A Short History of Indonesia: the Unlikely Nation?

A SHORT HISTORY OF

INDONESIA

Short History of Asia Series

Series Editor: Milton Osborne

Milton Osborne has had an association with the Asian region for over 40 years as an academic, public servant and independent writer. He is the author of eight books on Asian topics, including Southeast Asia: An Introductory History, first published in 1979 and now in its eighth

edition, and, most recently, The Mekong: T u rbulent Past, Uncertain

Future, published in 2000.

A SHORT HISTORY OF

INDONESIA

THE UNLIKELY NATION?

C o l i n B r o w n

First published in 2003 Copyright © Colin Brown 2003 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Brown, Colin, A short history of Indonesia : the unlikely nation?

Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 1 86508 838 2

1. Indonesia—History. I. Title. (Series : Short histories of Asia).

959.4 Index compiled by Russell Brooks. Set in 11/14 pt Goudy by Midland Typesetters, Maryborough, Victoria Printed by South Wind Productions, Singapore

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Christopher and Meily.
This is their story, more than it is mine.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements Maps of Indonesia Acronyms Glossary Note on transcription ix xi xiv xvi xviii

1 The Indonesian context

What’s in a name?

1

2
The physical environment The ethnographic environment

2 The rise of states: 1–1500 CE

The rise of the state
59

11

13

17

Hindu and Buddhist societies

3 The age of commerce: 1400–1700

The spread of Islam The beginnings of colonialism

4 Economic demise, political decline: 1600–1800

Extension of VOC control Decline of Mataram The Chinese War, 1740–1741 The Company outside Java The collapse of the VOC The legacy of the VOC

5 Establishment of empire: 1800–1900

Colonial reactions

29

31 32

49

55 57 60 65 68 70

72

81 83 89 91 96 99
The Cultivation System Liberal Era East coast of Sumatera Aceh The Aceh War

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A S h o r t H i s t o r y o f I n d o n e s i a

The other islands The colonial infrastructure
101 102

104

140

156 185

197 208 209 212 218 223

225
6 Times of change: 1900–1945

Japanese administration

7 From revolution to authoritarian rule: 1945–1957 8 Guided to Pancasila democracy: 1956–1998

The rise of the New Order government New Order foreign policy The New Order and East Timor Separatism in Aceh Economic developments under Suharto Restraints on the exercise of power

9 Reformasi: The post-Suharto era?

Bibliographical essay Endnotes Index
247 260 263

viii

Acknowledgements

The author of any book acquires a mountain of debts, both academic and social. I am no exception.
The first draft of this book was written in the second half of 2000, while I was on study leave from Flinders University. For part of this time, I was a Visiting Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden, the Netherlands. I gratefully acknowledge the warm collegial support I received during my stay there, from the Director Professor W. A. L. Stokhof and all his colleagues.
I also spent several weeks in the Faculty of Social and Political
Sciences at Parahyangan University, Bandung, Indonesia. I have been visiting Parahyangan regularly for some years now; once again, staff and students there made me feel most welcome. I thank in particular the Rector of the University, Professor B. Suprapto Brotosiswojo, the Deputy Rector for Academic Affairs, Mr Johannes Gunawan, the Deputy Rector for International Cooperation, Dr R. W. Triweko, and the then Dean of the Faculty, Dr Pius Suratman Kartasasmita.
Griffith University, where I first taught Indonesian history, provided me with office and library facilities for the final part of my leave. I thank Professor Nick Knight, Dean of the Faculty of Asian and International Studies, and Professor Colin Mackerras.
At Flinders University, I have had the good fortune to work with a number of very talented scholars. I must single out Dr Jim Schiller, with whom I have co-taught courses and co-supervised postgraduate students, for his willingness to discuss almost any aspect of Indonesia, and his deep knowledge of and feeling for the country. We have not always agreed on interpretation of events, but I have always admired and respected the persuasive ways in which he makes his points.
I also acknowledge the students I have taught, and debated with, at Griffith University, the University of Tasmania, Parahyangan University and Flinders University. It is almost a cliché to say so, but I

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have learned as much from these students as I have taught them. I have also enjoyed many debates and discussions about their country with Indonesian students in Adelaide, testing their patience at times, I know, by my inability to see things in quite the same way they do. I thank them.
Outside the academic world, I thank colleagues in the Australia
Indonesia Business Council for making me think and re-think my understandings of Indonesia in response to their questions and challenges. I am grateful, also, to the Grey Hounds for their probing queries about matters Indonesian.
And finally, of course, I acknowledge the enormous debt I owe to my wife Iem, who started me on the long road to learning Indonesian, and who has shared with me so freely her knowledge of Indonesia, and her commitment to it. Like many others in similar positions, she has sacrificed her own academic career to support me in mine, and done so without demur.
Needless to say, however, while I am grateful for all that the people mentioned above have taught me, responsibility for errors and omissions in this book rests with me alone.

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