Book Review: A Brief but Lucid History of a Unique Island Nation
“History is everywhere in Indonesia” claims historian and travel writer Tim Hannigan. And what a complex history Indonesia has!
The major focus of this book is how a thronging cast of millions, disparate peoples with conflicting religions and cultures, fought and intermingled over more than 1,500 years to create a unique country that comprises over 17,000 islands. We hear about its ancient inhabitants: the Orang Laut, Dyaks and Austronesians; more recent invaders: the Dutch, British, Portuguese, Chinese, Mongols, Indians and Arabs; and multiple faiths: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, various forms of Christianity and animism.
During the first millennia CE, Hindu traders from India and Buddhist Chinese set up ports all along the archipelago and gradually a sort of Buddhist-tinged Hinduism sprinkled with old animist spiritual beliefs became the dominant religion, particularly in Java.
The early history of the Indonesian archipelago is dominated by great Hindu-Buddhist Srivijaya and Majapahit kingdoms, the latter of which “rings a bell through the halls of Indonesian history.” These were not nations in the modern sense, more “cultural and economic brands,” “interconnected vassal ports” that operated on a tax and tribute basis.
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Asian Review of BooksA Brief History of Indonesia Sultans, Spices, and Tsunamis: The Incredible Story of Southeast Asia’s Largest Nation By Tim Hannigan Tuttle Publishing, August 2015 288 pages
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