History of Indonesia: Pre-colonial civilizations

History of Indonesia: Pre-colonial civilizations

The history of Indonesia has been shaped by its geographic position, its natural resources, a series of human migrations and contacts, wars and conquests, as well as by trade, economics and politics. Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,508 islands stretching along the equator in South East Asia. The country's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade; trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history. The area of Indonesia is populated by peoples of various migrations, creating a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and languages. The archipelago's landforms and climate significantly influenced agriculture and trade, and the formation of states.
Europeans arrived in Indonesia from the 16th century seeking to monopolise the sources of valuable nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company 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 nationalised colony. By the early 20th century Dutch dominance extended 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, nationalist leader, Sukarno, declared independence and was appointed president. The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, but a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognised Indonesian independence.
In 2003, on the island of Flores, fossils of a new small hominid dated between 74,000 and 13,000 years old and named "Flores Man" were discovered much to the surprise of the scientific community. This 3 foot tall hominid is thought to be a species descended from Homo Erectus and reduced in size over thousands of years by a well known process called island dwarfism. Flores Man seems to have shared the island with modern Homo sapiens until only 12,000 years ago, when they became extinct. In 2010 stone tools were discovered on Flores dating from 1 million years ago, which is the oldest evidence anywhere in the world that early man had the technology to make sea crossings at this very early time.

The archipelago was the latest ice age. Early spread from mainland Asia Australia. Homo sapiens reached years ago. In 2011 evidence neighbouring East Timor, showing early settlers had implication the technology needed reach Australia and other and consuming large as tuna.

formed during the thaw after humans to travelled by sea and eastward to New Guinea and the region by around 45,000 was uncovered in that 42,000 years ago these high-level maritime skills, and by to make ocean crossings to islands, as they were catching numbers of big deep sea fish such -

Ideal agricultural wet-field rice cultivation as allowed villages, towns, and the 1st century CE. These ethnic and tribal religions. temperature, abundant rain and wet rice cultivation. Such organised society in contrast to simpler form of cultivation elaborate social structure to

conditions, and the mastering of early as the 8th century BCE, small kingdoms to flourish by kingdoms evolved with their own Java's hot and even volcanic soil, was perfect for agriculture required a well dry-field rice which is a much that doesn't require an support it.

References to the kingdom in Java and Sumatra from 200 BCE. The earliest Indonesia is from the Ujung Kulon an early Hindu statue of was found on the summit of Island. There is also Sunda territory in West Java and according to Dr Tony Archeology Agency, Jiwa Temple in also built around this time.

Dvipantara or Jawa Dwipa Hindu appear in Sanskrit writings archeological relic discovered in National Park, West Java, where Ganesha from the 1st century CE Mount Raksa in Panaitan archeological evidence of a kingdom in dating from the 2nd century, Djubiantono, the head of Bandung Batujaya, Karawang, West Java was -

A number of Hindu and Buddhist states flourished and then declined across Indonesia. By the time of the European Renaissance, Java and Sumatra had already seen over a millennium of civilization and two major empires. One such early kingdom was Tarumanagara, which flourished between 358 and 669 CE. Located in West Java close to modern-day Jakarta, its 5th-century king, Purnawarman, established the earliest known inscriptions in Java, the Ciaruteun inscription located near Bogor. On this monument, King Purnavarman 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 Purnavarman, the heroic conqueror of the world". This inscription is in Sanskrit and is still clear after 1500 years. Purnawarman apparently built a canal that changed the course of the Cakung River, and drained a coastal area for agriculture and settlement. In his stone inscriptions, Purnawarman associated himself with Vishnu, and Brahmins ritually secured the hydraulic project.

Three rough plinths the 4th century are found in Mahakam River. The plinths bear Pallava script of India reading priests".

dating from the beginning of Kutai, East Kalimantan, near an inscription in the "A gift to the Brahmin -

The political history archipelago during the 7th to 11th Srivijaya based in Sumatra, also Java and constructed monument in the world. The centuries isn't well known due to states dominated this period; greatest of the pre-Islamic the west coast of the Malay of the Muslim trading

of Indonesian centuries was dominated by Sailendra that dominated central Borobudur, the largest Buddhist history of the 14th and 15th scarcity of evidence. Two major Majapahit in East Java, the Indonesian states, and Malacca on Peninsula, arguably the greatest empires.

Medang or previously Indianized kingdom based in Yogyakarta between the 8th and 10th kingdom was moved from central Sindok. An eruption of Mount struggle may have caused the

known as Mataram was an Central Java around modern-day centuries. The center of the Java to east Java by Mpu Merapi volcano or a power move.

The 1st king of Mataram inscriptions in stone. The Prambanan in the vicinity of Dharmawangsa ordered the Old Javanese in 996.

was Sri Sanjaya and left monumental Hindu temple of Yogyakarta was built by Daksa. translation of the Mahabharata into -

The kingdom collapsed Dharmawangsa's reign under military the last major kings of reigned from 1016 until 1049. Bali and a relative of kingdom including Bali under

into chaos at the end of pressure from Srivijaya. One of Mataram was Airlangga who Airlangga was a son of Udayana of Dharmawangsa re-established the the name of Kahuripan.

Srivijaya was centred centre of present day "state" in the modern sense with centralized government to which the Srivijaya was a confederacy form royal heartland. It was a influence far beyond the coastal Southeast Asia. Trade was the as it is for most societies Srivijayan navy controlled the through the Strait of Malacca.

in the coastal trading Palembang. Srivijaya wasn't a defined boundaries and a citizens own allegiance. Rather of society centered on a thalassocracy and didn't extend its areas of the islands of driving force of Srivijaya just throughout history. The trade that made its way -

By the 7th century, the states of Srivijaya lined both Melaka. Around this time, suzerainty over large areas of of the Malay Peninsula. straits, the empire controlled and local trade. It until the 13th century. This culture throughout Sumatra, western Borneo. A stronghold of attracted pilgrims and scholars

harbors of various vassal coasts of the Straits of Srivijaya had established Sumatra, western Java, and much Dominating the Malacca and Sunda both the Spice Route traffic remained a formidable sea power spread the ethnic Malay the Malay Peninsula, and Vajrayana Buddhism, Srivijaya from other parts of Asia.

A series of Chola raids in the 11th century weakened the Srivijayan hegemony and enabled the formation of regional kingdoms based, like Kediri, on intensive agriculture rather than coastal and long distance trade. Srivijayan influence waned by the 11th century. The island was in frequent conflict with the Javanese kingdoms, 1st 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 that time Srivijaya was briefly a tributary of the Khmer empire and later the Sukhothai kingdom. The last inscription dates to 1374, where a crown prince, Ananggavarman, is mentioned. Srivijaya ceased to exist by 1414, when Parameswara, the kingdom's last prince, converted to Islam and founded the Sultanate of Malacca on the Malay peninsula.

Despite a lack of that Majapahit was the most pre-Islamic states. The Hindu eastern Java in the late 13th experienced what is often referred Indonesian history, when its southern Malay Peninsula, about 1293 to around 1500.

historical evidence, it is known dominant of Indonesia's Majapahit kingdom was founded in century, and under Gajah Mada it to as a "Golden Age" in influence extended to much of Borneo, Sumatra, and Bali from -

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 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.

The earliest accounts archipelago date from the Abbasid early accounts the famous among early muslim abundance of precious spice trade galangal and many other spices.

of the Indonesian Caliphate, according to those Indonesian archipelago were sailors mainly due to its commodities such as nutmeg, cloves, -

Although Muslim South East Asia early in the among the inhabitants of the the 13th century in known that the spread of Islam archipelago, the fragmentary rolling wave of conversion rather, it suggests the process The spread of Islam was links outside of the the royalty of major new religion.

traders 1st traveled through Islamic era, the spread of Islam Indonesian archipelago dates to northern Sumatra. Although it is began in the west of the evidence does not suggest a through adjacent areas; was complicated and slow. driven by increasing trade archipelago; in general, traders and kingdoms were the 1st to adopt the -

Other Indonesian areas it the dominant religion end of the 16th century. For overlaid and mixed with existing influences, which shaped the Indonesia, particularly in Java. majority. In the eastern Islamic missionaries were centuries, and, currently, there both religions on these

gradually adopted Islam, making in Java and Sumatra by the the most part, Islam cultural and religious predominant form of Islam in Only Bali retained a Hindu archipelago, both Christian and active in the 16th and 17th are large communities of islands.

The Sultanate of Java, after the Sultanate of Sultanate of Pajang.

Mataram was the 3rd Sultanate in Demak Bintoro and the -

According to Javanese became the ruler of the Mataram support of the kingdom of Pajang current site of Surakarta . Kyai Gedhe Mataram after his

records, Kyai Gedhe Pamanahan area in the 1570s with the to the east, near the Pamanahan was often referred to as ascension.

 

Related Sites for History of Indonesia: Pre-colonial civilizations

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