Hinduism in Indonesia

Hinduism

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Hinduism in Indonesia is practised by 3% of the total population, with 92.29%
in Bali and 15.75% in Central Kalimantan as of the 2000 census. Every Indonesian
citizen is required to be a registered member of one of the acknowledged religious
communities
(Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism,Buddhism, Hinduism or Confucianism).
History
The natives of Indonesian Archipelago practiced indigenous animism and
dynamism, beliefs common to the austronesian people. Native Indonesia venerated
and revered ancestral spirit; they also believe that some spirits may inhabit certain
places such as large trees, stones, forests, mountains, or any sacred place. This
unseen spiritual entity that has supernatural power is identified by ancient Javanese
and Balinese as "hyang" that can mean either divine or ancestral. In
modern Indonesian, "hyang" tends to be associated with God.
Arrival of Buddhism and Hinduism


The 9th century Prambanan Shiva temple, the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia.
Hindu influences reached the Indonesian Archipelago as early as first century.
There are several theories as to how Hinduism reached Indonesia. The Vaishya
idea is that intermarriage occurred between Indian traders/merchants and
Indonesian natives. Another theory (Kshatriya) believes that defeated soldiers from
India found solace in Indonesia. Third, the Brahmana take a more traditional point
of view that missionaries spread Hinduism to the islands. Lastly, the nationalist
(Bhumiputra) theory is that Indonesians chose the culture themselves after having
traveled to India. In 4th century, the kingdom of Kutai in East
Kalimantan, Tarumanagara in West Java, and Holing (Kalingga) in Central Java,
were among the early Hindu states established in the region. Several notable
ancient Indonesian Hindu kingdoms are Mataram, famous for the construction of
the majesticPrambanan temple, followed by Kediri and Singhasari. Since then
Hinduism along with Buddhism spread across the archipelago and reached the
peak of its influence in the 14th century. The last and largest among Hindu-
Buddhist Javanese empires, Majapahit, influenced the Indonesian archipelago.
General beliefs and practices


Acintya is the Supreme God in BalineseHinduism.
Practitioners of Agama Hindu Dharma share many common beliefs, which
include:
A belief in one supreme being called 'Ida Sanghyang Widi Wasa',
'Sang Hyang Tunggal', or 'Sang Hyang Acintya'. God Almighty in the
Torajanese culture of Central Sulawesi is known as "Puang Matua" in Aluk to
dolo belief.
A belief that all of the gods are manifestations of this supreme being. This
belief is the same as the belief of Smartism, which also holds that the different
forms of God, Vishnu, Siva are different aspects of the same Supreme Being.
Lord Shiva is also worshipped in other forms such as "Batara Guru" and
"Maharaja Dewa" (Mahadeva) are closely identified with the Sun in local forms
of Hinduism or Kebatinan, and even in the genie lore of Muslims.
[1]

A belief in the Trimurti, consisting of:
Brahma, the creator
Wisnu or Vishnu, the preserver
iwa or Shiva, the destroyer
A belief in all of the other Hindu gods and goddesses (Hyang, Dewata and
Batara-Batari)

The sacred texts found in Agama Hindu Dharma are the Vedas. They are the basis
of Balinese Hinduism. Other sources of religious information include
the Puranas and the Itihasa (mainly Ramayana and the Mahabharata).

One of Hinduism's primary ethical concerns is the concept of ritual purity. Another
important distinguishing feature, which traditionally helps maintain ritual purity, is
the division of society into the traditional occupational groups, or varna of
Hinduism: Brahmins (priests, brahmana in Indonesian),Kshatriya (ruler-
warriors, satriya or "Deva" in Indonesian), Vaishya (merchants-farmers, waisya in
Indonesian), and Shudra (commoners-servants,sudra in Indonesian). Like Islam
and Buddhism, Hinduism was greatly modified when adapted to Indonesian
society.

The caste system, although present in form, was never rigidly applied. The
epics Mahabharata (Great Battle of the Descendants of Bharata)
andRamayana (The Travels of Rama), became enduring traditions among
Indonesian believers, expressed in shadow puppet (wayang) and dance
performances.

The Indonesian government has recognized Hinduism as one of the country's six
officially sanctioned monotheistic religions, along with Islam, Protestantism,

Catholicism, Buddhism andConfucianism. However the government do not
recognize indigenous tribal belief systems as official religion. As a result,
followers of various native animistic religions such as Dayak Kaharinganhave
identified themselves as Hindu in order to avoid pressure to convert to Islam or
Christianity. Several native tribal beliefs such as Sundanese Sunda
Wiwitan, Torajan Aluk To Dolo, and BatakMalim although different than
Indian influenced Balinese Hinduism might sought affiliations with Hinduism
in order to survive, while in the same time also tried preserving their distinction to
mainstream Indonesian Hinduism dominated by Balinese. Furthermore, Indonesian
nationalists have laid great stress on the achievements of the Majapahit Empire a
Hindu state which has helped attract certain Indonesians to Hinduism. These
factors have led to a certain resurgence of Hinduism outside of its Balinese
stronghold.



Hinduism in Bali


The Hindu Balinese temple offering
Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual, and is less closely
preoccupied with scripture, law, and belief than Islam in Indonesia. Balinese
Hinduism lacks the traditional Hindu emphasis on cycles of rebirth and
reincarnation, but instead is concerned with a myriad of hyangs, the local and
ancestral spirits. As with kebatinan, these deities are thought to be capable of good
or harm. Balinese place great emphasis on dramatic and aesthetically satisfying
acts of ritual propitiation of these spirits at temple sites scattered throughout
villages and in the countryside.
The Balinese temple is called Pura, and unlike the common towering Indian Hindu
Temple with interior space, the Balinese temple is designed as an open air worship
place within enclosed walls, connected with series of intricately decorated gates to
reach its compounds. Each of these temples has a more or less fixed membership;
every Balinese belongs to a temple by virtue of descent, residence, or some
mystical revelation of affiliation. Some temples are associated with the family
house compound (also called banjar in Bali), others are associated with rice fields,
and still others with key geographic sites.
Ritualized states of self-control (or lack thereof) are a notable feature of religious
expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their
graceful and decorous behavior. One key ceremony at a village temple, for
instance, features a special performance of a dance-drama, a battle between the
mythical characters Rangda the witch (representing adharma, something like
disorder) and Barong the protective predator (mostly like a lion)
(representing dharma), in which performers fall into a trance and attempt to stab
themselves with sharp knives. The dramas regularly end apparently undecided,
neither side winning, because the primary purpose is to restore balance.
Rituals of the life cycle are also important occasions for religious expression and
artistic display. Ceremonies at puberty, marriage, and, most notably, cremation at
death provide opportunities for Balinese to communicate their ideas about
community, status, and the afterlife. (The tourist industry has not only supported
spectacular cremation ceremonies among Balinese of modest means, but also has
created a greater demand for them.)
A priest is not affiliated with any temple, but acts as a spiritual leader and adviser
to individual families in various villages scattered over the island. These priests are
consulted when ceremonies requiring holy water are conducted. On other
occasions, folk healers or curers may be hired.
Balinese Hinduism also includes the religious belief of Tabuh Rah,
a religious cockfight where a rooster is used in religious custom by allowing him to
fight against another rooster in the religious cockfight of the Balinese
Hinduism spiritual appeasement exercise of Tabuh Rah, a form of animal sacrifice.
The spilling of blood, Tabuh Rah is necessary as purification to appease the evil
spirits bhuta and kala, and to insure a good harvest. Ritual fights usually take place
outside the temple and follow an ancient and complex ritual as set out in
the sacred lontar manuscripts.
Javanese Hinduism

The Hindu temple at Mount Bromo,Tengger caldera, East Java
Both Java and Sumatra were subject to considerable cultural influence from
the Indian subcontinent during the first and second millennia of the Common Era.
The earliest evidences of Hindu influences in Java can be found in 4th
century Tarumanagara inscriptions scattered around modern Jakarta andBogor. In
the sixth and seventh centuries many maritime kingdoms arose in Sumatra and
Java which controlled the waters in the Straits of Malacca and flourished with the
increasing sea trade between China and India and beyond. During this time,
scholars from India and China visited these kingdoms to translate literary and
religious texts.
From the 4th to the 15th century Hindu kingdoms rose and fell:
Tarumanagara, Kalingga, Medang, Kediri, Sunda, Singhasari and Majapahit. This
era is popularly known as the Javanese Classical Era, during which Hindu-
Buddhist literature, art and architecture flourished and were incorporated into local
culture under royal patronage. During this time, many Hindu temples were built,
including 9th century Prambanan near Yogyakarta, which has been designated
a World Heritage Site.
Among these Hindu kingdoms, the most important was Majapahit, the largest and
the last significant Hindu kingdom in Indonesian history. Majapahit was based in
East Java, from where it ruled a large part of what is now Indonesia. The remnants
of the Majapahit kingdom shifted to Bali during the sixteenth century
as Muslim kingdoms in the coastal part of Java gained influence.
Hinduism has had significant impact and left an obvious imprint in Javanese art
and culture. The wayang puppet performance as well as wayang wong dance and
other Javanese classical dances are derived from episodes of Hindu
epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Although the majority of Javanese now identify
as Muslim, these art forms still survive. Hinduism has survived in varying degrees
and forms on Java; in recent years, conversions to Hinduism have been on the rise,
particularly in regions surrounding a major Hindu religious site, such as
the Klaten region near thePrambanan temple. Certain ethnic groups, such as
the Tenggerese and Osing, are also associated with Hindu religious traditions.
Hinduism elsewhere in the archipelago
Among the non-Balinese communities considered to be Hindu by the government
are, for example, the Dayak adherents of the Kaharingan religion in Kalimantan
Tengah, where government statistics counted Hindus as 15.8% of the population as
of 1995. Nationally, Hindus represented only around 2% of the population in the
early 1990s.

Many Manusela and Nuaulu people of Seram follow Naurus, a syncretism of
Hinduism with animist and Protestant elements.
Similarly, the Tana Toraja of Sulawesi have identified their animistic religion as
Hindu.
The Batak of Sumatra have identified their animist traditions with Hinduism.
The Tamils of Sumatra and the Indians in Jakarta practice their own form of
Hinduism which is similar to the Indian Hinduism, the Indians celebrating Hindu
holidays more commonly found in India, such as Deepawali
The Bodha sect of Sasak people on the island of Lombok are non-Muslim; their
religion is a fusion of Hinduism and Buddhism with animism; it is considered
Buddhist by the government.
Hindu holidays in Indonesia


The Balinese Om symbol
Hari Raya Galungan Galungan occurs every 210 days and lasts for 10 days. It
celebrates the coming of the gods and the ancestral spirits to earth to dwell again in
the homes of their descendants. The festivities are characterized by offerings,
dances and new clothes. The ancestors must be suitably entertained and welcomed,
and prayers and offerings must be made for them. Families whose ancestors have
not been cremated yet, but remain buried in the village cemetery, must make
offerings at the graves. Kuningan is the last day of the holiday, when the gods and
ancestors depart until the next Galungan.
Hari Raya Saraswati Saraswati is the goddess of learning, science, and
literature. She rules the intellectual and creative realm, and is the patron goddess of
libraries and schools. Balinese Hindus believe that knowledge is an essential
medium to achieve the goal of life as a human being, and so honor her. She is also
celebrated because she succeeded in taming the wandering and lustful mind of her
consort, Brahma, who was preoccupied with the goddess of material
existence, Shatarupa. On this day no one is allowed to read or write, and offerings
are made to the lontar (palm-leaf manuscripts), books, and shrines.
Saraswati Day is celebrated every 210-days on Saniscara Umanis Wuku
Watugunung and marks the start of the new year according to the Balinese
Pawukon calendar. Ceremonies and prayers are held at the temples in family
compounds, villages and businesses from morning to noon. Prayers are also held in
school or any other learning institution temples. Teachers and students abandon
their uniforms for the day in place of bright and colourful ceremony gear, filling
the island with color. Children bring fruit and traditional cakes to school for
offerings at the temple.
Hari Raya Nyepi Nyepi is a Hindu Day of Silence or the Hindu New Year in the
Balinese Saka calendar. The largest celebrations are held in Bali as well as in
Balinese Hindu communities around Indonesia. On New Year's Eve the villages
are cleaned, food is cooked for two days and in the evening as much noise is made
as possible to scare away the devils. On the following day, Hindus do not leave
their homes, cook or engage in any activity. Streets are deserted, and tourists are
not allowed to leave hotel complexes.
Nyepi is determined using the Balinese calendar (see below), the eve of Nyepi
falling on the night of the new moon whenever it occurs around March/April each
year. Therefore, the date for Nyepi changes every year, and there is not a constant
number of days difference between each Nyepi as there is for such days as
Galungan and Kuningan. To find out when Nyepi falls in a given year, you will
need information on the cycles of the moon for that year. Whenever the new moon
falls between mid-March and mid-April, that night will be the night of great
activity and exorcism island-wide, while the next day will be the day of total peace
and quiet, where everything stops for a day.
Political context
While many Javanese have retained aspects of their indigenous
and Hindu traditions through the centuries of Islamic influence, under the banner
of 'Javanist religion' (kejawen) or a non-orthodox 'Javanese Islam' (abangan, cf.
Geertz 1960), no more than a few isolated communities have consistently upheld
Hinduism as the primary mark of their public identity. One of these exceptions are
the people of the remote Tengger highlands (Hefner 1985, 1990) in the province of
Eastern Java.
Official recognition
Officially identifying their religion as Hinduism was not a legal possibility for
Indonesians until 1962, when it became the fifth state-recognized religion. This
recognition was initially sought by Balinese religious organizations and granted for
the sake of Bali, where the majority were Hindu. The largest of these
organizations, Parisada Hindu Dharma Bali, changed its name to P.H.D. Indonesia
(PHDI) in 1964, reflecting subsequent efforts to define Hinduism as a national
rather than just a Balinese concern (Ramstedt 1998).
Religious identity became a life and death issue for many Indonesians around the
same time as Hinduism gained recognition, in the wake of the violent anti-
Communist purge of 1965-66 (Beatty 1999). Persons lacking affiliation with a
state recognized-religion tended to be classed as atheists and hence suspected as
communists.
Despite the inherent disadvantages of joining a national religious minority, a deep
concern for the preservation of their traditional ancestor religions made Hinduism a
more palatable option than Islam for several ethnic groups in the outer islands.
In the early seventies, the Toraja people of Sulawesi were the first to realize this
opportunity by seeking shelter for their indigenous ancestor religion under the
broad umbrella of 'Hinduism', followed by the Karo Batak of Sumatra in 1977
(Bakker 1995).
In central and southern Kalimantan, a large Hindu movement has grown among the
local indigenous Dayak population which lead to a mass declaration of 'Hinduism'
on this island in 1980. However, this was different to the Javanese case, in that
conversions followed a clear ethnic division. Indigenous Dayak were confronted
with a mostly Muslim population of government-sponsored (and predominantly
Madurese) migrants and officials, and deeply resentful at the dispossession of their
land and its natural resources.
Compared to their counterparts among Javanese Hindus, many Dayak leaders were
also more deeply concerned about Balinese efforts to standardize Hindu ritual
practice nationally; fearing a decline of their own unique 'Hindu Kaharingan'
traditions and renewed external domination.
By contrast, most Javanese were slow to consider Hinduism at the time, lacking a
distinct organization along ethnic lines and fearing retribution from locally
powerful Islamic organizations like the Nahdatul Ulama (NU). The youth wing of
the NU had been active in the persecution not only of communists but of 'Javanist'
or 'anti-Islamic' elements within Sukarno's Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI)
during the early phase of the killings (Hefner 1987). Practitioners of 'Javanist'
mystical traditions thus felt compelled to declare themselves Muslims out of a
growing concern for their safety.
Under Suharto's Rule
The initial assessment of having to abandon 'Javanist' traditions in order to survive
in an imminent Islamic state proved incorrect. President Sukarno's eventual
successor, Suharto, adopted a distinctly nonsectarian approach in his so-called 'new
order' (orde baru) regime. Old fears resurfaced, however, with Suharto's 'Islamic
turn' in the 1990s. Initially a resolute defender of Javanist values, Suharto began to
make overtures to Islam at that time, in response to wavering public and military
support for his government.
A powerful signal was his authorization and personal support of the new
'Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals' (ICMI), an organization whose
members openly promoted the Islamization of Indonesian state and society (Hefner
1997). Concerns grew as ICMI became the dominant civilian faction in the
national bureaucracy, and initiated massive programs of Islamic education and
mosque-building through the Ministry of Religion (departemen agama), once again
targeting Javanist strongholds. Around the same time, there were a series of mob
killings by Muslim extremists of people they suspected to have been practising
traditional Javanese methods of healing by magical means.
In terms of their political affiliation, many contemporary Javanists and recent
converts to Hinduism had been members of the old PNI, and have now joined the
new nationalist party of Megawati Sukarnoputri. Informants from among this
group portrayed their return to the 'religion of Majapahit' (Hinduism) as a matter of
nationalist pride, and displayed a new sense political self-confidence.
Social context


A shrine dedicated to King Siliwangi in Pura Parahyangan Agung Jagatkartta,Bogor, West Java.
A common feature among new Hindu communities in Java is that they tend to rally
around recently built temples (pura) or around archaeological temple sites (candi)
which are being reclaimed as places of Hindu worship.
The Parisada Hindu Dharma changed its name to Parisada Hindu Dharma
Indonesia in 1984, in recognition of its national influence spearheaded byGedong
Bagus Oka. One of several new Hindu temples in eastern Java is Pura Mandaragiri
Sumeru Agung, located on the slope of Mt. Semeru, Java's highest mountain.
When the temple was completed in July 1992, with the generous aid of wealthy
donors from Bali, only a few local families formally confessed to Hinduism. A
pilot study in December 1999 revealed that the local Hindu community now has
grown to more than 5000 households.
Similar mass conversions have occurred in the region around Pura Agung
Blambangan, another new temple, built on a site with minor archaeological
remnants attributed to the kingdom of Blambangan, the last Hindu polity on Java.
A further important site is Pura Loka Moksa Jayabaya (in the village of Menang
near Kediri), where the Hindu king and prophet Jayabaya is said to have achieved
spiritual liberation (moksa).
A further Hindu movement in the earliest stages of development was observed in
the vicinity of the newly completed Pura Pucak Raung (in the Eastern Javanese
district of Glenmore), which is mentioned in Balinese literature as the place where
the Hindu saint Maharishi Markandeya gathered followers for an expedition
to Bali, whereby he is said to have brought Hinduism to the island in the fifth
century AD.
An example of resurgence around major archaeological remains of ancient Hindu
temple sites was observed in Trowulan near Mojokerto. The site may be the
location of the capital of the Hindu empire Majapahit. A local Hindu movement is
struggling to gain control of a newly excavated temple building which they wish to
see restored as a site of active Hindu worship. The temple is to be dedicated to
Gajah Mada, the man attributed with transforming the small Hindu kingdom
of Majapahit into an empire.
In Karanganyar region in Central Java, the renovated 14th century Cetho temple on
the slope of Mount Lawu has become the center of Javanese Hinduism and gain
patronage of Balinese temples and royal houses. A new temple is being built East
of Solo (Surakarta) It is a Hindu temple that has miniatures of 50 sacred sites
around the world. It is also an active kundalini yoga meditation center teaching the
sacred Javanese tradition of sun and water meditation. There are many westerners
as well as Javanese joining in.
Although there has been a more pronounced history of resistance to Islamization in
East Java, Hindu communities are also expanding in Central Java (Lyon 1980), for
example in Klaten, near the ancient Hindu monuments of Prambanan. Today the
Prambanan temple stages various annual Hindu ceremonies and festivals such as
Galungan and Nyepi.
In West Java, a Hindu temple Pura Parahyangan Agung Jagatkartta was built on
the slope of Mount Salak near the historic site of ancient Sunda
Kingdom capital, Pakuan Pajajaran in modernBogor. The temple, dubbed as the
largest Balinese Hindu temple ever built outside Bali, was meant as the main
temple for the Balinese Hindu population in the Greater Jakarta region. However,
because the temple stands in a Sundanese sacred place, and also hosts a shrine
dedicated to the famous Sundanese king, Prabu Siliwangi, the site has gain
popularity among locals who wish to reconnect their ties with the ancestors.
Economic context
In Bali, next to natural beauty, the elaborate Hindu festivals, rich culture, colorful
art and vivid dances are the main attractions of Balinese tourism. As a result,
tourism and hospitality services are flourishing as one of the most important
sources of income and generation of Balinese economy. This condition is in
contrast with other provinces in Indonesia where the Hindu population is not
significant or is absent, which concludes that Balinese Hindu culture and colorful
rituals are also contributing to its economy.
Census 2000
According to the 2000 census Hindus consisted 1.79% of the total population
(Down from 1.81% in 1990) with 88.05% in Bali (Down from 93.18% in 1990)
and 5.89% in Central Kalimantan (Down from 15.75% in 1990,). The decline in
Bali is largely attributed to a lower birth rate and immigration of Muslims from
Java. In Central Kalimantan there has been progressive settlement of Madurese
from Madura. The details are given below:
Province (2000 Cen) Hindus Total % Hindu
North Sumatra 18,907 11,429,919 0.17%
West Sumatra 0 4,220,318 0.00%
Riau 4,385 4,676,025 0.09%
Jambi 410 2,386,866 0.02%
Province (2000 Cen) Hindus Total % Hindu
South Sumatra 17,874 6,756,564 0.26%
Bengkulu 2,033 1,396,687 0.15%
Lampung 95,458 6,631,686 1.44%
Bangka Belitung Islands 76 945,682 0.01%
DKI Jakarta 19,331 8,482,068 0.23%
West Java 8,177 35,279,182 0.02%
Central Java 28,677 30,775,846 0.09%
D.I. Yogyakarta 2,746 3,026,209 0.09%
East Java 92,930 34,456,897 0.27%
Banten 5,498 7,967,473 0.07%
Bali 2,740,314 3,112,331 88.05%
Nusa Tenggara Barat 115,297 3,805,537 3.03%
Nusa Tenggara Timur 5,698 3,904,373 0.15%
Province (2000 Cen) Hindus Total % Hindu
West Kalimantan 2,914 3,721,368 0.08%
Central Kalimantan 105,256 1,785,875 5.89%
South Kalimantan 6,288 2,956,784 0.21%
East Kalimantan 3,221 2,414,989 0.13%
North Sulawesi 10,994 1,972,813 0.56%
Central Sulawesi 99,443 2,053,167 4.84%
South Sulawesi 87,660 7,759,574 1.13%
Southeast Sulawesi 52,103 1,755,193 2.97%
Gorontalo 0 833,720 0.00%
Irian Jaya 2,068 2,094,803 0.10%
Indonesia 3,527,758 196,601,949 1.79%
DBH Survey 2012
The Hindu organisation Ditjen Bimas Hindu (DBH) carries out periodic surveys
through its close connections with Hindu communities throughout Indonesia. In
2012 its own studies found that there are 10,267,724 Hindus in Indonesia. The
PHDI (Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia) along with other some other religious
minority groups claim that the government undercounts non-Muslims in census
recording. The 2010 census recorded the number of Hindus at 4,012,116, some
80% of them residing in the Hindu heartland of Bali.
[13]

Census of 2010
According to the 2010 Census, there are a total of 4,012,116 Hindus in Indonesia.
[14]

Province Total Hindu % Hindu 2010 % Hindu 2000 Change
Indonesia 237,641,326 4,012,116 1.69% 1.79%

Aceh 4,494,410 136 0.00% 0.01% -0.01%
Sumatera Utara 12,982,204 14,644 0.11% 0.17% -0.06%
Sumatera Barat 4,846,909 234 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Riau 5,538,367 1,076 0.02% 0.09% -0.07%
Jambi 3,092,265 582 0.02% 0.02% 0.00%
Sumatera Selatan 7,450,394 39,206 0.53% 0.26% 0.27%
Bengkulu 1,715,518 3,727 0.22% 0.15% 0.07%
Lampung 7,608,405 113,512 1.49% 1.44% 0.05%
Kep. Bangka Belitung 1,223,296 1,040 0.09% 0.01% 0.08%
Kepulauan Riau 1,679,163 1,541 0.09% 0.37% -0.28%
Province Total Hindu % Hindu 2010 % Hindu 2000 Change
DKI Jakarta 9,607,787 20,364 0.21% 0.23% -0.02%
Jawa Barat 43,053,732 19,481 0.05% 0.02% 0.03%
Jawa Tengah 32,382,657 17,448 0.05% 0.09% -0.04%
DI Yogyakarta 3,457,491 5,257 0.15% 0.09% 0.06%
Jawa Timur 37,476,757 112,177 0.30% 0.27% 0.03%
Banten 10,632,166 8,189 0.08% 0.07% 0.01%
Bali 3,890,757 3,247,283 83.46% 88.05% -4.59%
Nusa Tenggara Barat 4,500,212 118,083 2.62% 3.03% -0.41%
Nusa Tenggara Timur 4,683,827 5,210 0.11% 0.15% -0.04%
Kalimantan Barat 4,395,983 2,708 0.06% 0.08% -0.02%
Kalimantan Tengah 2,212,089 11,149 0.50% 5.89% -5.39%
Kalimantan Selatan 3,626,616 16,064 0.44% 0.21% 0.23%
Kalimantan Timur 3,553,143 7,657 0.22% 0.13% 0.09%
Province Total Hindu % Hindu 2010 % Hindu 2000 Change
Sulawesi Utara 2,270,596 13,133 0.58% 0.56% 0.02%
Sulawesi Tengah 2,635,009 99,579 3.78% 4.84% -1.06%
Sulawesi Selatan 8,034,776 58,393 0.73% 1.13% -0.40%
Sulawesi Tenggara 2,232,586 45,441 2.04% 2.97% -0.93%
Gorontalo 1,040,164 3,612 0.35% 0.00% 0.35%
Sulawesi Barat 1,158,651 16,042 1.38% 1.88% -0.50%
Maluku 1,533,506 5,669 0.37% NA 0.00%
Maluku Utara 1,038,087 200 0.02% 0.02% 0.00%
Papua Barat 760,422 859 0.11% 0.68% -0.57%
Papua 2,833,381 2,420 0.09% 0.16%
-0.07%


Balinese Hinduism
Balinese Hinduism, (Indonesian: Hindu Dharma), is the form of Hinduism practiced by the majority of the
population of Bali.
History[edit]


A Hindu shrine, orPadmasana outside a house in Bali
Hinduism came to Indonesia from India in the fifth century CE. It was gradually replaced by Buddhism, which
was the main religion of Sumatra and Java until it in turn was displaced by the coming of Islam from the 14th
century CE. However, due to cultural barriers, Bali became the only part of Indonesia to remain Hindu.
[1][2]

Key beliefs[edit]
The fundamental principle underlying Hinduism is that there is order in the cosmos, known as dharma. There is
also a disordering force, adharma. Hindus seek balance and harmony between these two forces, thus freeing
themselves from the never-ending cycle of reincarnation, attaining a state called moksa.
[3][4]

Balinese Hinduism divides the cosmos into three layers. The highest level is heaven, or suarga, the abode of
the gods. Next is the world of man, buwah. Below this is hell or bhur, where the demons live and where
people's spirits are punished for misdeeds on earth. This tripartite division is mirrored in the human body (head,
body and feet) and the shrines found outside Balinese buildings.
[3][5]

Gods[edit]
Along with the traditional Hindu gods such as Vishnu and Brahma, Balinese Hindus worship a range of deities
unique to their branch of the religion.
[6]
The supreme god of Balinese Hinduism is Saang Hyang Widhi Wasa.
However, this is a relatively recent addition to the pantheon. The name was originally contrived
by Christianmissionaries as a Balinese language name for the Christian God. It was later adopted by the
Balinese to make it clear that their religion had a single supreme god in line with the first principle of the
Indonesian state philosophy Pancasila.
[7]
The empty chair at the top of the padmasana shrine found outside
houses and temples is for Saang Hyang Widhi Wasa
[8]
Other gods include Dewi Sri, the goddess of rice and
gods associated with mountains, lakes and the sea.
Clergy[edit]
There are three levels of priests:
[9][10]

High priests (pedanda): Members of the Brahma caste
Temple priests (pemangku): Usually of the Sudra caste
Mediums/healers (balian)
Rituals[edit]
There are five sacrificial rituals, known as panca yudha in Balinese Hinduism:
[11]

dewa yadnya for gods and deities
buta yadnya for spirits and demons
resi yadnya consecration of clergy
manusa yadnya human life from weddings, childbirth, growing up and starting a family
pitra yadnya for death and reincarnation
Rites of passage: birth and life[edit]
There are a total of 13 ceremonies concerned with life from conception until, but not including, death, each of
which have four elements: placation of evil spirits, purification with holy water, wafting of essence and prayer.
These ceremonies mark major events in a person's life, including birth, puberty, tooth filing and marriage.
[10]
A
new-born baby is believed to represent the soul of an ancestor, and is regarded as a god for the first 42 days of
its life; however the mother is regarded as impure, and it not allowed to participate in any religious activities
during this period. A baby must not touch the impure ground until it is 105 days old, half way to the celebration
of its first birthday according to the 210-day Balinese pawukon calendar. Once the child reaches puberty, the
six upper canine teeth are filed until they are even.
[12][13]

Marriage is seen as obligatory for Balinese Hindus, both for the establishment of a family and for the enhanced
position in the village social structure accorded to the husband. Giving birth to children guarantees the
patrilineal line, as well as ensuring there is somebody to perform the appropriate rituals essential for
reincarnation. It marks the attainment of adulthood.
[12][13][14]

Rites of passage: death and reincarnation[edit]
The most important ceremonies take place after death, and result in the soul being freed to be eventually
reincarnated. Unlike the death rites of other religions, the physical body is not the focus, as it is seen as nothing
more than a temporary container of the soul and fit only for expedient disposal. In fact, the body must be
burned before the soul can leave it completely. The cremation ceremony to bring this about can be extremely
expensive because an elaborate ceremony is a way of showing respect for a soul destined to become a god
with considerable powers over those left behind. Therefore bodies are sometimes temporarily buried until the
family is able to accumulate enough funds for a cremation, although the bodies of priests or high class families
are preserved above ground.
[15][16]

Festivals[edit]
Galungan and Kuningan[edit]
Main article: Galungan
The most important festival is Galungan, a celebration of the triumph of dharma over adharma. It is calculated
according to the 210-day Balinese pawukon calendar and takes place on the Wednesday (Buda) of the
eleventh week (Dunggulan). According to tradition, the spirits of the dead descend form heaven, to return ten
days later on Kuningan.
Nyepi[edit]
Main article: Nyepi
Nyepi, or the Day of Silence, makes the start of the Balinese Saka year, and is marked on the first day of the
10th month, Kedasa. It usually falls in March.
[17]

Other festivals[edit]
Watugunung, the last day of the pawukon calendar, is devoted to Saraswati, goddess of learning. Although it is
devoted to books, reading is not allowed. The fourth day of the year is called Pagerwesi, meaning "iron fence".
It commemorates a battle between good and evil.
[18]

Professions and Colors[edit]
Bali does not have a caste system as the Indian version but a system called 'Wangsa' which is related to the
professions of the ancestors. This is NOT to be confused with caste. There are four basic wangsa or
professions, known collectively as caturwangsa all Balinese belong to this group. The top three wangsa
are, Brahmana, Satria (or Ksatriya) and Wesia (or Wesya) represent nobility, and are known as triwangsa. The
fourth and most common wangsa is Sudra.
These wangsa groups are subdivided, and each has certain names associated with it. The teachers and
priests, Brahmanans, have five subdivisions, and are said to be descended from one individual. Men and
women have Ida as the first name. The Ksatriya are traditionally rulers and warriors. Typical names of this
wangsa are Dewa Agung, Anak Agung and I Dewa. The Wesia, most of whom are called Gusti, are considered
to have been merchants of different kinds. The most common wangsa in Bali in terms of numbers, is Sudra
90 percent of Balinese Hindus belong to it which are the common people as farmers and others. The Pandes or
Blacksmiths have a special 'clan' that is not mentioned in the Catur Wangsa group but is considered especially
important for its skilled works and being the smithers of fire, Dewa Agni or Dewa Brahma.
History of Indonesia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Part of a series on the
History of Indonesia

Prehistory
Early kingdoms
Kutai 300s
Tarumanagara 358669
Kalingga 500s600s
Srivijaya 600s1200s
Sunda 6691579
Medang 7521006
Kahuripan 10061045
Kediri 10451221
Singhasari 12221292
Majapahit 12931500
Rise of Muslim states
Spread of Islam 12001600
Ternate Sultanate 1257present
Samudera Pasai Sultanate 12671521
Malacca Sultanate 14001511
Cirebon Sultanate 14451677
Demak Sultanate 14751548
Aceh Sultanate 14961903
Pagaruyung Kingdom 15001825
Banten Sultanate 15261813
Mataram Sultanate 1500s1700s
European colonisation
Portuguese 15121850
Dutch East India Co. 16021800
Netherlands East
Indies
18001942, 19451950

Emergence of Indonesia
National Awakening 19081942
Japanese occupation 19421945
National Revolution 19451950
Independence
Liberal democracy 19501957
Guided Democracy 19571965
Transition 19651966
New Order 19661998
Reformasi 1998present
Timeline
Indonesia portal
V
T
E
See also: Timeline of Indonesian history
The history of Indonesia has been shaped by its geographic position, its natural resources, a series of human
migrations and contacts, wars and conquests, as well as by trade, economics and politics. Indonesia is
an archipelagic country of 17,508 islands (6,000 inhabited) stretching along the equator in South East Asia.
The country's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade; trade has since
fundamentally shaped Indonesian history. The area of Indonesia is populated by peoples of various migrations,
creating a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, andlanguages. The archipelago's landforms and climate significantly
influenced agriculture and trade, and the formation of states. The boundaries of the state of Indonesia
represent the twentieth century borders of the Dutch East Indies.
Fossilised remains of Homo erectus and his tools, popularly known as the "Java Man", suggest the Indonesian
archipelago was inhabited by at least 1.5 million years ago. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the
modern population, are thought to have originally been from Taiwan and arrived in Indonesia around
2000 BCE. From the 7th century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished
bringing Hindu and Buddhistinfluences with it. The agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and
Hindu Mataram dynasties subsequently thrived and declined in inland Java. The last significant non-Muslim
kingdom, the Hindu Majapahit kingdom, flourished from the late 13th century, and its influence stretched over
much of Indonesia. The earliest evidence of Islamised populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in
northern Sumatra; other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam which became the dominant religion
in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing
cultural and religious influences.
Europeans arrived in Indonesia from the 16th century seeking to monopolise the sources of
valuable nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India
Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power by 1610. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was
formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies under
government control. By the early 20th century, Dutch dominance extended to the current boundaries.
The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation in 1942-45 during WWII ended Dutch rule, and encouraged
the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in
August 1945, nationalist leader, Sukarno, declared independence and became president. The Netherlands
tried to reestablish its rule, but a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the
face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognised Indonesian independence.
An attempted coup in 1965 led to a violent army-led anti-communist purge in which over half a million people
were killed. General Suharto politically outmanoeuvred President Sukarno, and became president in March
1968. His New Order administration garnered the favour of the West whose investment in Indonesia was a
major factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth. In the late 1990s, however,
Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the East Asian Financial Crisis which led to popular protests and
Suharto's resignation on 21 May 1998. TheReformasi era following Suharto's resignation, has led to a
strengthening of democratic processes, including a regional autonomy program, the secession of East Timor,
and the first direct presidential election in 2004. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption,
natural disasters, and terrorism have slowed progress. Although relations among different religious and ethnic
groups are largely harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain problems in some areas.
Contents
[hide]
1 Prehistory
2 Hindu-Buddhist civilizations
o 2.1 Early kingdoms
o 2.2 Medang
o 2.3 Srivijaya
o 2.4 Singhasari and Majapahit
3 The age of Islamic states
o 3.1 The spread of Islam
o 3.2 Sultanate of Mataram
o 3.3 The Sultanate of Banten
4 Colonial era
o 4.1 The Portuguese
o 4.2 Dutch East-India Company
o 4.3 Dutch state rule
5 The emergence of Indonesia
o 5.1 Indonesian National Awakening
o 5.2 Japanese occupation
o 5.3 Indonesian National Revolution
6 Sukarno's presidency
o 6.1 Democratic experiment
o 6.2 Guided Democracy
o 6.3 Sukarno's revolution and nationalism
7 The New Order
o 7.1 Transition to the New Order
o 7.2 Entrenchment of the New Order
o 7.3 Annexation of West Irian
o 7.4 Annexation of East Timor
o 7.5 Transmigration
8 Reformation Era
o 8.1 Pro-democracy movement
o 8.2 Economic crisis and Suharto's resignation
o 8.3 Politics since 1999
o 8.4 Terrorism
o 8.5 Tsunami disaster and Aceh peace deal
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Prehistory[edit]


The replica of Java man skull, originally discovered in Sangiran, Central Java.
Main article: Prehistoric Indonesia
In 2007 analysis of cut marks on two bovid bones found in Sangiran, showed them to have been made 1.5 to
1.6 million years ago by clamshell tools. This is the oldest evidence for the presence of early man in Indonesia.
Fossilised remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as the "Java Man" were first discovered by the Dutch
anatomist Eugne Dubois at Trinil in 1891, and are at least 700,000 years old, at that time the oldest human
ancestor ever found. Further Homo erectusfossils of a similar age were found at Sangiran in the 1930`s by
the anthropologist Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald, who in the same time period also uncovered fossils
at Ngandong alongside more advanced tools, re-dated in 2011 to between 550,000 and 143,000 years
old.
[1][2]
In 1977 another Homo erectusskull was discovered at Sambungmacan
[3]

In 2003, on the island of Flores, fossils of a new small hominid dated between 74,000 and 13,000 years old and
named "Flores Man" (Homo floresiensis) were discovered much to the surprise of the scientific
community.
[4]
This 3 foot tall hominid is thought to be a species descended from Homo Erectus and reduced in
size over thousands of years by a well known process called island dwarfism. Flores Man seems to have
shared the island with modern Homo sapiens until only 12,000 years ago, when they became extinct. In 2010
stone tools were discovered on Flores dating from 1 million years ago, which is the oldest evidence anywhere
in the world that early man had the technology to make sea crossings at this very early time.
[5]

The archipelago was formed during the thaw after the latest ice age. Early humans to travelled by sea and
spread from mainland Asia eastward to New Guinea and Australia. Homo sapiensreached the region by around
45,000 years ago.
[6]
In 2011 evidence was uncovered in neighbouring East Timor, showing that 42,000 years
ago these early settlers had high-level maritime skills, and by implication the technology needed to make ocean
crossings to reach Australia and other islands, as they were catching and consuming large numbers of big
deep sea fish such as tuna.
[7]

Austronesian people form the majority of the modern population. They may have arrived in Indonesia around
2000 BCE and are thought to have originated in Taiwan.
[8]
Dong Son culture spread to Indonesia bringing with
it techniques of wet-field rice cultivation, ritual buffalo sacrifice, bronze casting, megalithic practises,
and ikat weaving methods. Some of these practices remain in areas including the Batak areas of
Sumatra, Toraja in Sulawesi, and several islands in Nusa Tenggara. Early Indonesians were animists who
honoured the spirits of the dead as their souls or life force could still help the living.
Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the 8th century
BCE,
[9]
allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the 1st century CE. These kingdoms (little
more than collections of villages subservient to petty chieftains) evolved with their own ethnic and tribal
religions. Java's hot and even temperature, abundant rain and volcanic soil, was perfect for wet rice cultivation.
Such agriculture required a well organized society in contrast to dry-field rice which is a much simpler form of
cultivation that doesn't require an elaborate social structure to support it.
Buni culture clay pottery was flourished in coastal northern West Java and Banten around 400 BCE to 100
CE
[10]
The Buni culture was probably the predecessor of Tarumanagara kingdom, one of the earliest Hindu
kingdom in Indonesia that produces numerous inscriptions, which marked the beginning of historical period in
Java.
Hindu-Buddhist civilizations[edit]
Early kingdoms[edit]
Indonesia like much of Southeast Asia was influenced by Indian culture.
[11]
From the second century, through
the Indian Dynasties like the Pallava dynasty, Gupta Empire, Pala Empire and Chola Empire in the succeeding
centuries up to the 12th century, Indian culture spread across all of Southeast Asia.
[11]



1600-year-old stone inscription from the era of Purnawarman, king ofTarumanagara, founded in Tugu sub-district of Jakarta.
References to the Dvipantara or Yawadvipa, a Hindu kingdom in Java and Sumatra appear in Sanskrit writings
from 200 BCE. In India's earliest epic, theRamayana, Sugriva, the chief of Rama's army dispatched his men to
Yawadvipa, the island of Java, in search of Sita.
[12]
The earliest archeological relic discovered in Indonesia is
from the Ujung Kulon National Park, West Java, where an early Hindu statue of Ganesha estimated from the
1st century CE was found on the summit of Mount Raksa in Panaitan island. There is also archeological
evidence of Sunda kingdom in West Java dating from the 2nd-century, andJiwa Temple in Batujaya,
Karawang, West Java was probably built around this time. South Indian culture was spread to Southeast Asia
by the south IndianPallava dynasty in the 4th and 5th century.
[13]
and by 5th century, stone inscriptions written
in Pallava scripts were found in Java and Borneo.


8th century Borobudur buddhist monument, Sailendra dynasty
A number of Hindu and Buddhist states flourished and then declined across Indonesia.
One such early kingdom was Tarumanagara, which flourished between 358 and 669 CE. Located in West
Java close to modern-day Jakarta, its 5th century king, Purnawarman, established the earliest known
inscriptions in Java, theCiaruteun inscription located near Bogor. On this monument, King Purnavarman
inscribed his name and made an imprint of his footprints, as well as his elephant's footprints. The
accompanying inscription reads, "Here are the footprints of King Purnavarman, the heroic conqueror of the
world". This inscription is written in Pallava script and inSanskrit and is still clear after 1500 years.
Purnawarman apparently built a canal that changed the course of the Cakung River, and drained a coastal
area for agriculture and settlement purpose. In his stone inscriptions, Purnawarman associated himself
with Vishnu, and Brahmins ritually secured the hydraulic project.
[14]

Three rough plinths dating from the beginning of the 4th century are found in Kutai, East Kalimantan,
near Mahakam River. The plinths bear an inscription in thePallava script of India reading "A gift to
the Brahmin priests".
The political history of Indonesian archipelago during the 7th to 11th centuries was dominated
by Srivijaya based in Sumatra, also Sailendra that dominated central Java and constructedBorobudur, the
largest Buddhist monument in the world. The history prior of the 14th and 15th centuries is not well known due
to scarcity of evidence. Two major states dominated this period;Majapahit in East Java, the greatest of the pre-
Islamic Indonesian states, and Malacca on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, arguably the greatest of the
Muslim trading empires.
[15]

Medang[edit]


Prambanan in Java; built during the Sanjaya dynasty of Mataram, it is one of the largest Hindu temple complexes in south-
east Asia.
Main article: Medang Kingdom
Medang or previously known as Mataram was an Indianized kingdom based in Central Java around modern-
day Yogyakarta between the 8th and 10th centuries. The center of the kingdom was moved from central Java
to east Java by Mpu Sindok. An eruption of Mount Merapi volcano or a power struggle may have caused the
move.
The first king of Mataram was Sri Sanjaya and left inscriptions in stone.
[16]
The monumental Hindu temple
of Prambanan in the vicinity of Yogyakarta was built by Daksa. Dharmawangsa ordered the translation of
the Mahabharata into Old Javanese in 996.
The kingdom collapsed into chaos at the end of Dharmawangsa's reign under military pressure from Srivijaya.
One of the last major kings of Mataram wasAirlangga who reigned from 1016 until 1049.
[17]
Airlangga was a son
of Udayana of Bali and a relative of Dharmawangsa re-established the kingdom including Bali under the name
of Kahuripan.
Srivijaya[edit]
Main article: Srivijaya


The empire of Srivijaya in Southeast Asia
Srivijaya was an ethnic Malay kingdom on Sumatra which influenced much of the Maritime Southeast Asia.
From the 7th century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences
of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it.
[18]



As early as the 1st century CE Indonesian vessels made trade voyages as far as Africa. Picture: a ship carved onBorobudur,
circa 800 CE.
Srivijaya was centred in the coastal trading centre of present day Palembang. Srivijaya was not a "state" in the
modern sense with defined boundaries and a centralized government to which the citizens own
allegiance.
[19]
Rather Srivijaya was a confederacy form of society centered on a royal heartland.
[20]
It was
athalassocracy and did not extend its influence far beyond the coastal areas of the islands of Southeast Asia.
Trade was the driving force of Srivijaya just as it is for most societies throughout history.
[21]
The Srivijayan navy
controlled the trade that made its way through the Strait of Malacca.
[19]

By the 7th century, the harbors of various vassal states of Srivijaya lined both coasts of the Straits of
Melaka.
[20]
Around this time, Srivijaya had established suzerainty over large areas of Sumatra, western Java,
and much of the Malay Peninsula. Dominating the Malacca and Sunda straits, the empire controlled both
theSpice Route traffic and local trade. It remained a formidable sea power until the 13th century. This spread
the ethnic Malay culture throughout Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and western Borneo. A stronghold
ofVajrayana Buddhism, Srivijaya attracted pilgrims and scholars from other parts of Asia.
The relation between Srivijaya and the Chola Empire of south India was friendly during the reign of Raja Raja
Chola I but during the reign of Rajendra Chola I the Chola Empire attacked Srivijaya cities.
[22]
A series of Chola
raids in the 11th century weakened the Srivijayan hegemony and enabled the formation of regional kingdoms
based, like Kediri, on intensive agriculture rather than coastal and long distance trade. Srivijayan influence
waned by the 11th century. The island was in frequent conflict with the Javanese kingdoms, firstSinghasari and
then Majapahit. Islam eventually made its way to the Aceh region of Sumatra, spreading its influence through
contacts with Arabs and Indian traders. By the late 13th century, the kingdom of Pasai in northern Sumatra
converted to Islam. The last inscription dates to 1374, where a crown prince, Ananggavarman, is mentioned.
Srivijaya ceased to exist by 1414, whenParameswara, the kingdom's last prince, converted to Islam and
founded the Sultanate of Malacca on the Malay peninsula.
Singhasari and Majapahit[edit]


Wringin Lawang, the split gate shows the red brick construction, and strong geometric lines of Majapahit architecture.
Located at Jatipasar, Trowulan, East Java.
Main articles: Singhasari and Majapahit
Despite a lack of historical evidence, it is known that Majapahit was the most dominant of Indonesia's pre-
Islamic states.
[23]
The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and
under Gajah Mada it experienced what is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history,
[24]
when its
influence extended to much of southern Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and Bali
[citation needed]
from about
1293 to around 1500.
The founder of the Majapahit Empire, Kertarajasa, was the son-in-law of the ruler of the Singhasari kingdom,
also based in Java. After Singhasari drove Srivijaya out of Java in 1290, the rising power of Singhasari came to
the attention of Kublai Khan in China and he sent emissaries demanding tribute. Kertanagara, ruler of the
Singhasari kingdom, refused to pay tribute and the Khan sent a punitive expedition which arrived off the coast
of Java in 1293. By that time, a rebel fromKediri, Jayakatwang, had killed Kertanagara. The Majapahit founder
allied himself with the Mongols against Jayakatwang and, once the Singhasari kingdom was destroyed, turned
and forced his Mongol allies to withdraw in confusion.
Gajah Mada, an ambitious Majapahit prime minister and regent from 1331 to 1364, extended the empire's rule
to the surrounding islands. A few years after Gajah Mada's death, the Majapahit navy captured Palembang,
putting an end to the Srivijayan kingdom. Although the Majapahit rulers extended their power over other islands
and destroyed neighbouring kingdoms, their focus seems to have been on controlling and gaining a larger
share of the commercial trade that passed through the archipelago. About the time Majapahit was founded,
Muslim traders and proselytisers began entering the area. After its peak in the 14th century, Majapahit power
began to decline and was unable to control the rising power of the Sultanate of Malacca. Dates for the end of
the Majapahit Empire range from 1478 to 1520. A large number of courtiers, artisans, priests, and members of
the royal family moved east to the island of Bali at the end of Majapahit power.
The age of Islamic states[edit]
The spread of Islam[edit]
Main article: The spread of Islam in Indonesia
The earliest accounts of the Indonesian archipelago date from the Abbasid Caliphate, according to those early
accounts the Indonesian archipelago were famous among early muslim sailors mainly due to its abundance of
precious spice trade commodities such as nutmeg, cloves, galangal and many other spices.
[25]

Although Muslim traders first traveled through South East Asia early in the Islamic era, the spread of
Islam among the inhabitants of the Indonesian archipelago dates to the 13th century in
northern Sumatra.
[26]
Although it is known that the spread of Islam began in the west of the archipelago, the
fragmentary evidence does not suggest a rolling wave of conversion through adjacent areas; rather, it suggests
the process was complicated and slow.
[26]
The spread of Islam was driven by increasing trade links outside of
the archipelago; in general, traders and the royalty of major kingdoms were the first to adopt the new religion.
[27]

Other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam, making it the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the
end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious
influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java.
[27]
Only Bali retained
a Hindu majority. In the eastern archipelago, both Christian and Islamic missionaries were active in the 16th
and 17th centuries, and, currently, there are large communities of both religions on these islands.
[27]

Sultanate of Mataram[edit]
Main article: Sultanate of Mataram


The cemetery compound of MataramSultans in Kota Gede, Yogyakarta.
The Sultanate of Mataram was the third Sultanate in Java, after the Sultanate of Demak Bintoro and the
Sultanate of Pajang.
According to Javanese records, Kyai Gedhe Pamanahan became the ruler of the Mataram area in the 1570s
with the support of the kingdom of Pajangto the east, near the current site of Surakarta (Solo). Pamanahan was
often referred to as Kyai Gedhe Mataram after his ascension.
Pamanahan's son, Panembahan Senapati Ingalaga, replaced his father on the throne around 1584. Under
Senapati the kingdom grew substantially through regular military campaigns against Mataram's neighbors.
Shortly after his accession, for example, he conquered his father's patrons in Pajang.
The reign of Panembahan Seda ing Krapyak (c. 16011613), the son of Senapati, was dominated by further
warfare, especially against powerfulSurabaya, already a major center in East Java. The first contact between
Mataram and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occurred under Krapyak. Dutch activities at the time were
limited to trading from limited coastal settlements, so their interactions with the inland Mataram kingdom were
limited, although they did form an alliance against Surabaya in 1613. Krapyak died that year.
Krapyak was succeeded by his son, who is known simply as Sultan Agung ("Great Sultan") in Javanese
records. Agung was responsible for the great expansion and lasting historical legacy of Mataram due to the
extensive military conquests of his long reign from 1613 to 1646.
After years of war Agung finally conquered Surabaya. The city surrounded by land and sea and starved it into
submission. With Surabaya brought into the empire, the Mataram kingdom encompassed all of central and
eastern Java, and Madura; only in the west did Banten and the Dutch settlement in Batavia remain outside
Agung's control. He tried repeatedly in the 1620s and 1630s to drive the Dutch from Batavia, but his armies
had met their match, and he was forced to share control over Java.
In 1645 he began building Imogiri, his burial place, about fifteen kilometers south of Yogyakarta. Imogiri
remains the resting place of most of the royalty of Yogyakarta and Surakarta to this day. Agung died in the
spring of 1646, with his image of royal invincibility shattered by his losses to the Dutch, but he did leave behind
an empire that covered most of Java and its neighboring islands.
Upon taking the throne, Agung's son Susuhunan Amangkurat I tried to bring long-term stability to Mataram's
realm, murdering local leaders that were insufficiently deferential to him, and closing ports so he alone had
control over trade with the Dutch.
By the mid-1670s dissatisfaction with the king fanned into open revolt. Raden Trunajaya, a prince from Madura,
lead a revolt fortified by itinerant mercenaries from Makassar that captured the king's court at Mataram in mid-
1677. The king escaped to the north coast with his eldest son, the future king Amangkurat II, leaving his
younger son Pangeran Puger in Mataram. Apparently more interested in profit and revenge than in running a
struggling empire, the rebel Trunajaya looted the court and withdrew to his stronghold in East Java leaving
Puger in control of a weak court.
Amangkurat I died just after his expulsion, making Amangkurat II king in 1677. He too was nearly helpless,
though, having fled without an army or treasury to build one. In an attempt to regain his kingdom, he made
substantial concessions to the Dutch, who then went to war to reinstate him. For the Dutch, a stable Mataram
empire that was deeply indebted to them would help ensure continued trade on favorable terms. They were
willing to lend their military might to keep the kingdom together. Dutch forces first captured Trunajaya, then
forced Puger to recognize the sovereignty of his elder brother Amangkurat II. The kingdom collapsed after
a two-year war, in which power plays crippled the Sunan.
The Sultanate of Banten[edit]
Main article: The Sultanate of Banten
In 152425, Sunan Gunung Jati from Cirebon, together with the armies of Demak Sultanate, seized the port of
Banten from the Sunda kingdom, and established The Sultanate of Banten. This was accompanied by Muslim
preachers and the adoption of Islam amongst the local population. At its peak in the first half of the 17th
century, the Sultanate lasted from 1526 to 1813 AD. The Sultanate left many archaeological remains and
historical records.
[28]

Colonial era[edit]
Beginning in the 16th century, successive waves of Europeansthe Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British
sought to dominate the spice trade at its sources in India and the 'Spice Islands' (Maluku) of Indonesia. This
meant finding a way to Asia to cut out Muslim merchants who, with their Venetian outlet in the Mediterranean,
monopolised spice imports to Europe. Astronomically priced at the time, spices were highly coveted not only to
preserve and make poorly preserved meat palatable, but also as medicines and magic potions.
The arrival of Europeans in South East Asia is often regarded as the watershed moment in its history. Other
scholars consider this view untenable,
[29]
arguing that European influence during the times of the early arrivals
of the 16th and 17th centuries was limited in both area and depth. This is in part due to Europe not being the
most advanced or dynamic area of the world in the early 15th century. Rather, the major expansionist force of
this time was Islam; in 1453, for example, the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, while Islam continued
to spread through Indonesia and the Philippines. European influence, particularly that of the Dutch, would not
have its greatest impact on Indonesia until the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Portuguese[edit]
Main article: Portuguese colonialism in Indonesia


The nutmeg plant is native to Indonesia's Banda Islands. Once one of the world's most valuable commodities, it drew the
first European colonial powers to Indonesia.
New found Portuguese expertise in navigation, ship building and weaponry allowed them to make daring
expeditions of exploration and expansion. Starting with the first exploratory expeditions sent from newly
conquered Malacca in 1512, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Indonesia, and sought to
dominate the sources of valuable spices
[30]
and to extend the Catholic Church's missionary efforts. The
Portuguese turned east to Maluku and through both military conquest and alliance with local rulers, they
established trading posts, forts, and missions on the islands of Ternate, Ambon, and Solor among others. The
height of Portuguese missionary activities, however, came at the latter half of the 16th century. Ultimately, the
Portuguese presence in Indonesia was reduced to Solor, Flores and Timor in modern day Nusa Tenggara,
following defeat at the hands of indigenous Ternateans and the Dutch in Maluku, and a general failure to
maintain control of trade in the region.
[31]
In comparison with the original Portuguese ambition to dominate
Asian trade, their influence on Indonesian culture was small: the romantic keroncong guitar ballads; a number
of Indonesian words which reflect Portugueses role as the lingua franca of the archipelago alongside Malay;
and many family names in eastern Indonesia such as da Costa, Dias, de Fretes, Gonsalves, etc. The most
significant impacts of the Portuguese arrival were the disruption and disorganisation of the trade network
mostly as a result of their conquest of Malacca, and the first significant plantings of Christianity in Indonesia.
There have continued to be Christian communities in eastern Indonesia through to the present, which has
contributed to a sense of shared interest with Europeans, particularly among the Ambonese.
[32]

Dutch East-India Company[edit]
Main article: Dutch East India Company in Indonesia


An early 18th-century Dutch map from a time when only the north coastal ports of Java were well known to the Dutch
In 1602, the Dutch parliament awarded the VOC a monopoly on trade and colonial activities in the region at a
time before the company controlled any territory in Java. In 1619, the VOC conquered the West Javan city of
Jayakarta, where they founded the city of Batavia (present-day Jakarta). The VOC became deeply involved in
the internal politics of Java in this period, and fought in a number of wars involving the leaders
of Mataram and Banten.
The Dutch followed the Portuguese aspirations, courage, brutality and strategies but brought better
organization, weapons, ships, and superior financial backing. Although they failed to gain complete control of
the Indonesian spice trade, they had much more success than the previous Portuguese efforts. They exploited
the factionalisation of the small kingdoms in Java that had replaced Majapahit, establishing a permanent
foothold in Java, from which grew a land-based colonial empire which became one of the richest colonial
possessions on earth.
[32]

Dutch state rule[edit]
See also: Dutch East Indies


Batavian (Jakarta) tea factory in the 1860s
After the VOC was dissolved in 1800 following bankruptcy,
[30]
and after a short British rule under Thomas
Stamford Raffles, the Dutch state took over the VOC possessions in 1816. A Javanese uprising was crushed in
the Java War of 18251830. After 1830 a system of forced cultivations and indentured labour was introduced
on Java, the Cultivation System (in Dutch: cultuurstelsel). This system brought the Dutch and their Indonesian
allies enormous wealth. The cultivation system tied peasants to their land, forcing them to work in government-
owned plantations for 60 days of the year. The system was abolished in a more liberal period after 1870. In
1901 the Dutch adopted what they called theEthical Policy, which included somewhat increased investment in
indigenous education, and modest political reforms.
The Dutch colonialists formed a privileged upper social class of soldiers, administrators, managers, teachers
and pioneers. They lived together with the "natives", but at the top of a rigid social and racial caste
system.
[33][34]
The Dutch East Indies had two legal classes of citizens; European and indigenous. A third class,
Foreign Easterners, was added in 1920.
[35]

Upgrading the infrastructure of ports and roads was a high priority for the Dutch, with the goal of modernizing
the economy, pumping wages into local areas, facilitating commerce, and speeding up military movements. By
1950 Dutch engineers had built and upgraded a road network with 12,000 km of asphalted surface, 41,000 km
of metalled road area and 16,000 km of gravel surfaces.
[36]
In addition the Dutch built 7,500 kilometers
(4,700 mi) of railways, bridges, irrigation systems covering 1.4 million hectares (5,400 sq mi) of rice fields,
several harbours, and 140 public drinking water systems. These Dutch constructed public works became the
economic base of the colonial state; after independence they became the basis of the Indonesian
infrastructure.
[37]

For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over its territories in the Indonesian archipelago was tenuous. In
some cases, Dutch police and military actions in parts of Indonesia were quite cruel. Recent discussions, for
example, of Dutch cruelty in Aceh have encouraged renewed research on these aspects of Dutch rule.
[38]
It was
only in the early 20th century, three centuries after the first Dutch trading post, that the full extent of the colonial
territory was established and direct colonial rule exerted across what would become the boundaries of the
modern Indonesian state.
[39]
Portuguese Timor, now East Timor, remained under Portuguese rule until 1975
when it was invaded by Indonesia. The Indonesian government declared the territory an Indonesian province
but relinquished it in 1999.
The emergence of Indonesia[edit]
Indonesian National Awakening[edit]
Main article: Indonesian National Awakening


Sukarno, Indonesian Nationalist leader, and later, first president of Indonesia
In October 1908, the first nationalist movement was formed, Budi Utomo.
[40]
On 10 September 1912, the first
nationalist mass movement was formed--Sarekat Islam.
[41]
By December 1912, Sarekat Islam had 93,000
members.
[20]
The Dutch responded after the First World War with repressive measures. The nationalist leaders
came from a small group of young professionals and students, some of whom had been educated in the
Netherlands. In the postWorld War I era, the Indonesian communists who were associated with the Third
International started to usurp the nationalist movement.
[42]
The repression of the nationalist movement led to
many arrests, including Indonesia's first president, Sukarno (190170), who was imprisoned for political
activities on 29 December 1929.
[43]
Also arrested was Mohammad Hatta, first Vice-President of
Indonesia.
[44]
Additionally, Sutan Sjahrir, who later became the first Prime Minister of Indonesia, was arrested
on this date.
[45]

In 1914 the exiled Dutch socialist Henk Sneevliet founded the Indies Social Democratic Association. Initially a
small forum of Dutch socialists, it would later evolve into the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) in 1924.
[46]
In
the postWorld War I era, the Dutch strongly repressed all attempts at change. This repression led to a growth
of the PKI. By December 1924, the PKI had a membership of 1,140.
[20]
One year later in 1925, the PKI had
grown to 3,000 members.
[20]
In 1926 thru 1927, there was a PKI-led revolt against the Dutch colonialism and
the harsh repression based on strikes of urban workers.
[47]
However, the strikes and the revolt was put down by
the Dutch with some 13,000 nationalists and communists leaders arrested.
[20]
Some 4,500 were given prison
sentences.
[48]

Sukarno was released from prison in December 1931.
[49]
However, Sukarno was re-arrested again on 1 August
1933.
[50]

Japanese occupation[edit]
Main article: Japanese occupation of Indonesia
The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule,
[51]
and encouraged
the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. In May 1940, early inWorld War II, the
Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany. The Dutch East Indies declared a state of siege and in July
redirected exports for Japan to the US and Britain. Negotiations with the Japanese aimed at securing supplies
of aviation fuel collapsed in June 1941, and the Japanese started their conquest of Southeast Asia in
December of that year.
[52]
That same month, factions from Sumatra sought Japanese assistance for a revolt
against the Dutch wartime government. The last Dutch forces were defeated by Japan in March 1942.
In July 1942, Sukarno accepted Japan's offer to rally the public in support of the Japanese war
effort. Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta were decorated by the Emperor of Japan in 1943. However, experience
of the Japanese occupation of Indonesia varied considerably, depending upon where one lived and one's
social position. Many who lived in areas considered important to the war effort experienced torture, sex slavery,
arbitrary arrest and execution, and other war crimes. Thousands taken away from Indonesia as war labourers
(romusha) suffered or died as a result of ill-treatment and starvation. People of Dutch and mixed Dutch-
Indonesian descent were particular targets of the Japanese occupation.
In March 1945 Japan organized an Indonesian committee (BPUPKI) on independence. At its first meeting in
May, Soepomo spoke of national integration and against personal individualism; while Muhammad Yamin
suggested that the new nation should claim Sarawak, Sabah, Malaya, Portuguese Timor, and all the pre-war
territories of the Dutch East Indies. The committee drafted the 1945 Constitution, which remains in force,
though now much amended. On 9 August 1945 Sukarno, Hatta, and Radjiman Wediodiningrat were flown to
meet Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi in Vietnam. They were told that Japan intended to announce Indonesian
independence on 24 August. After the Japanese surrender however, Sukarno unilaterally
proclaimed Indonesian independence on 17 August. A later UN report stated that four million people died in
Indonesia as a result of the Japanese occupation.
[53]

Indonesian National Revolution[edit]
Main article: Indonesian National Revolution


Indonesian flag raising shortly after the declaration of independence.
Under pressure from radical and politicised pemuda ('youth') groups, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed Indonesian
independence, on 17 August 1945, two days after the Japanese Emperors surrender in the Pacific. The
following day, the Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP) declared SukarnoPresident, and Hatta Vice
President.
[54]
Word of the proclamation spread by shortwave and fliers while the Indonesian war-time military
(PETA), youths, and others rallied in support of the new republic, often moving to take over government offices
from the Japanese.
The Netherlands, initially backed by the British, tried to re-establish their rule,
[55]
and a bitter armed and
diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally
recognised Indonesian independence.
[56]
Dutch efforts to re-establish complete control met resistance. At the
end of World War II, a power vacuum arose, and the nationalists often succeeded in seizing the arms of the
demoralised Japanese. A period of unrest with city guerrilla warfare called the Bersiap period ensued. Groups
of Indonesian nationalists armed with improvised weapons (like bamboo spears) and firearms attacked
returning Allied troops. 3,500 Europeans were killed and 20,000 were missing, meaning there were more
European deaths in Indonesia after the war than during the war. After returning to Java, Dutch forces quickly
re-occupied the colonial capital of Batavia (now Jakarta), so the city of Yogyakarta in central Java became the
capital of the nationalist forces. Negotiations with the nationalists led to two major truce agreements, but
disputes about their implementation, and much mutual provocation, led each time to renewed conflict. Within
four years the Dutch had recaptured almost the whole of Indonesia, but guerrilla resistance, led on Java by
commander Nasution persisted. On 27 December 1949, after four years of sporadic warfare and fierce criticism
of the Dutch by the UN, the Netherlands officially recognised Indonesian sovereignty under
the federal structure of the United States of Indonesia (RUSI). On 17 August 1950, exactly five years after the
proclamation of independence, the last of the federal states were dissolved and Sukarno proclaimed a single
unitary Republic of Indonesia.
[57]

Sukarno's presidency[edit]
Democratic experiment[edit]
Main article: Liberal democracy period in Indonesia


Campaign posters for the 1955 Indonesian election.
With the unifying struggle to secure Indonesia's independence over, divisions in Indonesian society began to
appear. These included regional differences in customs, religion, the impact of Christianity and Marxism, and
fears of Javanese political domination. Following colonial rule, Japanese occupation, and war against the
Dutch, the new country suffered from severe poverty, a ruinous economy, low educational and skills levels, and
authoritarian traditions.
[58]
Challenges to the authority of the Republic included the militant Darul Islam who
waged a guerrilla struggle against the Republic from 1948 to 1962; the declaration of an independent Republic
of South Maluku by Ambonese formerly of the Royal Dutch Indies Army; and rebellions in Sumatra and
Sulawesi between 1955 and 1961.
In contrast to the 1945 Constitution, the 1950 constitution mandated a parliamentary system of government, an
executive responsible to the parliament, and stipulated at length constitutional guarantees for human rights,
drawing heavily on the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
[59]
A proliferation of
political parties dealing for shares of cabinet seats resulted in a rapid turnover of coalition governments
including 17 cabinets between 1945 and 1958. The long-postponed parliamentary elections were held in 1955;
the Indonesian National Party (PNI)considered Sukarno's partytopped the poll, and the Communist Party
of Indonesia (PKI) received strong support, but no party garnered more than a quarter of the votes, which
resulted in short-lived coalitions.
[60]

Guided Democracy[edit]
Main article: Guided Democracy in Indonesia


Coat of Arms of the Republic of Indonesia, adopted 1950
By 1956, Sukarno was openly criticising parliamentary democracy, stating that it was "based upon inherent
conflict" which ran counter to Indonesian notions of harmony as being the natural state of human relationships.
Instead, he sought a system based on the traditional village system of discussion and consensus, under the
guidance of village elders. He proposed a threefold blend of nasionalisme ('nationalism'), agama ('religion'),
and komunisme ('communism') into a co-operative 'Nas-A-Kom' government. This was intended to appease the
three main factions in Indonesian politics the army, Islamic groups, and the communists. With the support of
the military, he proclaimed in February 1957, 'Guided Democracy', and proposed a cabinet of representing all
the political parties of importance (including the PKI).
[60]
The US tried and failed to secretly overthrow the
President, while Secretary of State Dulles declared before Congress that "we are not interested in the internal
affairs of this country."
[61]

Sukarno abrogated the 1950 Constitution on 9 July 1959 by a decree dissolving the Constitutional
Assembly and restoring the 1945 Constitution.
[60]
The elected parliament was replaced by one appointed by,
and subject to the will of, the President. Another non-elected body, the Supreme Advisory Council, was the
main policy development body, while the National Front was set up in September 1960 and presided over by
the president to "mobilise the revolutionary forces of the people".
[60]
Western-style parliamentary democracy
was thus finished in Indonesia until the 1999 elections of the Reformasi era.
[60]

Sukarno's revolution and nationalism[edit]
Charismatic Sukarno spoke as a romantic revolutionary, and under his increasingly authoritarian rule,
Indonesia moved on a course of stormy nationalism. Sukarno was popularly referred to asbung ("older
brother"), and he painted himself as a man of the people carrying the aspirations of Indonesia and one who
dared take on the West.
[62]
He instigated a number of large, ideologically driven infrastructure projects and
monuments celebrating Indonesia's identity, which were criticised as substitutes for real development in a
deteriorating economy.
[62]

Western New Guinea had been part of the Dutch East Indies, and Indonesian nationalists had thus claimed it
on this basis. Indonesia was able to instigate a diplomatic and military confrontation with the Dutch over the
territory following an Indonesian-Soviet arms agreement in 1960. It was, however, United States pressure on
the Netherlands that led to an Indonesian takeover in 1963.
[63]
Also in 1963, Indonesia
commenced Konfrontasi with the new state of Malaysia. The northern states of Borneo, formerly
British Sarawak and Sabah, had wavered in joining Malaysia, whilst Indonesia saw itself as the rightful ruler
of Austronesian peoples and supported an unsuccessful revolution attempt in Brunei.
[63]
Reviving the glories of
the Indonesian National Revolution, Sukarno rallied against notions of British imperialism mounting military
offensives along the Indonesia-Malaysia border in Borneo. As the PKI rallied in Jakarta streets in support, the
West became increasingly alarmed at Indonesian foreign policy and the United States withdrew its aid to
Indonesia.
[63]

Indonesia's economic position continued to deteriorate; by the mid-1960s, the cash-strapped government had
to scrap critical public sector subsidies, inflation was at 1,000%, export revenues were shrinking, infrastructure
crumbling, and factories were operating at minimal capacity with negligible investment. Severe poverty and
hunger were widespread.
[63][64]

The New Order[edit]
Transition to the New Order[edit]
Main article: Transition to the New Order
See also: 30 September Movement and Indonesian killings of 19651966
Described as the great dalang ("puppet master"), Sukarno's position depended on balancing the opposing and
increasingly hostile forces of the army and PKI. Sukarno's anti-imperial ideology saw Indonesia increasingly
dependent on Soviet and then communist China. By 1965, the PKI was the largest communist party in the
world outside the Soviet Union or China. Penetrating all levels of government, the party increasingly gained
influence at the expense of the army.
On 30 September 1965, six of the most senior generals within the military and other officers were executed in
an attempted coup. The insurgents, known later as the 30 September Movement, backed a rival faction of the
army and took up positions in the capital, later seizing control of the national radio station. They claimed they
were acting against a plot organised by the generals to overthrow Sukarno. Within a few hours, Major General
Suharto, commander of the Army Strategic Reserve (Kostrad), mobilised counteraction, and by the evening of
1 October, it was clear the coup, which had little coordination and was largely limited to Jakarta, had
failed. Complicated and partisan theories continue to this day over the identity of the attempted coup's
organisers and their aims. According to the Indonesian army, the PKI were behind the coup and used
disgruntled army officers to carry it out, and this became the official account of Suharto's subsequent New
Order administration. Most historians agree
[citation needed]
that the coup and the surrounding events were not led by
a single mastermind controlling all events, and that the full truth will never likely be known.
The PKI was blamed for the coup, and anti-communists, initially following the army's lead went on a
violent anti-communist purge across much of the country. The PKI was effectively destroyed,
[65]
and the most
widely accepted estimates are that up to 500,000 were killed.
[66]
The violence was especially brutal in Java and
Bali. The PKI was outlawed and possibly more than 1 million of its leaders and affiliates were imprisoned.
[67]

Throughout the 196566 period, President Sukarno attempted to restore his political position and shift the
country back to its pre-October 1965 position but his Guided Democracy balancing act was destroyed with the
PKI's destruction. Although he remained president, the weakened Sukarno was forced to transfer key political
and military powers to General Suharto, who by that time had become head of the armed forces. In March
1967, the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS) named General Suharto acting president.
Suharto was formally appointed president in March 1968. Sukarno lived under virtual house arrest until his
death in 1970.
Entrenchment of the New Order[edit]
Main article: New Order (Indonesia)


Suharto was the military president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998
In the aftermath of Suharto's rise, hundreds of thousands of people were killed or imprisoned by the military
and religious groups in a backlash against alleged communist supporters.
[68]
Suharto's administration is
commonly called the New Order era.
[69]
Suharto invited major foreign investment, which produced substantial, if
uneven, economic growth. However, Suharto enriched himself and his family through business dealings and
widespread corruption.
[70]

Annexation of West Irian[edit]
See also: Western New Guinea
At the time of independence, the Dutch retained control over the western half of New Guinea, and permitted
steps toward self-government and a declaration of independence on 1 December 1961. After negotiations with
the Dutch on the incorporation of the territory into Indonesia failed, an Indonesian paratroop invasion 18
December preceded armed clashes between Indonesian and Dutch troops in 1961 and 1962. In 1962 the
United States pressured the Netherlands into secret talks with Indonesia which in August 1962 produced
the New York Agreement, and Indonesia assumed administrative responsibility for West Irian on 1 May 1963.
Rejecting UN supervision, the Indonesian government under Suharto decided to settle the question of West
Irian, the former Dutch New Guinea, in their favor. Rather than a referendum of all residents of West Irian as
had been agreed under Sukarno, an "Act of Free Choice" was conducted 1969 in which 1,025 Papuan
representatives of local councils were selected by the Indonesians. After training in Indonesian language they
were warned to vote in favor of Indonesian integration with the group unanimously voting for integration with
Indonesia.
[citation needed]
A subsequent UN General Assembly resolution confirmed the transfer of sovereignty to
Indonesia.
West Irian was renamed Irian Jaya ('glorious Irian') in 1973. Opposition to Indonesian administration of Irian
Jaya (later known as Papua) gave rise to guerrilla activity in the years following Jakarta's assumption of control.
Annexation of East Timor[edit]
See also: History of East Timor
In 1975, the Carnation Revolution in Portugal caused authorities there to announce plans for decolonisation
of Portuguese Timor, the eastern half of the island of Timor whose western half was a part of the Indonesian
province of East Nusa Tenggara. In the elections held in 1975, Fretilin, a left-leaning party and UDT, aligned
with the local elite, emerged as the largest parties, having previously formed an alliance to campaign for
independence from Portugal. Apodeti, a party advocating integration with Indonesia, enjoyed little popular
support.
Indonesia alleged that Fretilin was communist, and feared that an independent East Timor would influence
separatism in the archipelago. Indonesian military intelligence influenced the break-up of the alliance between
Fretilin and UDT, which led to a coup by the UDT on 11 August 1975, and a month-long civil war. During this
time, the Portuguese government effectively abandoned the territory, and did not resume the decolonisation
process. On 28 November, Fretilin unilaterally declared independence, and proclaimed the 'Democratic
Republic of East Timor'. Nine days later, on 7 December, Indonesia invaded East Timor, eventually annexing
the tiny country of (then) 680,000 people. Indonesia was supported materially and diplomatically by the United
States, Australia and the United Kingdom who regarded Indonesia as an anti-communist ally.
Following the 1998 resignation of Suharto, on 30 August 1999, the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly
for independence in a UN-sponsored referendum. About 99% of the eligible population participated; more than
three quarters chose independence despite months of attacks by the Indonesian military and its militia. After
the result was announced, elements of the Indonesian military and its militia retaliated by killing approximately
2,000 East Timorese, displacing two-thirds of the population, raping hundreds of women and girls, and
destroying much of the country's infrastructure. In October 1999, the Indonesian parliament (MPR) revoked the
decree that annexed East Timor, and the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor(UNTAET)
assumed responsibility for governing East Timor until it officially became an independent state in May 2002.
Transmigration[edit]
Main article: Transmigration program
The Transmigration program (Transmigrasi) was a National Government initiative to move landless people from
densely populated areas of Indonesia (such as Java and Bali) to less populous areas of the country
including Papua, Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. The stated purpose of this program was to reduce the
considerable poverty and overpopulation on Java, to provide opportunities for hard-working poor people, and to
provide a workforce to better utilise the resources of the outer islands. The program, however, has been
controversial with critics accusing the Indonesian Government of trying to use these migrants to reduce the
proportion of native populations in receiving areas, in order to weaken separatist movements. The program has
often been cited as a major and ongoing factor in controversies and even conflict and violence between settlers
and indigenous populations.
Reformation Era[edit]
See also: Indonesian Revolution of 1998
Pro-democracy movement[edit]


University students and police forces clash in May 1998.
In 1996 Suharto undertook efforts to pre-empt a challenge to the New Order government. The Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI), a legal party that had traditionally propped up the regime had changed direction, and
began to assert its independence. Suharto fostered a split over the leadership of PDI, backing a co-opted
faction loyal to deputy speaker of the People's Representative Council Suryadi against a faction loyal
to Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of Sukarno and the PDI's chairperson.
After the Suryadi faction announced a party congress to sack Megawati would be held in Medan on 2022
June, Megawati proclaimed that her supporters would hold demonstrations in protest. The Suryadi faction went
through with its sacking of Megawati, and the demonstrations manifested themselves throughout Indonesia.
This led to several confrontations on the streets between protesters and security forces, and recriminations
over the violence. The protests culminated in the military allowing Megawati's supporters to take over PDI
headquarters in Jakarta, with a pledge of no further demonstrations.
Suharto allowed the occupation of PDI headquarters to go on for almost a month, as attentions were also
on Jakarta due to a set of high-profile ASEANmeetings scheduled to take place there. Capitalizing on this,
Megawati supporters organized "democracy forums" with several speakers at the site. On 26 July, officers of
the military, Suryadi, and Suharto openly aired their disgust with the forums.
[71]

On 27 July, police, soldiers, and persons claiming to be Suryadi supporters stormed the headquarters. Several
Megawati supporters were killed, and over two-hundred arrested and tried under the Anti-Subversion and Hate-
Spreading laws. The day would become known as "Black Saturday" and mark the beginning of a renewed
crackdown by the New Order government against supporters of democracy, now called the "Reformasi" or
Reformation.
[72]

Economic crisis and Suharto's resignation[edit]
In 1997 and 1998, Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the East Asian Financial Crisis,
[73]
which had dire
consequences for the Indonesian economy and society, and Suharto's presidency. At the same time, the
country suffered a severe drought and some of the largest forest fires in history burned in Kalimantan and
Sumatra. The rupiah, the Indonesian currency, took a sharp dive in value. Suharto came under scrutiny from
international lending institutions, chiefly the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United
States, over longtime embezzlement of funds and some protectionist policies. In December, Suharto's
government signed a letter of intent to the IMF, pledging to enact austerity measures, including cuts to public
services and removal ofsubsidies, in return for receiving the aid of the IMF and other donors. Prices for goods
such as kerosene and rice, and fees for public services including education rose dramatically. The effects were
exacerbated by widespread corruption. The austerity measures approved by Suharto had started to erode
domestic confidence with the New Order
[74]
and led to popular protests.
Suharto stood for re-election by parliament for the seventh time in March 1998, justifying it on the grounds of
the necessity of his leadership during the crisis. The parliament approved a new term. This sparked protests
and riots throughout the country, now termed the Indonesian 1998 Revolution. Dissent within the ranks of his
own Golkar party and the military finally weakened Suharto, and on 21 May he stood down from power.
[75]
He
was replaced by his deputy Jusuf Habibie.
President Habibie quickly assembled a cabinet. One of its main tasks was to re-establish International
Monetary Fund and donor community support for an economic stabilization program. He moved quickly to
release political prisoners and lift some controls on freedom of speech and association. Elections for the
national, provincial, and sub-provincial parliaments were held on 7 June 1999. For the national
parliament, Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P, led by Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri)
won 34% of the vote; Golkar (Suharto's party; formerly the only legal party of government) 22%; United
Development Party (PPP, led by Hamzah Haz) 12%; and National Awakening Party (PKB, led by Abdurrahman
Wahid) 10%.
Politics since 1999[edit]


Indonesian 2009 election ballot, since 2004 Indonesian vote their president directly.
In October 1999, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which consists of the 500-member Parliament
plus 200 appointed members, electedAbdurrahman Wahid, commonly referred to as "Gus Dur" as President,
and Megawati Sukarnoputri as Vice President, for 5-year terms. Wahid named his first Cabinet in early
November 1999 and a reshuffled, second Cabinet in August 2000. President Wahid's government continued to
pursue democratization and to encourage renewed economic growth under challenging conditions. In addition
to continuing economic malaise, his government faced regional, interethnic, and interreligious conflict,
particularly in Aceh, the Maluku Islands, and Irian Jaya. In West Timor, the problems of displaced East
Timorese and violence by pro-Indonesian East Timorese militias caused considerable humanitarian and social
problems. An increasingly assertive Parliament frequently challenged President Wahid's policies and
prerogatives, contributing to a lively and sometimes rancorous national political debate.
During the People's Consultative Assembly's first annual session in August 2000, President Wahid gave an
account of his government's performance. On 29 January 2001 thousands of student protesters stormed
parliament grounds and demanded that President Abdurrahman Wahid resign due to alleged involvement in
corruption scandals. Under pressure from the Assembly to improve management and coordination within the
government, he issued a presidential decree giving Vice President Megawati control over the day-to-day
administration of government. Soon after, Megawati Sukarnoputri assumed the presidency on 23 July. In
2004, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won Indonesia's first direct Presidential election and in 2009 he was
elected to a second term.
Terrorism[edit]
Main article: Terrorism in Indonesia
As a multi-ethnic and multi-culture democratic country with majority of moderate Muslim population, Indonesia
faces the challenges to deal with terrorism that linked to global militant Islamic movement. The Jemaah
Islamiyah (JI) militant Islamic organization that aspired for the establishment of a Daulah Islamiyah
[76]
that
encompassed whole Southeast Asia including Indonesia, is responsible for series of terrorist attacks in
Indonesia. This terrorist organization that linked to Al-Qaeda, was responsible for the Bali bombings in
2002 and 2005, as well as Jakarta bombings in 2003, 2004, and 2009. Indonesian government, people and
authorities has ever since tried to crack down the terrorist cells in Indonesia.
Tsunami disaster and Aceh peace deal[edit]
See also: Effect of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake on Indonesia
On 26 December 2004, a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated parts of northern Sumatra,
particularly Aceh. Partly as a result of the need for cooperation and peace during the recovery from the tsunami
in Aceh, peace talks between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were restarted.
Accords signed in Helsinki created a framework for military de-escalation in which the government has reduced
its military presence, as members of GAM's armed wing decommission their weapons and apply for amnesty.
The agreement also allows for Acehnese nationalist forces to form their own party, and other autonomy
measures.