Indonesian History

The history of Indonesia covers a very long span of time beginning in prehistoric times based on the discovery of the "Javanese Man" 1.7 million years ago. The period of Indonesian history can be divided into five eras: the Precolonial Era, the rise of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms as well as Islam in Java and Sumatra which mainly rely on trade; The Colonial Era, the entry of Europeans (especially the Dutch) who wanted spices resulted in colonization by the Dutch for about 3.5 centuries between the beginning of the seventeenth and mid-twentieth centuries; Era of Initial Independence, post-Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (1945) until the fall of Soekarno (1966); New Order Era, 32 years of Soeharto's rule (1966-1998); as well as the Reform Order that lasted until now.

Indian scholars have written about Dwipantara or the Dwipa Java Hindu kingdom on the islands of Java and Sumatra or Swarna dwipa around 200 BC. Early physical evidence which mentions the existence of two kingdoms patterned Hinduism in the 5th century, namely: Tarumanagara Kingdom that controls West Java and the Kingdom of Kutai on the coast of the Mahakam River, Borneo. By the year 425 Buddhism had reached the area.

As Europe entered the Renaissance, the Archipelago had a legacy of thousands of years of civilization with two great empires of Sriwijaya in Sumatra and Majapahit in Java, coupled with dozens of small kingdoms who often became neighboring stronger or interconnected vampires in some sort of trade bond ( as in Maluku).