Origin & History of Indonesia - It is
generally believed that the earliest inhabitants of the Indonesian
archipelago were of Indian or Burmese origin. Later migrants known as
Malays came from Southern China and Indochina at around 3000 BC. By the
end of 7th Century, powerful groups such as Buddhist Srivijaya Empire
and the Hindu Mataram kingdom developed in Java and Sumatra. The 13th
Century witnessed the rise of Hindu Majapahit Empire in East Java, which
united the whole of what is now modern day Indonesia and parts of the
Malay Peninsula. The subsequent spread of Islam into the archipelago in
the 14th century forced the Majapahits to retreat to Bali in the 15th
century.
By this time, a strong Muslim empire had developed with its centre at
Malacca on the Malay Peninsula. Its influence was short lived and it
fell to the Portuguese in 1511. Then, in the middle of 16th century,
Dutch displaced the Portuguese and began making inroads into Indonesia.
The Dutch East India Company based in Jakarta dominated the spice trade
and the Dutch took over the occupation of Indonesia for about 350 years.
The Dutch East Indies, as Indonesia was known at that time, fell under
British rule for the period of 1811-1816. Later on burgeoning
nationalism combined with Japanese occupation of Indonesia during World
War II weakened the Dutch resolve, and they finally transferred
sovereignty to the new Indonesian republic in 1949. Achmed Sukarno-the
leader of the freedom struggle- became the first President of Indonesia.
