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Indonesian History Notes Parts 1

- April 06, 2017





In the Pliestocene period (4 million years BC), Indonesia was linked with mainland Asia.

Where were the first immigrants from? (3000 -- 500 BC) The first immigrants, the Sub-Mongoloids are from Asia.

What language was introduced by Prince Aji Caka? Prince Aji Caka introduced the Sanskrit language and the Pallawa script.

What religion was spread to Indonesia through Indian migrants? The religion Hindu was spread to Indonesia through the Indian migrants.

The Period of the Hindu Kingdoms

How long did this period last? This period lasts from the ancient times to the 16th century AD.

What was the other religion that was dominant during this period? The Buddha religion was dominant during this period.

List the Indian cultures and customs that were introduced to the archipelago during this time.
-                     Monarchy government system
-                     Literature
-                     Music
-                     Dances
-                     Architecture and housing
-                     Rituals and religious tradition
-                     Ancientry system
-                     Military troops organization
-                     Laborers division (castes or varnas)

Who is Fa Hsien? Where was he from and how did he get here? Fa Hsien is a Chinese Buddhist saint who came from China and got here because he was caught by a storm and landed on the Java Island or also called as Java-Dwipa.

What did Ptolemy of Alexandria say of Indonesia? Ptolemy of Alexandria said that Indonesia have a good governmental system, agriculture, knowledge of astronomy and navigational skills. He also mentioned batik and metal ware.

Describe three key points in this era.
1. The first Indian Buddhists who came to Indonesia was between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. From that time on, those people influenced the Buddha religion in Indonesia. They brought two types of Buddha religion with them, the Hinaya and the Mahayana.

2. There are lots of Hindu and Buddha Kingdoms in Indonesia that time. There are Kanto Lim in South Sumatra, Cailendra in Central Java, Galuh, Kanoman Kuningan and Pajajaran kingdoms in West Java, Singasari kingdom in East Java, then after that the Majapahit Kingdom ruled East Java.

3. These kingdoms also left some influences to Indonesia. Some of them are literary works, architecture like the Borobudur temple, languages and scriptures.

The Period of Islamic Kingdoms
What long-ruling kingdom ended because of the powerful spread of Islam among kingdoms on Java? Majapahit kingdom.

What is Sunda Kepala?  What was it the capital of? Sunda kelapa is a city and now known as Jakarta. Sunda kelapa was the capital of the West Java Kingdom of Pajajaran.

The Portuguese in Indonesia
What year did the Portuguese arrive? 1511 AD.

What religion did they spread? To what islands did it take hold? They spread the religion of Christianity to the islands of Minahasa and Moluccas (Maluku).

How, and when was Timor Island divided?  When did the Portuguese leave the region? On the 20th of April 1859, Timor Island was divided because each, the Dutch and Portuguese, wants a full power over their land. That’s why they made a deal to make their land into half, so the Dutch could own a full power of the half of the country they got and also the same with the Portuguese. The Portuguese leave the region in 1975.

Dutch Colonialism
What was the VOC and when did it begin? VOC was the Dutch East India Company. It began in 1602.

What does it mean that the VOC became ‘nationalized’? It means that the VOC had gained power over Indonesia at that time.

What happened when the VOC became nationalized? And, what was the capital Sunda Kepala renamed? When the VOC became nationalized, Indonesia’s agricultural products were forced to be given to the Dutch. And also the capital Sunda Kelapa was renamed as Batavia.

Who was Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo and what did he introduce in 1633? Sultan Agung was an enemy of the Dutch and in 1633 he introduced the calendar of Javanese Islam.

In 1629, what happened? Who was involved? In 1629, Sultan Agung sent his soldiers to attack Batavia, but they turned back after seeing the soldiers of Governor General Jan Peiterszoon Coen.

STOP:    Take a moment and think about what you just read.  So far, summarize what has happened in Indonesia up to the point you have just read.  Use complete sentences for this part.

            Indonesia was connected to the mainland Asia in 4 million years BC (Pleistocene period). During this time, lots of immigrants came to Indonesia, but the first group of people who came to Indonesia was Sub-Mongoloids from Asia. These migrants had also influenced Indonesia quite significantly. One of the examples was when the Indian migrants influenced Hindu religion, monarchy government system, their literature, music, dances, architecture and housings, rituals and religious application, ancientry system, military soldiers organization and laborers division in Indonesia.

            Because the first religion that came to Indonesia was Hindu, there were Hindu kingdoms all over this country. This is also called as the period of Hindu kingdoms. The period of Hindu kingdoms were from the ancient times and then last in the 16th century AD. Another dominant religion during this period was the Buddha religion. Ha Fsien was the first Buddhist who came to Indonesia. He went to Indonesia also just because of an accident. He was caught in a storm during his trip from China. Also, there are some other people that came to Indonesia; one of them is Ptolemy of Alexandria. Ptolemy of Alexandria said good things about Indonesia. He said Indonesia have a good governmental system, agriculture, knowledge of astronomy and navigational skills. He also mentioned about batik and metal ware. So, overall from this period, there are Hindu and Buddha kingdom as those religions are the first one that came and influenced Indonesia, and they had left some effects to our country, Indonesia.

            After this period, came another period called the period of Islamic kingdoms. In this period of time, most of the Buddha and Hindu kingdoms converted their religions into Islam. One of the kingdoms that ended just because of this powerful spread of religion is the kingdom of Majapahit. Even Sunda Kelapa, the capital of the West Java Kingdom of Pajajaran (now known as Jakarta) had also been influenced by the Islamic religion.

            When this period had end, came the Portuguese to Indonesia in the year of 1511. At this time, the influence of the Christian religion is spreading; specifically they spread to the islands of Minahasa and Moluccas. During this time too, the Timor was divided into two. This was because the desire of the Dutch and Portuguese to have their own land that they could rule with their full authorities. Dutch got the western part of Timor and Portuguese controls the eastern part of Timor until the Portuguese left in 1975.

            And this is the time when Dutch began colonizing Indonesia. It started in the year 1602. Dutch’s purpose to colonize Indonesia is also to gain profit Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) from Indonesia’s merchandise. When the Dutch took over Indonesia, Indonesia’s agricultural products were forced to be given to the Dutch, and also the capital Sunda Kelapa was renamed to Batavia. There was actually a planned attack from Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo, an enemy of the Dutch but they turned back because of the troops of Governor General Jan Pieterszoon Coen. Sultan Agung is also the person who introduced Indonesian people of Javanese Islamic calendar in the year 1633.

What is the “divide and rule” tactic?  What was it used for? The “divide and rule” tactic was to divide the parts of land and rule them individually so the ruler can organize the country and make sure that every part of the country is doing it. This “divide and rule” tactic was also carried out to paralyzed inter-island trade.

List two rulers who waged war against the Dutch in the 17th C.  What were the results?

-                     Prince Trunojoyo
o        He lost and was killed in 1680.
-                     Sultan Hasanuddin
o        He lost the war and then made into a servant of the VOC in 1667.

What did the Dutch carry out the ‘Hongi’ expeditions? In the Dutch’s Hongi expedition, they burnt down the clove garden.

What happened in 1740 in Jakarta? Ten thousand Chinese people were killed because of their rebellion towards the Dutch.

What principalities was Mataram divided into under the VOC? Principalities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

What happened to the VOC in December 1799? VOC was in a bankruptcy because of mismanagement and corruption. And so, it was taken over by the Dutch Administration.
British Temporary Rule
The British took over in 1811 – 1816, but they came to Indonesia in 1814.

Who was appointed Lieutenant Governor General of Java during the British rule? Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles

What did Raffles do while he was Gov. General? List several.
-                     Introduced some of the self-government system
-                     Take out slavery trade system
-                     Introduced land-tenure system

What book did he write while here? The History of Java

What war (named after its famous French general) was also the end of the British rule on the islands?  When was this? Napoleonic wars. 1811.

Return of the Dutch
Who was Thomas Matulessy?  (You will need to ‘google’ more information about him). 
            Thomas Matulessy, also known as Pattimura was a person from the Moluccas that rebels against the Dutch. He was born in the year 1783. He had once attack the Dutch in 1817 in Saparua, Moluccas and won over them. Thomas Matulessy succeeded to take over the Dutch’s base in the Saparua for three months until he was caught and sentenced to death. He died on the 16th of December 1817 by a punishment for him to be hung.

List some of the revolts against the Dutch:

-                     Prince of Diponegoro of Mataram
-                     Tuanku Imam Bonjol
-                     Teuku Umar
-                     King Udayana

STOP:   Why do you think there were so many revolts during this era?

            I think there were so many revolts during this era because Indonesian wants their country to be independent. They don’t want their country to be exploited by other countries. Also, maybe they had already been tired of those exploitations and that’s why they made a move to try to make Indonesia independent.


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