History of Indonesia :: essays research papers

Early empiresBy the time of the European Renaissance, the islands of Java and Sumatra had already enjoyed a thousand-year heritage of civilization spanning two major empires. During the 7th to 14th centuries, the Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya flourished on Sumatra. Chinese traveller I Ching visited its capital, Palembang, around 670. At its peak, the Srivijaya Empire reached as far as West Java and the Malayan Peninsula. Also by the 14th coulomb, the Hindu Kingdom of Majapahit had risen in eastern Java. Gajah Mada, the empires chief minister from 1331 to 1364, succeeded in gaining allegiance from most of what is now modern Indonesia and much of the Malay archipelago as well. Legacies from Gajah Madas time include a codification of law and an epic poem. Reasons for the fall of these empires remain obscure. Islam arrived in Indonesia erstwhile(prenominal) during the 12th century and, through assimilation, supplanted Hinduism by the end of the 16th century in Java and Sumatra. Bali, however, remains overwhelmingly Hindu. In the eastern archipelago, both(prenominal) Christian and Islamic missionaries were active in the 16th and 17th centuries, and, currently, in that location are large communities of both religions on these islands. Colonial era outset in 1602 the Dutch gradually established themselves as patternrs of what is now Indonesia, exploiting the fractionalization of the lowly kingdoms that had replaced Majapahit. The most notable exception was Portuguese Timor, which remained under Portuguese rule until 1975 when it was invaded and occupied, becoming the Indonesia province of East Timor. The Netherlands controlled Indonesia for almost 350 years, excluding a short catch of British rule in part of the islands after Anglo-Dutch Java contend and the japanese occupation during manhood War II. During their rule the Dutch veritable the Dutch East Indies into one of the worlds richest colonial possessions. During the first decade of the twentieth cent ury an Indonesian independence movement began, and it expanded rapidly surrounded by the two World Wars. Its leaders came from a small group of unseasoned professionals and students, some of whom had been educated in the Netherlands. Many, including Indonesias first president, Sukarno (1945-67), were imprisoned for political activities. World War IIIn May 1940 the Netherlands surrendered to Germany (see World War II). The Dutch East Indies declared a state of siege and in July re-directed 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.