Indonesia History

HINDU-BUDDHIST KINGDOMS (AD 600-1478)
Indonesian history begins with the Shrivijaya Kingdom, which gained power by controlling trade routes. Simultaneously, a succession of neighboring kingdoms in Central Java prospered through intensive agricultural development. At its height, the Mahayana Buddhist Sailendra Kingdom reconquered parts of Indochina. The Sanjaya Kingdom built impressive monuments during the ninth century; the temples of Prambanan, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, still exist today near Yogyakarta. Indonesia’s last great Hindu-Buddhist kingdom, East Java’s Majapahit Empire, unified the islands before the Dutch arrived. Its greatest rulers, Hayam Wuruk and Gajah Mada, fostered Java’s Golden Age.

• Islamic Sultanates

Arab and Indian traders introduced Islam as early as the seventh century, but Muslim communities weren’t prominent in Indonesia until 600 years later, when the first sultanates were established in ...more

• Dutch Colonialism

The Portuguese left Indonesia with some ruins, a few street names, and about five serious Catholics. The Dutch, on the other hand, monitored by the Dutch East India Company, were more successful (and brutal) ...more

• Revolution and Independence

The stage was set for the rise of the Partai Nasional Indonesia (PNI), a nationalist party founded in 1927 that practiced civil disobedience and was led by charismatic President Sukarno. Bahasa Indonesia ...more

• Sukarno's Rule

By 1950, the Dutch, embarrassed by international criticism, officially transferred sovereignty to Indonesia. Sukarno wrote the Pancasila, the ideological basis of the Indonesian constitution, which consisted ...more

• The New Order

Sukarno’s balancing act collapsed in 1965, when he was implicated in a failed coup, supposedly perpetrated by the PKI. The coup involved the murder of six high-ranking generals and resulted in a ...more