Indonesia

History of Indonesia
Etymology
 Etymology

• The name Indonesia derives from the Greek words Indos and nesos, meaning
Indian Islands

• In 1850, George Windsor Earl proposed the terms Indunesians for the
inhabitants of the Indian Archipelago or Malay Archipelago

• Adolf Bastian of the University of Berlin popularized the name through his
book Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipels, 1884 - 1894

• The rst native scholar to use the name was Ki Hajar Dewantara when in
1913, he established a press bureau in Netherlands, Indonesisch Pers-bureau
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History
History
Early History

• Remains of Homo Erectus suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited

two million to 500,000 years ago

• From 7 CE, the Srivijaya naval kingdom ourished due to trade and in uences
of Hinduism and Buddhism

• From 8 CE - 10 CE, Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived

and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as
Sailendra’s Borobudur and Mataram’s Prambanan

• The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th
century and its in uence stretched over much of present-day Indonesia
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History
Colonial Era

• Francisco Serrao, a Portuguese trader, arrived in 1512 in Indonesia, sought to

monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in the Maluku
Islands

• In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC)
• VOC was dissolved in 1799 following bankruptcy
• The Japanese invasion and occupation during World War II ended the Dutch
rule and encouraged the independence movement

• Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta issued the Proclamation of Indonesian

Independence
History
Post World War II

• Soekarno became the rst president of Indonesia with Mohammad Hatta as

the vice president

• Soekarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism and

maintained power by balancing the opposing forces of the military, political
Islam, and the increasingly powerful Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI)

• Major General Soeharto instigated a violent anti-communist purge, following a

drawn-out power play with Soekarno, Soeharto nally was appointed
president in March 1968
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History
Soeharto New Order Administration

• Soeharto’s New Order administration supported by the United States

• The administration encouraged foreign direct investment
• The 1997 Asian nancial crisis hit Indonesia the hardest and brought out
popular discontent with the New Order’s corruption and suppression of
political opposition and ultimately ended Soeharto’s presidency

• In 1999, East Timor seceded from Indonesia

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History
Presidency

• 1945 - 1950 Soekarno

• 1968 - 1998 Soeharto
• 1999 - 2001 Abdurrahman Wahid
• 2001 - 2004 Megawati Soekarnoputri
• 2004 - 2014 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
• 2014 - 2019 Joko Widodo
History
Vice Presidency

• 1945 - 1956 Mohammad Hatta • 2001 - 2004 Hamzah Haz

• 1973 - 1978 Hamengkubuwono IX • 2004 - 2009 Jusuf Kalla
• 1978 - 1983 Adam Malik • 2009 - 2014 Boediono
• 1983 - 1988 Umar Wirahadikusumah • 2014 - 2019 Jusuf Kalla
• 1988 - 1993 Sudharmono • 2019 - now Ma’aruf Amin
• 1993 - 1998 Try Sutrisno
• 1998 - 1998 B.J. Habibie
• 1999 - 2001 Megawati Soekarnoputri