History

The islands of Indonesia were inhabited more than 500 thousand years ago. Scientists find there traces of almost all stages of human evolution. By the first centuries AD the first states were formed which were located on ancient trade routes by the Maluku and Sunda straits. At the end of the 7th century a large Buddhist state called Srivijaya (Victorious) was formed on Sumatra Island under which influence fell Java and other islands. For several centuries Srivijaya rivaled with the state Mataram on Java, as a result of which both states eventually collapsed. At the end of the 13th century a large Hindu state Majapahit rose on Java which turned into the largest insular empire. It fell under the attacks of Islamic principalities which established on Java coast in the 15th – 16th centuries. The ethno-cultural picture of ancient and medieval Indonesia was formed under the influence of the Indians and the Chinese, the Arabs and the Persians as well as other Asian nations.

Trade routes of southern seas, and, especially, the “Islands of spices”, Maluku, have long attracted the Europeans. In the 16th century the Portuguese came here followed by the Dutch. In the 17th century the Netherlands East India Company established its supremacy on the archipelago: the colonial Netherlands (Dutch) East India was formed. Some territories were divided between Holland, England and Portugal. Independent development of the archipelago states was suspended for three and a half centuries. In the beginning of the 20th century the national liberation struggle began. In 1942 the country was occupied by the Japanese for three years. After the defeat of Japan in the Second World War, on 17th, August, 1945 the independence of Indonesia was declared (since 1950 – the Unitary Republic of Indonesia).

Portrait of sultan. Indonesia, Sumatra. The Mandailing. Early 20th cent.		Wife of sultan. Indonesia, Sumatra. Early 20th cent.		Palappo: Queen Suwu with her husband prince. Indonesia, Sulawesi. Early 20th cent.
Reception day in Kraton (Sultan's palace). Indonesia. The Javanese, early 20th c.