group
In 1908 the first nationalist movement was formed, Budi Utomo,
followed in 1912 by the first nationalist mass movement, Sarekat
Islam. The Dutch responded after the First World War with repressive
measures. The nationalist leaders came from a small group of young
professionals and students, some of whom had been educated in the
Netherlands. Many, including Indonesia's first president, Sukarno
(1901-70), were imprisoned for political activities. In 1914 exiled
Dutch socialist Henk Sneevliet founded the Indies Social Democratic
Association. Initially a small forum of Dutch socialists, it would
later evolve into the Communist Party of Indonesia.
World War II
Soekarno, leader of the Indonesian Nationalists and first president
of Indonesia. In May 1940, early in World War II, the Netherlands
was occupied by Nazi Germany. The Dutch East Indies declared a state
of siege and in July redirected exports for Japan to the US and
Britain. Negotiations with the Japanese aimed at securing supplies
of aviation fuel collapsed in June 1941, and the Japanese started
their conquest of Southeast Asia in December of that year. That same
month, factions from Sumatra sought Japanese assistance for a revolt
against the Dutch wartime government. The last Dutch forces were
defeated by Japan in March 1942.
Japanese Occupation
During World War II, with the Netherlands under German occupation,
Japan began a five-prong campaign in December 1941 towards Java and
the vital fuel supplies of the Dutch East Indies. In July 1942,
Sukarno accepted Japan's offer to rally the public in support of the
Japanese war effort. Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta were decorated by
the Emperor of Japan in 1943. However, experience of the Japanese
occupation of Indonesia varied considerably, depending upon where
one lived and one's social position. Many who lived in areas
considered important to the war effort experienced torture, sex
slavery, arbitrary arrest and execution, and other war crimes.
Thousands taken away from Indonesia as war labourers (romusha)
suffered or died as a result of ill-treatment and starvation. People
of Dutch and mixed Dutch-Indonesian descent were particular targets
of the Japanese occupation.
In March 1945 Japan organized an Indonesian committee (BPUPKI) on
independence. At its first meeting in May, Supomo spoke of national
integration and against personal individualism; while Muhammad Yamin
suggested that the new nation should claim Sarawak, Sabah, Malaya,
Portuguese Timor, and all the pre-war territories of the Dutch East
Indies. The committee drafted the 1945 Constitution, which remains
in force, though now much amended.
On 9 August 1945 Sukarno, Hatta, and Radjiman Wediodiningrat were
flown to meet Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi in Vietnam. They were told
that Japan intended to announce Indonesian independence on 24
August. After the Japanese surrender however, Sukarno unilaterally
proclaimed Indonesian independence on 17 August.
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