The History of Indonesia: Religious and Ideological Differences - Essay Example

 The Republic of Indonesia is made up of more than 16,000 islands in South East Asia and the best description which can be given to its geographical make up is archipelago. It has a population of more than two hundred million and history which shows how the country developed to what it is today (Ricklefs, 1993). While geographical changes and developments have shaped the face of the region, foreign influence and local powers over time have shaped the history of the country as a whole. In historical terms, the country appears to have five distinct phases which include the pre-colonial era, the era of colonisation, the search for independence, the new order and the Reformasi. Foreign influence on Indonesia is quite apparent and it had been an important trading location for various civilisations and as such also a prize colony. Going back in history there has been fossil evidence that shows Indonesia to be inhabited for more than five hundred thousand years (Pope, 1988). However, in terms of recorded history, the seventh century A.D. is more important since this is the time when the smaller kingdoms were united into the Sriwijaya kingdom (Drakeley, 2005). Naval forces were naturally important to Indonesian kings and based on their strength in the sea they were able to control the trade which went through the region. Contact with Hindu and Buddhist religions also influenced the structure of the country’s culture and religious makeup to the extent that by the tenth century the dynasties which held power over Indonesia had become Hindu or in some cases Buddhists (Drakeley, 2005). The period of Hindu kingdoms lasted till the 13th century when Indonesia had its second experience of traders turning into rulers (Ricklefs, 1993). Islam came to Indonesia with traders carrying goods from the Islamic empire and regions such as a Persia and India which had already been influenced by Islamic missionaries, traders or raiders. Hindu kings were influenced by and converted to Islam and the first such king was the Sultan of Demak. He was a powerful force in spreading Islam to the other island kingdoms of the region and caused the retreat of Hinduism and Buddhism from the islands. A commander under the Sultan of Demak conquered the capital of the West Java Kingdom of Pajajaran which was called Sunda Kelapa. After the conquest the city was renamed as Jaya Karta which means great city. The name later changed to Jakarta and it remains the capital city of the country to this day (AsianInfo, 2000). From the western world, the Portuguese were the first to arrive and try to colonize the country in 1512. The local kings became quite united in trying to stop this from happening and were largely successful with the aid provided by the Dutch. However, the Dutch were clear about their intentions since they began to colonise the country much like the Portuguese would have. The Dutch established the Dutch East India Company in 1602 and by 1799 the company had full control over the islands and a monopoly over the trading of spices and other goods produced by Indonesia. The company was then nationalised and Indonesia came under the direct rule of the Dutch crown (Ricklefs, 1993). During the period, several local kings, sultans and rulers had tried to take on the might of the Dutch forces but they were simply washed away by the colonising forces. The rule of the colonial forces continued over Indonesia as more or less a continued state till the Second World War even though there was a time when the British had been given temporary control over Indonesia by the Dutch while Europe was going through the Napoleonic wars (Ricklefs, 1993). Many Indonesians saw the British rule and the return to Dutch rule as an opportunity to revolt against the powers that be but all the revolutions were snuffed out one by one (Oostindie and Paasman, 1998). It must be noted that all the movements against the Dutch powers were regional in nature but starting in 1908, the Indonesian nationalist started looking for political ways to seek power. The founding of Boedi Oetomo was the first step in this direction. Other organisations like the Sarekat Islam, Muhammadiyah, and Partai Indonesia were setup to gain political power within the country and the objective of many of these parties was to seek complete independence from Dutch rule. The politics in Indonesia evolved further to the extent that by 1920, Sarikat Islam had developed a left and right wing where the party leaderships developed differences with those who supported communism (AsianInfo, 2000). The political movements in Indonesia came to the point when the Dutch promised to give the country independence after the First World War. However, this promise was not kept and the resulting political unrest slowly developed into civil unrest. The Dutch government responded quite severely and by 1923 there were harsh restrictions placed on Indonesians in terms of laws, human rights and even publicly given expressions (Oostindie and Paasman, 1998). By 1927, the Indonesian freedom movement was spearheaded by Soekarno who was in the Indonesian Nationalist Party and the party certainly took inspiration from the Indian freedom movement since non-cooperation became a mantra for them. Soekarno went in and out of jail from 1930 to 1933 when he was finally exiled from the country (Cribb, 1995). At the start of world war two, Indonesia like India was under threat from the Japanese empire after China had been taken over. The Japanese took Singapore and then invaded Indonesia and made the Dutch forces surrender in 1942. Many Indonesians supported the Japanese in view of how such support could lead to independence from the Dutch. The ravages of the war did not leave Indonesia unaffected and it was only after the surrender of Japan that Soekarno declared independence for Indonesia on 17th August 1945 (Cribb, 1995). This caused the Dutch to fight against the nationalist forces and for four years they tried to stop the rebellion and regain control of the colony. However, with international pressure and the coming of the end of the age of colonisation, Netherlands finally accepted Indonesian independence in 1949. The war of independence was not an easy one since the Dutch had some support from the British and the French armed forces as well. The Dutch acceptance was also spurred on by the guiding policies of the United Nations and other international figures at the time (AsianInfo, 2000). For a period of time, Soekarno was able to balance the might of the armed forces, Islamic fundamentalists and communistic parties while taking Indonesia on a path to progress. However, with increasing problems between the communist party and the military a breaking point was inevitable. In 1965 a coup attempt was made on the presidency of Soekarno and the resulting fallout meant violence in many parts of Indonesia and the deaths of thousands of women men and children (Wikipedia, 2007). The counter coup was led by Maj. Gen. Suharto and he managed to get the presidency for himself by 1967 establishing a new order for Indonesia (Legge, 1968). The new order encouraged foreign investment in the country which led to tremendous economic gains made during the next thirty years. Suharto ruled in relative popularity for this time and was able to control many of the problems which came up during his rule but the East Asian financial crisis hit Indonesia the hardest and that led to widespread protests against the government. Pressured and faced with accusations of mass corruption, Suharto was forced to resign in 1998 which brought about the era of Reformasi. In 1999, East Timor voted to break away from Indonesia which led to more problems in the region and humanitarian concerns over the issue (AsianInfo, 2000). In recent times, Indonesia went through its first direct elections for the president of the country in 2004. The country is moving towards being stable and progressive but the progress and the movement towards a better democracy is often slowed by political as well as economic instability. Indonesia has also been a target of terrorism and some organisations in Indonesia have been linked with international terrorism as well. However, the nation’s biggest problem in recent times was the tsunami disaster which led to widespread destruction across the region (Wikipedia, 2007). While political, religious and ideological differences exist in the citizens of the country progress is often slowed by a drawn out process of negotiations and long discussions. That is not to say that such a process has always failed. In fact, the problems faced by the country in 2005 with the separatist movement in Aceh were settled with negotiations and dialog rather than war and suppression. If the history of Indonesia is any example, it can safely be said that the country has a very bright future if it continues to develop into a stronger union of its people. While it may be difficult to see today but bright spots such as the resolution of the situation in Aceh and East Timor are certainly good signs of things to come. Word Count: 1,632 Works Cited AsianInfo. 2000, ‘History of Indonesia’ [Online] Available at: http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/indonesia/pro-history.htm Cribb, R. 1995, Modern Indonesia: A history since 1945, Longman. Drakeley, S. 2005, The history of Indonesia, Greenwood Press. Legge, J. 1968, ‘General Suharto's New Order’. Royal Institute of International Affairs 44(1): pp. 40-47. Oostindie, G. and Paasman, B. 1998, ‘Dutch Attitudes towards Colonial Empires, Indigenous Cultures, and Slaves’. Eighteenth-Century Studies, 31(3): pp. 349-355. Pope, R. 1988. ‘Recent advances in far eastern paleoanthropology’. Annual Review of Anthropology, 17(1), pp. 43-77. Ricklefs, M. 1993, A history of Modern Indonesia since 1300, Macmillan. Wikipedia. 2007, ‘History of Indonesia’ [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Indonesia Read More