post what's is happening throughout Indonesia

when it is discovered

what event happening such as Economic growth , property BOOM , Tsunami

Jakarta i made it seperate from this thread cos it is Capital City or DKI (special treatment :D)

Its gonna be a very long story
I dunno where to start
:D

i know this is gonna be messy so here's the rules:

1)someone become the leader of this thread

2)he/she will make like a timeline (from earliest till present) of course we can't expect him to be know all Indo history so everyone can post INDO HISTORY article and he/she will update it on the first post so won't mess up like Indo Forumers :D so keep editing!

Btw i will post on Indonesia History article :D

Country profile: Indonesia

Spread across an archipelago of thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population.

Ethnically it is highly diverse, with more than 300 local languages. The people range from rural hunter-gatherers to a modern urban elite.

Indonesia has seen unprecedented turmoil in recent years, facing first the Asian financial crisis, then the fall of President Suharto after 32 years in office, the first free elections since the 1960s, the loss of East Timor, independence demands from restive provinces, bloody inter-ethnic and religious conflict and a devastating tsunami.

OVERVIEW

Sophisticated kingdoms existed in Indonesia before the Dutch arrived. The Dutch gradually consolidated their hold on the area over two centuries, eventually uniting the archipelago in around 1900.

Upon the end of Japan's wartime occupation, independence was proclaimed in 1945 by Sukarno, the independence movement's leader. The Dutch formally transferred sovereignty in 1949 after a period of armed struggle.

Long-term leader General Suharto came to power in the aftermath of an abortive coup in 1965. He imposed authoritarian rule while allowing technocracts to run the economy with considerable success. His policy of allowing army involvement in all levels of government down to village level fostered corruption. His "transmigration" programmes - which moved large numbers of landless farmers from Java to other parts of the country - fanned ethnic conflict.

Suharto fell from power after widespread rioting in 1998 and has so far escaped efforts to bring him to justice for decades of dictatorship.

Post-Suharto Indonesia has made the transition to democracy. Power has been devolved away from the central government and the first direct presidential elections were held in 2004.

But the country faces growing demands for independence in several provinces, where secessionists have been encouraged by East Timor's 1999 success in breaking away after a traumatic 25 years of occupation.

Militant Islamic groups have flexed their muscles over the past few years. Some have been accused of having links with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation, including the group blamed for the Bali bombings of 2002 which killed 202 people.

Lying near the intersection of shifting tectonic plates, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A powerful undersea quake in late 2004 sent massive waves crashing into coastal areas of Sumatra, and into coastal communities across south and east Asia. The disaster left more than 220,000 Indonesians dead or missing.

FACTS

Population: 225.3 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Jakarta
Area: 1.9 million sq km (742,308 sq miles)
Major languages: Indonesian, 300 regional languages
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 65 years (men), 69 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 rupiah (Rp)
Main exports: Oil and gas, plywood, textiles, rubber, palm oil
GNI per capita: US $810 (World Bank, 2005)
Internet domain: .id
International dialling code: +62

LEADERS

President: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Former army general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won Indonesia's first-ever direct presidential elections in September 2004, unseating the incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri. The election was hailed as the first peaceful transition of power in Indonesia's history.

President Yudhoyono promised to tackle separatist conflicts
Mr Yudhoyono, who at one time served as a security minister in Ms Megawati's government, promised to fight corruption, rejuvenate the economy and tackle separatist conflicts.

On the campaign trail, Mr Yudhoyono sought to present himself as a man of integrity and as an effective leader in times of crisis. He said the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster had precipitated the most difficult period in Indonesia's history.

Mr Yudhoyono has said fighting terrorism is a key challenge. As security minister he spearheaded operations to capture Islamic extremists blamed for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

Mr Yudhoyono, a fluent English speaker, studied for his master's degree in the US. Rising through the ranks under former President Suharto, he led his country's peacekeeping contingent in Bosnia in the 1990s.

Sometimes called 'SBY', after his initials, Mr Yudhoyono is praised by his supporters for balancing strength and compassion. Critics have said he is over-cautious.

Foreign minister: Noer Hasan Wirayudha
Finance minister: Jusuf Anwar
Defence minister: Juwono Sudarsono

MEDIA

Media freedom increased considerably after the end of President Suharto's rule, during which the now-defunct Ministry of Information monitored and controlled domestic media and restricted foreign media.

The country's television market has expanded to include some 10 commercial TV networks, which compete with public Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI). Some provinces also operate their own TV stations.

Private radio stations carry their own news bulletins and foreign broadcasters can supply programmes. The radio dial is crowded, with some 60 stations on the air in Jakarta alone.

In 2003 the authorities reported that more than 2,000 illegal TV and radio stations were broadcasting across the country. The government urged them to apply for licences, or face closure.

Internet use is on the up: Bisnis Indonesia newspaper reported in 2004 that there were 10 million users.

Press

The Jakarta Post - English-language
Kompas - mass-circulation daily
Pos Kota - mass-circulation daily
Radio

Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) - public, operates six national networks, regional and local stations, external service Voice of Indonesia

Television

Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) - public, operates two networks
Surya Citra Televisi Indonesia (SCTV) - private
Rajawali Citra TV Indonesia (RCTI) - private
Televisi Pendidikan Indonesia (TPI) - private
Metro TV - private
News agency

Antara - English-language pages

Awesome and complete timeline: http://www.gimonca.com/sejarah/sejarah.shtml

A map I scanned out of a book:

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/497/majapahit0mc.jpg

I'm about to post a timeline from 1965-1971 from the Economist Intelligence Unit. It's pretty interesting.

(OOT) I always want to do a real time strategy PC game based on Majapahit. Alas I dont have the time to do it.

Indonesia, a Nation in Transition

Taken from Jakarta Post

Although hundreds of ethnic groups have been know as the indigenous of Indonesia for hundreds and thousands of years, Indonesia did not exist in its present form until the turn of the 20th century.

Of the so-called natives of Indonesia, archaeologists have speculated that the first people to populate Indonesia migrated from mainland China some 1,000 years ago and inhabited a stretch of islands along the equator, later known as Nusantara.

Over the centuries they built and refined their statecraft in the form of kingdoms and principalities. Sharing similar characteristics with other Southeast Asian kingdoms, these Nusantara kingdoms based their conception of state more on people than on space or territory. But intercourse with the western world changed the course of history in Nusantara.

In 1511, the Portuguese conquered Malacca, located on the Malay peninsula, which was then still an inseparable part of Nusantara. The Dutch followed in 1512 and landed on Banten shore in Java. At first, the Dutch came more as traders under the trading umbrella of the Royal East Indies Company (Vereniging Oost Indische Compagnie, VOC). For the next two centuries, the Dutch conducted business with the natives, although in many cases the trade was not on equal terms. Often, trade was accompanied by violent pacification processes.

Then the VOC went bankrupt and the Dutch government took over the business in Nusantara (called the East Indies by the Dutch). Starting from about the mid-seventh century and lasting until the arrival of the Japanese in 1942, was the "real colonization" called "high colonialism" in literature. The period was disrupted briefly when the British took over colonial rule in 1811 to 1814. Among other things that the natives learned from colonization was statecraft based on territorial conception rather than on people.

In the early 20th century, the natives of Nusantara learned that as diverse as their ethnicities were, they could imagine themselves as a unified community. A nationalism had grown in a process that Benedict Anderson, a doyen of Indonesian studies, calls an "imagined community". During the first half of 20th century Nusantara, its people built an imaginary nation called Indonesia -- the name itself was borrowed from the West. By the end of the 1930s, it was clear that the end of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia was only a matter of time.

During World War II, 1942-1945, the Japanese occupied Indonesia. Although short-lived, the occupation enabled Indonesians to arm themselves for the very first time. Shortly after Japan's defeat in WWII, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed Indonesia an independent state, and they became the founding fathers of the new country. The largest archipelago in the world, with over 17,000 islands -- only 3,000 of which are inhabited -- has emerged into a new Indonesia.

When the Dutch returned and tried to reestablish colonial rule, armed Indonesians resisted. The Dutch were forced to recognize an independent Indonesia in 1949.

The new Indonesia adopted a federal system of governance for a short time. But for a longer period, within a five-year span (1950-1955), leaders of the new country were eager to adopt a liberal system of government. Although there is no proof that the system ruined the economy, it was clear that the elite's political stability was shaky. The longest serving prime minister was only two years in office.

The government then held a general election in 1955, the first and only democratic general election Indonesia ever had. But feeling that the country was still unstable two years after the election, president Sukarno, backed by the Army, declared the 1950 Provisional Constitution void and reintroduced the 1945 Constitution. The latter provided an ample opportunity for Sukarno, popularly known as Bung Karno (Comrade Sukarno), to balance three political powers -- the Indonesian Communist Party, the Army and himself.

In the first half of the 1960s, Bung Karno leaned toward the left. On domestic politics, he was trying hard to balance the communists and the Army; on the international stage he was establishing himself as leader of a new world, free from Cold War antagonism. But economic decline and mounting conflicts, especially between communists and noncommunists, the latter of which was backed by the Army, caused him to lose control over the situation.

On Sept. 30, 1965, an abortive coup occurred. There are two conflicting versions of events surrounding the attempted coup. The official Army version insists that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was behind the coup attempt, while the communist version asserts that the coup was an internal matter of the Army. In fact, several members of PKI's central bureau were involved, as well as many Army officers and personnel.

The abortive coup cost Indonesia dearly. It took the lives of seven high-ranking Army generals, followed by a pogrom of communists -- a moderate estimate ranges between 300 thousand and 500 thousand alleged members of PKI. Soeharto, who then was a major general and commander of the Army Strategic Reserves Command, took over leadership and deposed Bung Karno from his presidential seat.

In 1966, Soeharto received a letter known as the March 11 Letter of Instruction which reportedly transferred state power from Sukarno to him.

In 1967, Soeharto unseated Sukarno as president in the special session of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS).

Consolidating his power under a new regime called the New Order, Soeharto launched a "regime cleansing" against the Old Order.

Together with Hamengkubuwono IX, the sultan of Yogyakarta, and Adam Malik -- the three were known as the triumvirate -- Soeharto divided the tasks for economic and political reconstruction. Sultan Hamengkubuwono was assigned to lead efforts for economic recovery, Adam Malik was assigned to redirect Indonesia's foreign policy toward the West, and Soeharto himself was "assigned" to rebuild the lamentable domestic politics.

Soeharto was determined to change Indonesia's course, from its emphasis on politics to prioritizing economic development. He set up the trilogy of development: political stability, economic growth and equality.

To gain political legitimacy, perceived as a prerequisite to economic growth, the government conducted a general election in 1971. The election, however, was far from democratic. Soeharto introduced the "floating mass" concept that banned political parties from operating at village level.

From the 1971 election and throughout the New Order period, the Functional Group (Golongan Karya, or Golkar) served as Soeharto's main political machinery. Golkar legally operated not as a political party, although in fact it was a party. Golkar ran in the 1971 elections against 10 other political parties -- including PKI and Masyumi which were two of the four biggest parties in 1955 but which had been out of political scene -- and won 62 percent of the vote.

In 1974, Soeharto forced all political parties to merge into three: Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). Again, legally speaking Golkar was not a political party. Five more elections were conducted every five years. During those years, Soeharto tightly controlled politics; not even the slightest room was available for opposition.

There were several cases of serious opposition during the New Order regime. The first came rather as a blow in 1974, when students protested against Japanese investments. Added by political rivalry between Gen. Soemitro and Maj. Gen. Ali Moertopo, student protests in Jakarta turned into riots. The movement ended with the removal of Soemitro from his powerful position as deputy commander of the Armed Forces and chief of staff of the Operation Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (Kopkamtib).

The second serious opposition movement came in 1978. Again it came from students, who protested Soeharto's bid for a second term in office, which would be decided upon by the People's Consultative Assembly in its General Session in March 1978.

Several retired Army officers backed the students, while factionalism was apparent within the Armed Forces. Soeharto moved fast to crush the movement. Hundreds of opposition and student leaders were arrested, dozens of newspapers and magazines were closed down. The movement lost its momentum, and after that Soeharto enjoyed an incontestable position.

If Golkar served as Soeharto's main political machinery, the Army functioned as guardian of the state. And since the state was personalized around Soeharto alone, the Army also served to protect him. Under its dual function role doctrine -- the doctrine argues that the duties of a professional Indonesian Armed Forces includes attending to nonmilitary business, especially if it has to do with politics -- the military intervened in almost all sectors of public life. At its peak, the number of military personnel serving in nonmilitary affairs reached over 40,000. Later, history witnessed excesses of the doctrine.

Some businesspeople, many of whom were of Chinese descent, enjoyed state protection and sometimes two-digit economic growth; some grew to become tycoons and magnates. The privileges that these businesspeople enjoyed sparked resentment from other communities. As a result, racial tension grew.

But Chinese businesspeople were not the only ones to enjoy state protection and preference. Some indigenous businesspeople also enjoyed similar privileges. In general, what Kunio Yoshihara calls "ersatz capitalism", or pseudocapitalism, grew. Those "capitalists" were not real capitalists.

Then the financial crisis came. It first hit in mid-1997, and many believe it was a direct result of Thailand's economic crisis. The crisis worsen with the scheduling of the People's Consultative Assembly's General Session in March 1998, with the main agenda being to "elect" a "new" national leadership. It eventually turned into a political crisis too. But Soeharto was determined to run for his seventh consecutive five-year term in office. Supported by his political machine, Soeharto, as expected, became president again.

The economic and political crises made the political climate like a house of cards. Lacking sensitivity, Soeharto filled his new Cabinet with cronies, and appointed one of his daughters minister of social affairs. Less than two months after the formation of the new Cabinet, political tension mounted to an unbearable level. On May 12, four Trisakti University students were shot dead following a peaceful demonstration.

The shootings immediately sparked the emotions of the masses. To the majority of people, the New Order regime had become soulless. Within a week, Indonesia experienced one of its most tumultuous periods in history. For three days, from May 13 through to May 15, six of the country's largest cities were hit by massive riots, probably the largest riots in Indonesia's history. Days later, hundreds of thousand students and members of the public poured into the streets. Chanting and demanding total reform, thousands marched to the legislative building in Jakarta and occupied it for several days.

This forced Soeharto to step down. Instead of returning the presidential mandate to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) he gave the mandate to vice president B.J. Habibie. The new president is weak, but his weakness is one of his strengths. Everyone close to him feels that they can use him, and thus balancing the power is everyone's interest. The government scheduled another general election on June 7, 1999, only two years after the last election.

Forty-eight political parties, instead of three, competed for 462 seats in the House of Representatives, with the remaining 38 seats going to the military. The election was the first democratic poll since 1965, and the results should have a long-term effect on domestic political stability. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) won a majority in the House (DPR) with 35 percent of seats, followed by Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Crescent and Stars Party (PBB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Despite its position as a simple majority party, PDI Perjuangan lost the political battle to install chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri as president. In a tight race against a strategic coalition of Golkar and the Axis Force, a coalition of various Islamic parties, PDI Perjuangan also lost the strategic posts of speakers of the House and People's Consultative Assembly. After losing out on the presidency, Megawati was elected as vice president.

Java Sea reveals lost treasures

Thursday 27 October 2005, 15:13 Makka Time, 12:13 GMT

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/rdonlyres/B9682734-DBEC-4D2F-B523-A01DB32775D6/97547/437D5982E9414B8797755BA602D7F1B4.jpghttp://english.aljazeera.net/NR/rdonlyres/B9682734-DBEC-4D2F-B523-A01DB32775D6/97548/F292950A02FF44D582844B4B8CF7DC22.jpghttp://english.aljazeera.net/NR/rdonlyres/B9682734-DBEC-4D2F-B523-A01DB32775D6/97549/FC5BA4A873F5476A8933F60CFF614431.jpghttp://english.aljazeera.net/NR/rdonlyres/B9682734-DBEC-4D2F-B523-A01DB32775D6/97550/64B250F6ECD245C89ADE2A129E87E267.jpg

The rare ceramics were excavated from a sunken ship

In a nondescript warehouse in Jakarta, treasure-hunter Luc Heymans dips into plastic boxes and pulls out jewels and ornaments that lay hidden at the bottom of the Java Sea for 1000 years.


An ornately sculpted mirror of polished bronze is one masterpiece among the 250,000 artefacts recovered over the last 18 months from a boat that sank off Indonesia's shores in the 10th century.

On a small mould is written the word "Allah" in beautiful Arabic script, on top of a lid sits a delicately chiseled doe.

Tiny perfume flasks accompany jars made of baked clay, while slender-necked vases fill the shelves of the hangar along with brightly coloured glassware from the Fatimides dynasty that once ruled ancient Egypt.

A team of divers, among them three Australians, two Britons, three French, three Belgians and two Germans, excavated the vessel laden with rare ceramics which sank more than 1000 years ago about 130 nautical miles from Jakarta.

China's Five Dynasties

Their finds, including artefacts from China's Five Dynasties, period from 907 to 960 AD and ancient Egypt, are already causing a stir among archaeologists who say the cargo sheds new light on how ancient merchant routes were forged.


Chief diver Daniel Visnikar shows
a rare bronze mirror

"It is a completely exceptional cargo," says Heymans, the Belgian chief of the excavation team.

"There is very little information about the Five Dynasties era and very few things in the museums. This wreck fills a hole," he said.

Close to 14,000 pearls and a profusion of precious stones were found in the wreck, including 4000 rubies, 400 dark red sapphires, and more than 2200 garnets.

"On the second last day of diving, I spotted some broken ceramics. Under 30cms of vase, I uncovered the handle of a golden sabre," says Daniel Visnikar, the leading French diver.

Historical clues

It took more than 24,000 dives to recover all the treasure
from the boat which rests 54 metres below the surface.


Jewels such as this gold ear ring
are among the discoveries

Material recovered from the site has whetted the appetite of overseas experts.

"A 10th century wreck is very rare, there are only a few," says Jean-Paul Desroches, a curator at the Guimet Museum in Paris, after seeing photographs of the early hauls.

He says the wreck and its cargo offers clues to how traders using the Silk Road linking China to Europe and the Middle East, used alternative sea routes as China's merchants moved south because of invasions from the north.

The variety of loot pulled from the depths is hard to imagine: dishes adorned with dragons, parakeets and other birds; porcelain with finely-carved edges; teapots decorated with lotus flowers; and celadon plates with their glaze intact.

"These porcelains come from a very special kiln, an imperial kiln, perhaps from the province of Hebei in the north of China," suggests Peter Schwarz, a German ceramics specialist.

Investors

Heymans insisted the treasure - the subject of controversy when the divers were chased from their barge in the open-sea by the Indonesian navy last November - was stored in a comprehensive and transparent manner.


The treasures might be bought
by a foreign museum

"Every piece is indexed and we know which part of the boat it comes from. Every week we sent (the Indonesian authorities) a DVD with digital photographs of all the pieces," he says.

As well as being chased by the Indonesian navy, an incident that began a long dispute over the booty, Heymans says another group of treasure hunters also tried to move in on the swag.

Cosmix, Heymans' Dubai-based corporation, was the force behind the five-million-euro operation, which was funded by unnamed private investors in Europe.

The divers say the treasures might be bought by a foreign museum or are expected to be shown between 2006 and 2007 in an auction, as the cargo is valued at several million dollars.

Indonesia will receive 50% of proceeds from the sale of the treasures.

^^ wow :eek:

wwowowowowo so coolll

oohh...

i'm lazy to read those articles ......


puyeng

Actually they're LOTs of treasures lying around under sea in the archipelago. Since that I like water so much also, my dream is to become a treasure hunter to hunt all those prized possesions and become a millionaire instantly...they're also quite a number of wrecks in peninsula...any taker? to form some sort of a partnership or treasure hunter enterprise hehe.

history - where to begin eh?

what is Indonesia? where once we had a collection of statelets or empires across the region along came the british and the dutch and divided it in two, splitting 'brother from brother' in johore state which also included singapore and the riau islands...and setting everyone on the road to the map we recognise today

makes ambalat seems so small and irrelevant doesn't it. wonder where the borders will be in another 100 years???

majapahit...sirwijaya (sp)...what is that javanese chronicle called? is there an english translation anybody know??

Sorry I don't know the answer to your question. From what I've read, there are a great many historical chronicles, epics, etc.

I just finished reading a 33 page article entitled "Indonesian Influence on East African Culture." It's very interesting. One of the topics explored is why over half the population of Madagascar is of African origin but there are no Bantu words in the Malagasy language (an Austronesian language 90% similar to a language in Central Kalimantan). There are also records of Srivijaya diplomants bringing African slaves as tribute to the Chinese emperor. Thus, Srivijayan seafarers were involved in the slave trade, and perhaps immigrants had colonized Madagascar and brought over Bantu slaves. There are very few if any other instances of a majority population giving up their language in favor of a minority language without having a signicant impact on that minority language. As already mentioned, Malagasy has no Bantu words and has practically gone unchanged over the last millennium. There is linguistic evidence Indonesians began colonizing Madagascar before AD 200.

Another interesting fact was that an Arab scholar wrote in 1100 on his trip to East Africa that the Africans were not proficient sailors, but that sailors and traders from islands near India (which he called Zabag, identified as Western Indonesia) came to the coast regularly and they spoke the same language. The evidence seems to indicate the Indonesian seafarers and merchants had established colonies in East Africa. Another Arab scholar spoke of the people of Al-Komr who had conquered part of Aden (present-day southern Yemen). Al-Komr is now accepted as being Indonesia, and the description of their ships are exactly the same as Javanese ships.

Lots of interesting, hard-to-find Indonesian history out there. I'm going to keep looking.

^^ that's fascinating stuff...wow. i must say indonesia is probably the most under-studied major civiliation of the world.

^^ Totally agree. History is a marketing commodity and Indonesia does not have the funds to enforce it.

Absolutely. The countries with history people know about have generally been promoted by their government. For example, Japan's samurai history and Noh drama were heavily promoted by the Japanese government during from 60s-80s. Anyway, I'm going to post some more interesting stuff when I get a chance.

I also want to mention there has recently been an 'extreme' form of the history I posted above. You can read about it here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1120895,00.html

Here is the summary:

"They were Africa's Vikings. Tough, daring voyagers who sailed thousands of miles to pluck riches from unmapped lands known today as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Nigeria.

Centuries before Europeans, mariners from Indonesia raided and traded across the continent, filling their vessels with gold and silver for the princes of Java and Sumatra.

In return they gave Africa the secrets of iron and bronze, exotic plants such as banana and yams, and a new culture enriched with music, architecture and spirituality."

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41382000/jpg/_41382238_excav_ru_203.jpg http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/africa_enl_1141064284/img/laun.jpg http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/sci_nat_enl_1141064556/img/laun.jpg
"There's potential that Tambora could be the Pompeii of the East, and it could be of great cultural interest," said Professor Haraldur Sigurdsson, of the University of Rhode Island, US, who has been researching the area for 20 years.

"All the people, their houses and culture are still encapsulated there as they were in 1815. It's important that we keep that capsule intact and open it very carefully."

The lost village was discovered by Sigurdsson and colleagues from the University of North Carolina and the Indonesian Directorate of Volcanology during a six-week archaeological dig in the summer of 2004.

They explored a gully in the jungle cutting through a deep deposit of volcanic rock and ash where a guide said local people had discovered ancient objects.

The first evidence of the village - pottery shards, carbonised wood and fragments of bone - were soon found. Using radar to look underground, they were able to find a house buried beneath 3m (10ft) of ash and excavate it.

"That house was totally carbonised," Professor Sigurdsson told the BBC News website. "But inside there were two bodies, burnt or carbonised as well, and all their belongings. The rest of the town is still down there."

Objects discovered so far, particularly the bronze objects, suggest the Tamborans were wealthy people with links to Vietnam and Cambodia.

Their language was probably related to that of the Mon-Khmer group of languages that are now scattered across Southeast Asia.

The professor intends to return to the village next year to look for a large wooden palace that he believes is buried there.

Records suggest that the eruption of Mount Tambora was one of the most violent in human history.

The explosion took place in April 1815, affecting a huge area, including the Maluku islands, Java, and parts of Bali and Lombok.

Some 10,000 local people were killed by flows of hot gas, ash and rock. As many as 117,000 died in total as disease epidemics and starvation due to crop failures contributed to the death toll.

The year 1816 became known as "the Year Without a Summer" because of the global cooling that followed the eruption due to the release of huge amounts of volcanic ash into the atmosphere.

All photographs courtesy of URI News Bureau.

Amazing. Indonesia's diversity once again in the headlines.

Scientists Claim to Find Lost Civilization
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. - Scientists have found what they believe are traces of the lost Indonesian civilization of Tambora, which was wiped out in 1815 by the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded history.

Mount Tambora's cataclysmic eruption on April 10, 1815, buried the inhabitants of Sumbawa Island under searing ash, gas and rock and is blamed for an estimated 88,000 deaths. The eruption was at least four times more powerful than Mount Krakatoa's in 1883.

Guided by ground-penetrating radar, U.S. and Indonesian researchers recently dug in a gully where locals had found ceramics and bones. They unearthed the remains of a thatch house, pottery, bronze and the carbonized bones of two people, all in a layer of sediment dating to the eruption.

University of Rhode Island volcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson, the leader of the expedition, estimated that 10,000 people lived in the town when the volcano erupted in a blast that dwarfed the one that buried the Roman town of Pompeii.

The eruption shot 400 million tons of sulfuric gases into the atmosphere, causing global cooling and creating what historians call "The Year Without a Summer." Farms in Maine suffered crop-killing frosts in June, July and August. In France and Germany, grape and corn crops died, or the harvests were delayed.

The civilization on Sumbawa Island has intrigued researchers ever since Dutch and British explorers visited in the early 1800s and were surprised to hear a language that did not sound like any other spoken in Indonesia, Sigurdsson said. Some scholars believe the language more closely resembled those spoken in Indochina. But not long after Westerners first encountered Tambora, the society was destroyed.

"The explosion wiped out the language. That's how big it was," Sigurdsson said. "But we're trying to get these people to speak again, by digging."

Some of what the researchers found may suggest Tambora's inhabitants came from Indochina or had commercial ties with the region, Sigurdsson said. For example, ceramic pottery uncovered during the dig resembles that common to Vietnam.

John Miksic, an archaeologist at the National University of Singapore, has seen video of the dig and said he believes Sigurdsson's team did find a dwelling destroyed by the eruption.

But he doubts the Tamborans were from Indochina or spoke a language from that area. If Vietnamese-style ceramics reached the island, it was probably through trade with intermediaries, Miksic said.

During the dig, Sigurdsson's team found the charred skeleton of a woman who was most likely in her kitchen. A metal machete and a melted glass bottle lay nearby. The remains of another person were found just outside what was probably the front door.

The team included researchers from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the Indonesian Directorate of Volcanology.

OMG :eek2::eek2::eek2::eek2:

Can anyone tell me who this is? Supposedly taken around 1922. Some sort of Javanese royalty.

http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/lib/1worldsarongs/aroyal.jpg

at first I thought the woman is Raden Ajeng Kartini, but i'm not sure though. where did you get it from?

no way that woman looks as skinny as a model can be Kartini. I'm guessing that's Sultan Hamekubuwono (don't know what number)

I just found it on a site about sarongs, but I thought the two had very nice style.

Can anyone tell me who this is? Supposedly taken around 1922. Some sort of Javanese royalty.

http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/lib/1worldsarongs/aroyal.jpg

On the right Susuhunan Paku Buwono X from Solo, left his first official wife, her name ?? a daughter of Mangku Negoro IV. The photo is older than 1922, as PB X married for the second time in 1915.

Londoh

'RI ships in 10th century superior to those of Europe'
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five hundred years before groups of ocean conquistadors from Portugal began their journey to look for new territories, ships from the islands now known as Indonesia were traveling around Asian waters with very advanced technology.

The preliminary scientific reconstruction of a shipwreck recovered from the Java Sea found that the ship had better technology than those from Europe, China or Japan.

The ship, believed to have sunk between 930 AD and 990 AD in a storm, was also bigger and better constructed.

"Our preliminary analysis concludes that the ship was 25 to 35 meters long and 12 meters wide. At that period, China still had no ships that could sail the oceans, while European ships were much smaller. Imagine, the ship Columbus used to sail to America and 15th century European ships were all less than 20 meters," German ship expert Horts H. Liebner told The Jakarta Post recently.

Liebner, one of probably only three or four world-class experts in traditional and sunken ships, said that looking at the technology and construction, the recovered ship was definitely an Indonesian ship possibly from Sumatra, Kalimantan or Sulawesi.

He said the discovery of wood nails as binders of planks for the ship, as well as of boxes for ivory binders (tambugu) used to strengthen the ship suggested that it used technology from West Austronesia, referring to an area of what is now the Indonesian archipelago.

"Indian and Arabic ships used ropes to connect planks while the Chinese used iron nails. So, it can't be an Indian, Arabic or Chinese ship," Liebner said.

Other proof that supports the scientific claim that the ship belonged to the West Austronesian ship making tradition is the use of longitudinal and traverse strengthening, which experts have long believed to be characteristic of Indonesian ships.

The application of standardized hole size -- 27 millimeters each -- for the wood nails shows a method of ship making that employed the most advanced technology of its time.

Hence, Liebner said, the discovery was very important because it could confirm many assumptions by experts, who have speculated for many years that Indonesians, especially Makassar and Bugis traders and fishermen, reached many areas of the world before Europeans arrived there.

"I believed such ships with this size and technology were commonplace in the archipelago. It proves that Indonesian ancestors were far in front of others in maritime affairs at that time," he said.

He said at that time the Europeans, Chinese and Japanese did not possess the technology to make ships capable of sailing away from the shore, let alone crossing the ocean, such as the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean.

Liebner said the technology of the ship suggested that many traders from what people now know as Indonesia crossed both oceans in order to reach Africa, Arabia and islands in the Pacific.

"We can make all of the conclusions from analysis of several samples taken from the shipwreck. Who knows how many other things can be revealed if we continue our examination of the samples. Unfortunately, the police confiscated them all," he said.

Police confiscated in January over 490,000 pieces of ancient ceramics, gold coins and glassware salvaged from the shipwreck, as well as samples used for laboratory analysis. Police alleged that the materials were salvaged illegally.

Liebner said with all of the samples stored in containers and kept under the scorching sun for months, further analysis would be difficult.

Indonesia dan VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie) oleh : Abdul Irsan*

Pada abad ke-16 Portugis dan Spanyol menguasai pelayaran ke Asia serta menguasai perdagangan rempah-rempah antara Asia dengan Eropa, khususnya perdagangan lada. Dalam perkembangan selanjutnya di Eropa, Raja Portugal memiliki kekuasaan tunggal atas pengangkutan dan pembelian hasil bumi dari Asia. Semua kontrak jual beli hasil bumi ditentukan harganya oleh Raja Portugal. Orang-orang Belanda yang dikenal sebagai pedagang merasa dirugikan oleh tindakan Portugal tersebut, dan akhirnya berusaha mencari jalan sendiri untuk menghindari monopoli perdagangan Portugal.

Atas inisiatif Staten-Generaal (semacam Dewan Rakyat) pada tanggal 20 Maret 1602 didirikan perusahaan dagang VOC (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie) di Amsterdam, yang kemudian berkembang di berbagai kota lainnya. Para pedagang besar Belanda sebagai pemegang sahamnya. Dalam waktu hanya lima tahun VOC memiliki 15 armada yang terdiri dari 65 kapal yang memulai pelayarannya dari pelabuhan-pelabuhan Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Middelburg, Vlissingen, Veere, Delft, Hoorn dan Enkhuizen.

Sebelum terbentuknya VOC, ekspedisi Belanda pertama ke Asia telah melakukan tiga kali pelayaran antara tahun 1594 – 1596 namun mengalami kegagalan. Para pelaut banyak yang jatuh sakit karena keracunan makanan yang sudah membusuk. Kapal pertama Belanda mendarat di Banten tahun 1596, tetapi tidak mendapat rempah-rempah seperti yang diharapkan. Pelayaran selanjutnya ke Maluku (kapal “De Houtman” dan “Van Beuningen”) mengalami kegagalan juga, karena terjadi bentrokan fisik antara awak kapal dengan penduduk setempat sehingga banyak pelautnya yang mati. Pada tahun 1597 tiga dari empat kapal kembali ke Belanda dan dari 249 awak kapal hanya tinggal 90 orang yang masih hidup. Ekspedisi kedua dilakukan pada tahun 1598 dengan 8 buah kapal dibawah komando kapten kapal van Neck dan van Warwijk yang berhasil membawa rempah-rempah dalam jumlah besar dari kepulauan Maluku terutama dari Banda, Ambon dan Ternate.

VOC merupakan perusahaan multinasional yang pertama di dunia yang tersebar di banyak negara, dan dalam melaksanakan kegiatan perdagangannya tidak segan-segan melakukan tindakan-tindakan yang tidak beradab, termasuk pembunuhan terhadap penduduk dan memperlakukan penduduk asli sebagai budak tanpa rasa perikemanusiaan khususnya di Indonesia.

Persaingan antara Belanda dan Portugis dalam perdagangan rempah-rempah di kepulauan Maluku berakhir ketika Belanda berhasil membangun permukiman tetap dengan mengusir Portugal pada tgl 23 Februari 1605. Secara umum dapatlah dikatakan bahwa Belanda berhasil menggantikan posisi Portugal mendapatkan sumber hasil bumi dari kepulauan Nusantara. Selama dua abad menguasai bumi Indonesia, VOC telah bertindak dan memerintah dengan menggunakan kekuasaan militer menekan dan mengadu-domba kerajaan-kerajaan setempat, memberlakukan hukumnya sendiri di seluruh Indonesia, memiliki pengadilan sendiri dan melakukan perdagangan monopoli yang sangat merugikan rakyat.

Bagi Belanda VOC merupakan kenyataan sejarah yang membanggakan karena memberi nilai tambah yang tidak kecil kepada rakyat Belanda, dan karena alasan itu Kementerian Pendidikan Belanda memprakarsai peringatan dan perayaan 400 tahun VOC secara nasional yang pelaksanaannya dilakukan oleh swasta di seluruh negeri. VOC juga dianggap telah membawa kemakmuran serta kekayaan kultur bagi negara Belanda, bahkan dianggap membawa cakrawala baru karena berhasil “menguasai” kawasan-kawasan dunia baru. VOC dinilai berhasil mendorong berbagai perkembangan kemasyarakatan, dan dengan mengarungi lautan telah memperkaya bangsa Belanda belajar tentang bangsa-bangsa lain. Untuk itu generasi muda Belanda harus mengetahui tentang apa arti dan bagaimana perwujudan VOC sebagai bagian dari karya nyata dan kejayaan bangsa Belanda di masa lalu. Peringatan dan perayaan 400 tahun VOC akan dilakukan di 6 kota dan dipusatkan di Ridderzaal melalui pameran dan penyediaan informasi tentang VOC sepanjang tahun 2002. Pihak Belanda telah melakukan pendekatan kepada pemerintah Afrika Selatan, Sri Lanka dan India agar ikut serta mengambil bagian memperingat dan merayakan 400 tahun VOC. Karena dianggap akan mengandung kepekaan politik, panita VOC tidak mengajak Indonesia, walaupun Belanda menyadari bahwa sebagian besar kegiatan dan keuntungan yang diraup VOC justru berasal dari Indonesia.

Pandangan terhadap peran VOC di Indonesia

Dr Gerrit Knaap dari KITLV (Belanda), dalam tulisannya berjudul “Dutch Perception of Indonesian History, Anno 2001” dalam sarasehan mengenai sejarah hubungan Indonesia-Belanda di KBRI Den Haag pada bulan Agustus 2001, a.l. mengatakan “Personally, I fully agree to the fact that the VOC in Indonesia was nothing more and nothing less than a colonial state. This was already imminent in the charter by which the VOC was founded in 1602, where it was stipulated by the government that this company not only should be the exclusive Dutch Organization to trade in the area between Cape of Good Hope and Cape Hoorn, but that also possessed the right to wage war, make peace and built fortress in that area. War, peace and fortress are attributes of a state, not of a trader.” Selanjutnya Dr Knaap menambahkan dalam tulisan yang sama bahwa … “the VOC as such is an organization with two faces, that of the merchant and that of the statesman”. Bahkan dia mengkhawatirkan tentang adanya sikap orang-orang di Belanda bahwa seolah-olah VOC hanya melaksanakan perdagangan saja di Indonesia, karena berarti orang-orang tersebut samasekali tidak tahu tentang sejarah yang sebenarnya.

Dr Anhar Gonggong sejarawan Indonesia, dalam kesempatan yang sama, a.l. mengatakan bahwa VOC merupakan simbol dari kehendak Belanda untuk mendapatkan keuntungan ekonomi-perdagangan sekaligus perluasan wilayah kolonialnya. Dr Anhar Gonggong menyitir pendapat Dr Verkuyl yang mengatakan : “Selama pemerintahan VOC, yang merupakan suatu kongsi dagang monopolistis yang dipersenjatai, yang memiliki kedaulatan atas wilayah-wilayah tertentu yang diperolehnya dengan merampas”.Apa yang dilakukan VOC di Indonesia, menurut Dr Anhar Gonggong merupakan tindakan awal dari kekuatan-kekuatan imperialis-kolonialistik. Dengan perkataan lain merupakan proses awal penancapan kekuasaan kolonialistik yang didorong oleh motif ekonomi-merkantil. Motif ini hanya bisa berhasil kalau didukung oleh pemerintah Belanda dengan memberi bantuan militer.

Sementara ilmuwan Belanda maupun Indonesia cukup banyak yang memiliki kesimpulan sama tentang peran VOC di Indonesia pada abad ke 16 dan 17 yaitu tidak terlepas dari politik kolonialisme Belanda, namun di pihak lain sampai sekarang masih cukup banyak pihak-pihak di Belanda yang beranggapan bahwa kolonialisme Belanda di Indonesia memiliki misi khusus, yang mereka sebutkan sebagai “misi suci” a.l. untuk :

1. men-civilized-kan orang-orang Indonesia yang masih primitif;
2. memberi kemakmuran kepada orang-orang Indonesia yang masih terbelakang,
3. mempersatukan orang-orang Indonesia yang selalu berkelahi antar mereka,
4. memberi pendidikan dan kemajuan rakyat Indonesia, dan
5. kedatangan VOC ke Indonesia semata-mata untuk berdagang saja.

Sikap pandang bangsa Indonesia terhadap peringatan 400 tahun VOC

Masalah peringatan maupun perayaan 400 tahun VOC merupakan urusan orang Belanda sendiri dan merupakan haknya untuk memperingatinya dan tidak ada hubungannya dengan kepentingan langsung bangsa Indonesia. Belanda sendiri yang mengakui bahwa peringatan itu mengandung kepekaan politik bagi Indonesia, yang sebenarnya secara eksplisit sebagai suatu pengakuan bahwa kehadiran VOC di Indonesia tidak disukai rakyat Indonesia. Pihak Belanda tidak pernah melakukan pendekatan formal kepada Indonesia untuk ikut memperingati atau merayakan 400 tahun VOC, walaupun berdasarkan informasi ada pihak-pihak swasta di Indonesia yang “bersedia” melakukannya demi aliran bantuan yang diberikan oleh pihak Belanda.

Bangsa Indonesia hendaknya melihat VOC sebagai bagian dari kolonialisme Belanda di Indonesia, dan Undang Undang Dasar Republik Indonesia secara tegas menentang kolonialisme dalam bentuk apapun. Persoalan yang kita hadapi adalah tentang kewajaran dan kepantasan bagi bangsa Indonesia untuk ikut meramaikan peringatan atau perayaan 400 tahun VOC di bumi Indonesia sendiri, sementara kita tahu dan sadar bahwa kehadiran VOC di Indonesia telah memakan banyak korban harta dan jiwa rakyat Indonesia serta merupakan bagian dari kekuasaan kolonialistik.

Salah satu keberhasilan dan kesuksesan VOC menguasai seluruh wilayah Indonesia adalah melalui kemampuannya memanfaatkan sikap bangsa kita yang mudah diadu-domba karena keragaman etnis, dan juga menggunakan penguasa bangsa Indonesia sendiri untuk menekan rakyatnya. Apakah bangsa kita sekarang ini masih mau dan bersedia untuk terus dijadikan ajang adu-domba demi membela kepentingan asing, tentunya bangsa kita sendiri yang dapat menjawabnya. Perbedaan intern yang menimbulkan pertentangan bahkan konflik antar kita merupakan kelemahan yang harus kita akui, dan untuk menanggulanginya hanya dapat oleh kemauan kita sendiri.

Dengan dalih mengapa kita harus menghilangkan kesempatan menikmati bantuan, masih ada orang-orang di Indonesia yang berpendapat bahwa menolak untuk ikut memperingati 400 tahun VOC sebagai tingkah “pahlawan kesiangan” karena persoalan VOC sudah merupakan persoalan masa lalu. Masa lalu memang tidak perlu diungkit kembali apalagi kalau diikuti dengan pembalasan dendam, tetapi penglihatan terhadap masa lalu hendaknya juga tidak menghilangkan perasaan pengorbanan dan penderitaan rakyat terhadap kekuasaan asing yang lalim, seperti perasaan bangsa Belanda terhadap penjajahan Jerman.

Keinginan dan maksud Belanda untuk membangun kembali monumen kehadirannya di Indonesia pada masa-masa lalu tentunya perlu kita sambut, tetapi hendaknya pembangunan tidak dikaitkan dengan peringatan 400 tahun VOC. Keinginan membangun monumen Belanda itupun perwujudannya harus pula berimbang, karena bukan hanya kemegahan gedung secara fisik saja yang harus diperhatikan tetapi juga tempat-tempat dimana pihak Belanda pernah menyiksa bangsa Indonesia perlu dipertontonkan. Hal ini perlu diketahui oleh generasi muda di Indonesia dan Belanda, sebagai suatu pelajaran agar segala macam penindasan tidak terulang lagi.

Keadaan sudah berubah dan hubungan Indonesia dengan Belanda sudah semakin baik dan bangsa Belanda sudah menjadi sahabat bangsa Indonesia, apalagi masyarakat Belanda telah membantu ketika Indonesia sedang dalam keadaan sulit. Namun tentunya kita tidak perlu meninggalkan prinsip kita sendiri terhadap kolonialisme. Persahabatan adalah persahabatan, sedangkan prinsip adalah tetap prinsip. Kehadiran Belanda di bumi Indonesia adalah suatu kenyataan sejarah, dan sejarah hubungan kedua bangsa dapat dilihat dari dua dimensi, yaitu yang buruk dan yang baik bagi keduabelah pihak.. Yang buruk harus dijadikan peringatan untuk tidak diulang lagi, sementara yang baik kalau perlu dapat kita sempurnakan. Generasi baru di Indonesia dan Belanda perlu mengerti perjalanan sejarah hubungan kedua bangsa sebagai monumen yang memiliki dua dimensi tersebut, untuk dapat dijadikan pelajaran positif agar tidak terulang kembali peristiwa yang pernah menyakitkan salah satu pihak

*Duta Besar RI untuk Kerajaan Belanda

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/5968/peta9kr.gif (http://imageshack.us)

PADA zaman purba, kepulauan tanah air kita disebut dengan aneka nama. Dalam catatan bangsa Tionghoa kawasan kepulauan kita dinamai Nan-hai (Kepulauan Laut Selatan). Berbagai catatan kuno bangsa India menamai kepulauan ini Dwipantara (Kepulauan Tanah Seberang), nama yang diturunkan dari kata Sansekerta dwipa (pulau) dan antara (luar, seberang). Kisah Ramayana karya pujangga Valmiki yang termasyhur itu menceritakan pencarian terhadap Sinta, istri Rama yang diculik Ravana, sampai ke Suwarnadwipa (Pulau Emas, yaitu Sumatra sekarang) yang terletak di Kepulauan Dwipantara.

Bangsa Arab menyebut tanah air kita Jaza'ir al-Jawi (Kepulauan Jawa). Nama Latin untuk kemenyan adalah benzoe, berasal dari bahasa Arab luban jawi (kemenyan Jawa), sebab para pedagang Arab memperoleh kemenyan dari batang pohon Styrax sumatrana yang dahulu hanya tumbuh di Sumatra. Sampai hari ini jemaah haji kita masih sering dipanggil "Jawa" oleh orang Arab. Bahkan orang Indonesia luar Jawa sekalipun. "Samathrah, Sholibis, Sundah, kulluh Jawi (Sumatra, Sulawesi, Sunda, semuanya Jawa)" kata seorang pedagang di Pasar Seng, Mekah.

Lalu tibalah zaman kedatangan orang Eropa ke Asia. Bangsa-bangsa Eropa yang pertama kali datang itu beranggapan bahwa Asia hanya terdiri dari Arab, Persia, India, dan Cina. Bagi mereka, daerah yang terbentang luas antara Persia dan Cina semuanya adalah "Hindia". Semenanjung Asia Selatan mereka sebut "Hindia Muka" dan daratan Asia Tenggara dinamai "Hindia Belakang". Sedangkan tanah air kita memperoleh nama "Kepulauan Hindia" (Indische Archipel, Indian Archipelago, l'Archipel Indien) atau "Hindia Timur" (Oost Indie, East Indies, Indes Orientales). Nama lain yang juga dipakai adalah "Kepulauan Melayu" (Maleische Archipel, Malay Archipelago, l'Archipel Malais).

Ketika tanah air kita terjajah oleh bangsa Belanda, nama resmi yang digunakan adalah Nederlandsch-Indie (Hindia Belanda), sedangkan pemerintah pendudukan Jepang 1942-1945 memakai istilah To-Indo (Hindia Timur). Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887), yang dikenal dengan nama samaran Multatuli, pernah mengusulkan nama yang spesifik untuk menyebutkan kepulauan tanah air kita, yaitu Insulinde, yang artinya juga "Kepulauan Hindia" (bahasa Latin insula berarti pulau). Tetapi rupanya nama Insulinde ini kurang populer. Bagi orang Bandung, Insulinde mungkin cuma dikenal sebagai nama toko buku yang pernah ada di Jalan Otista.

Pada tahun 1920-an, Ernest Francois Eugene Douwes Dekker (1879-1950), yang kita kenal sebagai Dr. Setiabudi (beliau adalah cucu dari adik Multatuli), memopulerkan suatu nama untuk tanah air kita yang tidak mengandung unsur kata "India". Nama itu tiada lain adalah Nusantara, suatu istilah yang telah tenggelam berabad-abad lamanya. Setiabudi mengambil nama itu dari Pararaton, naskah kuno zaman Majapahit yang ditemukan di Bali pada akhir abad ke-19 lalu diterjemahkan oleh J.L.A. Brandes dan diterbitkan oleh Nicholaas Johannes Krom pada tahun 1920.

Namun perlu dicatat bahwa pengertian Nusantara yang diusulkan Setiabudi jauh berbeda dengan pengertian, nusantara zaman Majapahit. Pada masa Majapahit Nusantara digunakan untuk menyebutkan pulau-pulau di luar Jawa (antara dalam bahasa Sansekerta artinya luar, seberang) sebagai lawan dari Jawadwipa (Pulau Jawa). Kita tentu pernah mendengar Sumpah Palapa dari Gajah Mada, "Lamun huwus kalah nusantara, isun amukti palapa" (Jika telah kalah pulau-pulau seberang, barulah saya menikmati istirahat). Oleh Dr. Setiabudi kata nusantara zaman Majapahit yang berkonotasi jahiliyah itu diberi pengertian yang nasionalistis. Dengan mengambil kata Melayu asli antara, maka Nusantara kini memiliki arti yang baru yaitu "nusa di antara dua benua dan dua samudra", sehingga Jawa pun termasuk dalam definisi nusantara yang modern. Istilah nusantara dari Setiabudi ini dengan cepat menjadi populer penggunaannya sebagai alternatif dari nama Hindia Belanda.

Sampai hari ini istilah nusantara tetap kita pakai untuk menyebutkan wilayah tanah air kita dari Sabang sampai Merauke. Tetapi nama resmi bangsa dan negara kita adalah Indonesia. Kini akan kita telusuri dari mana gerangan nama yang sukar bagi lidah Melayu ini muncul.

Nama Indonesia

Pada tahun 1847 di Singapura terbit sebuah majalah ilmiah tahunan, Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia (JIAEA), yang dikelola oleh James Richardson Logan (1819-1869), orang Skotlandia yang meraih sarjana hukum dari Universitas Edinburgh. Kemudian pada tahun 1849 seorang ahli etnologi bangsa Inggris, George Samuel Windsor Earl (1813-1865), menggabungkan diri sebagai redaksi majalah JIAEA.

Dalam JIAEA Volume IV tahun 1850, halaman 66-74, Earl menulis artikel On the Leading Characteristics of the Papuan, Australian and Malay-Polynesian Nations. Dalam artikelnya itu Earl menegaskan bahwa sudah tiba saatnya bagi penduduk Kepulauan Hindia atau Kepulauan Melayu untuk memiliki nama khas (a distinctive name), sebab nama Hindia tidaklah tepat dan sering rancu dengan penyebutan India yang lain. Earl mengajukan dua pilihan nama: Indunesia atau Malayunesia (nesos dalam bahasa Yunani berarti pulau). Pada halaman 71 artikelnya itu tertulis: ... the inhabitants of the Indian Archipelago or Malayan Archipelago would become respectively Indunesians or Malayunesians.

Earl sendiri menyatakan memilih nama Malayunesia (Kepulauan Melayu) daripada Indunesia (Kepulauan Hindia), sebab Malayunesia sangat tepat untuk ras Melayu, sedangkan Indunesia bisa juga digunakan untuk Ceylon (Srilanka) dan Maldives (Maladewa). Lagi pula, kata Earl, bukankah bahasa Melayu dipakai di seluruh kepulauan ini? Dalam tulisannya itu Earl memang menggunakan istilah Malayunesia dan tidak memakai istilah Indunesia.

Dalam JIAEA Volume IV itu juga, halaman 252-347, James Richardson Logan menulis artikel The Ethnology of the Indian Archipelago. Pada awal tulisannya, Logan pun menyatakan perlunya nama khas bagi kepulauan tanah air kita, sebab istilah "Indian Archipelago" terlalu panjang dan membingungkan. Logan memungut nama Indunesia yang dibuang Earl, dan huruf u digantinya dengan huruf o agar ucapannya lebih baik. Maka lahirlah istilah Indonesia.

Untuk pertama kalinya kata Indonesia muncul di dunia dengan tercetak pada halaman 254 dalam tulisan Logan: Mr. Earl suggests the ethnographical term Indunesian, but rejects it in favour of Malayunesian. I prefer the purely geographical term Indonesia, which is merely a shorter synonym for the Indian Islands or the Indian Archipelago. Ketika mengusulkan nama "Indonesia" agaknya Logan tidak menyadari bahwa di kemudian hari nama itu akan menjadi nama bangsa dan negara yang jumlah penduduknya peringkat keempat terbesar di muka bumi!

Sejak saat itu Logan secara konsisten menggunakan nama "Indonesia" dalam tulisan-tulisan ilmiahnya, dan lambat laun pemakaian istilah ini menyebar di kalangan para ilmuwan bidang etnologi dan geografi. Pada tahun 1884 guru besar etnologi di Universitas Berlin yang bernama Adolf Bastian (1826-1905) menerbitkan buku Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipel sebanyak lima volume, yang memuat hasil penelitiannya ketika mengembara ke tanah air kita tahun 1864 sampai 1880. Buku Bastian inilah yang memopulerkan istilah "Indonesia" di kalangan sarjana Belanda, sehingga sempat timbul anggapan bahwa istilah "Indonesia" itu ciptaan Bastian. Pendapat yang tidak benar itu, antara lain tercantum dalam Encyclopedie van Nederlandsch-Indie tahun 1918. Padahal Bastian mengambil istilah "Indonesia" itu dari tulisan-tulisan Logan.

Putra ibu pertiwi yang mula-mula menggunakan istilah "Indonesia" adalah Suwardi Suryaningrat (Ki Hajar Dewantara). Ketika di buang ke negeri Belanda tahun 1913 beliau mendirikan sebuah biro pers dengan nama Indonesische Pers-bureau.

Makna politis

Pada dasawarsa 1920-an, nama "Indonesia" yang merupakan istilah ilmiah dalam etnologi dan geografi itu diambil alih oleh tokoh-tokoh pergerakan kemerdekaan tanah air kita, sehingga nama "Indonesia" akhirnya memiliki makna politis, yaitu identitas suatu bangsa yang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan! Akibatnya pemerintah Belanda mulai curiga dan waspada terhadap pemakaian kata ciptaan Logan itu.

Pada tahun 1922 atas inisiatif Mohammad Hatta, seorang mahasiswa Handels Hoogeschool (Sekolah Tinggi Ekonomi) di Rotterdam, organisasi pelajar dan mahasiswa Hindia di Negeri Belanda (yang terbentuk tahun 1908 dengan nama Indische Vereeniging) berubah nama menjadi Indonesische Vereeniging atau Perhimpoenan Indonesia. Majalah mereka, Hindia Poetra, berganti nama menjadi Indonesia Merdeka.

Bung Hatta menegaskan dalam tulisannya, "Negara Indonesia Merdeka yang akan datang (de toekomstige vrije Indonesische staat) mustahil disebut "Hindia Belanda". Juga tidak "Hindia" saja, sebab dapat menimbulkan kekeliruan dengan India yang asli. Bagi kami nama Indonesia menyatakan suatu tujuan politik (een politiek doel), karena melambangkan dan mencita-citakan suatu tanah air di masa depan, dan untuk mewujudkannya tiap orang Indonesia (Indonesier) akan berusaha dengan segala tenaga dan kemampuannya."

Sementara itu, di tanah air Dr. Sutomo mendirikan Indonesische Studie Club pada tahun 1924. Tahun itu juga Perserikatan Komunis Hindia berganti nama menjadi Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI). Lalu pada tahun 1925 Jong Islamieten Bond membentuk kepanduan Nationaal Indonesische Padvinderij (Natipij). Itulah tiga organisasi di tanah air yang mula-mula menggunakan nama "Indonesia". Akhirnya nama "Indonesia" dinobatkan sebagai nama tanah air, bangsa dan bahasa kita pada Kerapatan Pemoeda-Pemoedi Indonesia tanggal 28 Oktober 1928, yang kini kita sebut Sumpah Pemuda.

Pada bulan Agustus 1939 tiga orang anggota Volksraad (Dewan Rakyat; DPR zaman Belanda), Muhammad Husni Thamrin, Wiwoho Purbohadidjojo, dan Sutardjo Kartohadikusumo, mengajukan mosi kepada Pemerintah Belanda agar nama "Indonesia" diresmikan sebagai pengganti nama "Nederlandsch-Indie". Tetapi Belanda keras kepala sehingga mosi ini ditolak mentah-mentah.

Maka kehendak Allah pun berlaku. Dengan jatuhnya tanah air kita ke tangan Jepang pada tanggal 8 Maret 1942, lenyaplah nama "Hindia Belanda" untuk selama-lamanya. Lalu pada tanggal 17 Agustus 1945, atas berkat rahmat Allah Yang Mahakuasa, lahirlah Republik Indonesia.

Someone mentioned the role fo government in promoting history and cited Japan. Not the best example I think!!!

The private sector should take the lead and in Jakarta lok no further than VOC Cafe...imagine some investment cleaning up around Kali Besar...

Misteri Ibukota Majapahit Terpecahkan
Minggu, 21 Mei 2006 | 21:49 WIB

TEMPO Interaktif, Mojokrto:Perkumpulan Peduli Majapahit berhasil membuat peta ibukota Kerajaan Majapahit. Ibukota kerajaan terbesar dalam sejarah Nusantara ini berada di Kabupaten Mojokerto dan Jombang Jawa Timur.

Anam Anis, Ketua Perkumpulan Peduli Majapahit Gotra Wilwatikta mengatakan, keberhasilan menyusun peta ibukota Majapahit ini akan menjawab pertanyaan generasi yang jauh dari kerajaan Majapahit tentang kepastian lokasinya. “Selama ini orang hanya mengenal lewat buku sejarah bahwa bekas ibukota Kerajaan Majapahit berada di Trowulan, itu saja,” katanya, Ahad (21/5).

Berdasarkan peta yang dibuat Perkumpulan Peduli Majapahit, ibukota kerajaan Majapahit meliputi Kecamatan Sooko, Trowulan dan Jatirejo di Kabupaten Mojokerto dan kecamatan Mojoagung, Mojowarno serta Sumobito di Kabupaten Jombang. Kawasan ini berada pada luas 10 X 10 kilometer persegi. “Namun, ada versi lain yang menyebut 9X11 kilometer persegi. Kami akan pastikan soal luas ibukota ini untuk memudahkan pengembangan,” kata Anam.

Perkumpulan Peduli Majapahir juga berhasil membuat ilustrasi pusat kota ibukota Majapahit. Pusat kota ini berada di dalam kawasan ibukota dan lokasinya kini berada di Trowulan. Situs-situs yang memperkuat ilustrasi pusat kota ini antara lain Candi Muteran, Candi Gentong, Candi Tengah, tempat kediaman Gajah Mada, kediaman kerabat kaum raja dan tempat pemandian para putri kerajaan.

Anam mengatakan, pembuatan peta ibukota ini didasarkan pada sketsa rekonstruksi Kota Majapahit oleh Henry MacLaine Pont (1924), seorang insinyur Belanda yang sangat berminat pada situs Trowulan dan kemudian mendirikan Museum Purbakala Trowulan. Peta ibukota Kerajaan Majapahit ini juga melibatkan ahli arkeologi dari Balai Arkeologi Yogyakarta, Nurhadi Rangkuti. Situs bekas ibukota Kerajaan Majapahit ini akan dikembangkan menjadi kawasan Cagar Budaya Nasional, Pusat Wisata Budaya, Pusat Studi Sejarah, Kepurbakalaan dan Kebudayaan.

Majapahit adalah kerajaan besar Nusantara yang berdiri abad XIII hingga XIV. Ini adalah kelanjutan kerajaan Singosari yang berpusat di Malang. Raden Wijaya mendirikan Majapahit tahun 1293 dan memerintah hingga 1328. Majapahit mengalami kejayaan pada masa Raja Hayam Wuruk Di era inilah sebagian orang meyakini Majapahit memiliki Perdana Menteri Gajah Mada yang terkenal dengan Sumpah Palapa.

Sunudyantoro, Tempo

Islam introduced to Indonesia through the Chinese?
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Treasures found in 1,000-year-old wreck: 250,000 pieces could rewrite Indonesia history
Sebastien Berger
The Telegraph
360 words
22 May 2006
Calgary Herald
Final
A11
English
Copyright © 2006 Calgary Herald
PAMULANG, Indonesia

Unique historical treasures worth tens of millions of dollars were gathering dust in store rooms in Jakarta on Sunday after being impounded by police.

The 250,000 pieces of Chinese ceramics and Arabic and Persian glassware were recovered from a 1,000-year-old wreck in the Java Sea off Indonesia. Found with them were 13,000 Indian pearls, jewelry, about 1,000 rubies and sapphires and several gold pieces.

They were salvaged from a ship that could rewrite the history of Islam in the world's most populous Muslim country. But police tape blocks access to a riding centre in Pamulang, Jakarta, where the treasure was being kept, and the French and German chief divers have spent a month in jail.

The 18-month joint European and Indonesian operation on the vessel 145 kilometres off the port of Cirebon included an archeological survey, with permits from all relevant ministries, and an agreement to share the proceeds 50-50 with the authorities. But after a rival salvage company filed a complaint that the team wasn't properly licensed, the police stepped in and sealed everything.

The wreck, which has no name but was made of tropical hardwood to a Malay design and is bigger the vessels in which Columbus crossed the Atlantic five centuries later, went down in a storm within a decade of 970 AD.

Chinese ceramics on board date from the Five Dynasties period, a short interval between the Tang and Song dynasties.

Among them are Islamic rosary beads and a mould to mass-produce small metal tags, with three of the 99 Arabic names for God. But the wreck predates the earliest proof of Islam in the Malay archipelago -- a sultan's tombstone in northern Sumatra -- by almost 300 years.

The implication is that instead of being spreading across the Indian Ocean by Arab traders, as previously thought, the religion of Muhammad could have been brought to what is now the world's most populous Muslim nation from China.

Kompas today.
Mengembalikan Koridor Sejarah Asia-Eropa

Iwan Santosa

Tanpa disadari, bentangan jarak 12 kilometer dari Pelabuhan Sunda Kelapa hingga Monumen Nasional merupakan saksi bisu pertalian sejarah Nusantara, Eropa, dan kegemilangan ekonomi dunia akibat kekayaan rempah Indonesia.

Di seluruh dunia, koridor sejarah di kota besar seperti Warsawa, London, Baltimore, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, dan New York telah dilestarikan dan menggugah kebangkitan nasional (national awakening) pada paruh akhir abad ke-20 dan awal abad ini.

Kebangkitan nasional yang menggugah nasionalisme itu merupakan strategi jitu untuk mengangkat jati diri dan mampu mendampingi globalisasi.

Mantan Presiden Abdurrahman Wahid dan pemerhati sejarah DKI Jakarta Martono Yuwono merangkum kebangkitan kota dan bangsa besar ini dalam buku Palapa Nusantara Tengara Jembatan Budaya Asia-Eropa dalam kaitan kebangkitan Indonesia melalui revitalisasi koridor sejarah Sunda Kelapa-Monumen Nasional (Monas).

Sejarah membuktikan pengalaman kebangkitan Kota Warsawa yang luluh lantak akibat pendudukan Jerman semasa Perang Dunia II bermula dari revitalisasi kota lama yakni Market Square Warsawa.

Amerika Serikat masa krisis tahun 1970-an pun berhasil bangkit setelah Kota Baltimore merevitalisasi kawasan kota tua yakni cikal bakal bandar tersebut di Inner Harbour. Kebijakan itu memicu revitalisasi kota lama di Amerika Serikat yang berdampak pada pergerakan ekonomi dan revolusi pembangunan kota.

Buku Palapa Nusantara mencatat, bangsa Inggris juga memulihkan kepercayaan diri sebagai bangsa yang pernah menguasai tujuh lautan setelah perdana menteri kala itu, Margaret Thatcher, mencanangkan dekade (1980- 1990) revitalisasi tujuh Bandar Lama Kerajaan Inggris.

Alhasil, kawasan kota lama Dockland London, Albert Dock Liverpool, Black Country, Cardiff, Teeside, Trafford Park, dan Tyne menjadi pemicu kebangkitan identitas Britania Raya sebagai bangsa besar.

Singapura pun menjaga dan mengeksploitasi habis-habisan koridor sejarah mereka di sekitar Clark Quay, tempat pendaratan Thomas Stamford Raffles (pernah menjadi letnan gubernur jenderal di Nusantara) hingga muara Singapore River tempat patung Merlion, yakni simbol Singapura berada.

Terakhir Malaysia pun melakukan strategi serupa. Seluruh area kota tua di Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malaka, hingga Kuching mendapat sentuhan khusus. Bahkan, Malaysia berani membangun museum bahari dan taman mini ASEAN seakan mereka menjadi simpul budaya Asia Tenggara. Padahal, bagian paling unik dari Asia Tenggara ada di Indonesia, dan Jakarta sebagai melting pot.

Museum hidup

Bagaimana dengan Jakarta?

Martono menjelaskan, jalur Sunda Kelapa-Monas merupakan museum hidup, jantung ekonomi, dan pemerintahan serta kebanggaan karena nilai strategis Indonesia di pentas dunia.

Sejarah Jakarta di jalur yang menyusur pusat peradaban sepanjang Ciliwung itu memiliki rangkaian makna dari zaman Hindu-Buddha, Islam, Kolonial, hingga kehadiran RI. Ia mengusulkan pembangunan Tugu Nusantara di ujung Sunda Kelapa yang berada satu poros 12 kilometer di utara Monas. Kawasan ini menjadi Jayakarta Heritage Park hingga kawasan Pelabuhan Sunda Kelapa.

Adapun Sunda Kelapa adalah tempat kelahiran Jakarta modern semasa muncul kebanggaan regional masa Sumpah Palapa. Eksistensi Sunda Kelapa diperkuat perjanjian dengan Portugis yang terekam dalam Prasasti Padrao di kawasan itu. Untuk sesaat, Portugis sempat hadir seiring kehadiran mereka di Goa, India, dan Malaka di Semenanjung Malaya (1511).

Selanjutnya, pada era Kerajaan Islam (1527-1619) muncul identitas Jakarta kota kemenangan, yakni Jayakarta.

Kebesaran Jakarta terus berkembang semasa Kolonial (1619-1945) sehingga menjadi pusat perdagangan Asia dengan julukan Queen of The East. Jakarta mengalahkan kota pelabuhan Singapura, Penang, Malaka, dan bandar lain di kawasan.

Masa itu mencatat, bangsa- bangsa mencari jalur untuk mendapatkan komoditas utama dunia yaitu rempah-rempah. Semua kegiatan perdagangan rempah terpusat di kawasan Kota Tua Jakarta.

Kota Tua Jakarta menjadi penghubung utama pos perdagangan dari Formorsa, Malaka, Sri Lanka, Afsel, dan Belanda. Secara regional, Kota Tua Jakarta menjadi penghubung pelabuhan-pelabuhan dan para pelaut Nusantara yang mengadakan pelayaran intra-insular.

Kejayaan Kota Tua Jakarta tidak tergoyahkan meski Inggris mati-matian membangun Singapura-Malaya sebagai jembatan perdagangan Hongkong-Asia Timur, India, Afrika dan Britania Raya.

Masa kemerdekaan menghadirkan sentuhan akhir dari koridor sejarah itu melalui Monas. Sejarah panjang, romansa, dan eksotisme yang tak kunjung habis digali itu lewat begitu saja di depan mata kita yang terbiasa mendengar nama Sunda Kelapa, Glodok, Pancoran, Harmoni, ataupun Monas. Padahal, di mancanegara, koridor sejarah merupakan tambang emas ekonomi, wisata, dan terutama harga diri sebuah bangsa.

indonesian history ...
nyam nyam ...
what a complicated history ...

well, it's nice.

am looking for the information about history of balikpapan... can somebody help me? thank you ... :)

oya ...

am a new member ...

nice to meet you ...

thank you very much ...

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/3743/srivijayaja7.gif

Srivijaya: a Sumatra-based kingdom that became a maritime empire in the 7th-9th centuries. Srivijaya was Buddhist, but unlike the rice kingdoms of Java it did not build great monuments or structures, focusing instead on trade. Srivijayan sailors apparently reached Madagascar and the East African coast by AD 500. In its early years, the kingdom also dominated the coastlines of mainland Asia as far east as Cambodia.

Srivijaya was forgotten for five centuries until the 1920s, when a French historian rediscovered its existence by reading Chinese and Khmer texts describing the vibrant kingdom. Little physical evidence remains of Srivijaya. The second royal palace at Jambi is said to have been excavated and destroyed by the Sultan of Malacca. The ancient bricks were transported to Malacca and used for the construction of the sultan's kraton.

Artifacts, Structures, and Other Remnants

Some of the best archaeological evidence of the kingdom is found in Chaiya in modern-day Thailand. These structures were built around AD 700.

Wat Phra Borom That Temple (Reconstructed)
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/749/phrathatchaiya11gy1.jpg

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6282/phrathatchaiya14gt7.jpg

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1209/chaiya2au5.jpg

Nearby Ruins
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Chaiya_Wat_Kaew.jpg/800px-Chaiya_Wat_Kaew.jpg

http://www.anthroarcheart.org/grfx/z555f.JPG

http://www.anthroarcheart.org/grfx/z553f.JPG


Muara Takus in Riau, which may or may not be of Srivijayan origin
http://p.vtourist.com/2865535-candi_muara_takus_hari-Pekanbaru.jpg

http://home.wanadoo.nl/zoontjes/photos/gallery/muara/muara04.jpg

http://www.bhumisambhara.org/Gambar/Candi-Muara-Takus-2.jpg

Other Sumatran ruins are found in the Muaro Jambi complex, but I can't find good pictures.


Some Srivijayan art
http://www.thailandsworld.com/img/art_architecture/SrivijayaGrabiBuddha.jpg

http://www.thailandsworld.com/img/art_architecture/SrivijayabronzefromChaiya.jpg

http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/aany2004/33dynasties/naga.jpg


If anyone else has good pictures, please post them here.