The history of Indonesia can be considered the dawn of humanity, as it is here that the remains of the first humans were found. During the ancient era of kingdoms and empires, Indonesia saw the rise of great empires that ruled over almost all of Southeast Asia and played a key role in the history of the region. After gaining independence from foreign colonisation and two world wars, Indonesia emerged as a united country and has continued to thrive among the world's most important nations to this day.
When did human history begin in Indonesia?
Fossil remains of Homo erectus and his tools, popularly known as “Java Man”, found at the Sangiran archaeological site in central Java, suggest that the Indonesian archipelago was already inhabited by “primitive man” at least 1.5 million years ago. Recently, the fossil of Homo floresiensis, nicknamed “hobbit man”, was discovered in Liang Bua on the island of Flores and is believed to be one of the ancestors of modern man.
What happened during the era of kings and sultans?
Chinese chronicles report that trade between India, China and the islands that now make up the Indonesian archipelago was already flourishing as early as the 1st century AD. The powerful maritime empire of Srivijaya, in southern Sumatra, which ruled the seas of Sumatra and the Strait of Malacca from the 7th to the 13th century, was the centre of Buddhist studies and famous for its wealth. In the 8th-9th centuries, the Sailendra dynasty of the Mataram kingdom in central Java built the magnificent Buddhist temple of Borobudur, followed by the construction of the Hindu temple of Prambanan.
From 1294 to the 15th century, the powerful kingdom of Majapahit, located in eastern Java, exercised its sovereignty over much of the archipelago. Meanwhile, small and large sultanates flourished on many islands of the archipelago, from Sumatra to Java and Bali, to Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Ternate and the Moluccas, especially after the arrival of Islam in the 13th century.
What was the colonial era like?
After Marco Polo's arrival in Sumatra, waves of Europeans – Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British – followed in the 16th century, seeking to dominate the spice trade at its source, namely in the Moluccas or Maluku Islands of Indonesia. In 1596, the first Dutch ships dropped anchor on the coast of western Java. Over the next three centuries, the Dutch gradually colonised this archipelago until it became known as the Dutch East Indies.
The birth of Indonesia and the declaration of independence
The revolt against the colonial oppressors spread rapidly throughout the country. In their Youth Pledge of 1928, young Indonesians promised to build “One Country, One Nation and One Language: Indonesia”, regardless of race, religion, language or ethnic origin in the territory then known as the Dutch East Indies.
Finally, on 17 August 1945, after Japan's defeat in World War II, the Indonesian people declared their independence through their leaders Soekarno and Hatta.
