History

Main article: History of Indonesia

Fossilized remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as the "Java Man", suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago.[10] Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to South East Asia in Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and confined the native Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions as they expanded.[11] Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth century BCE,[12] allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade. For example, trade links with both Indian kingdoms and China were established several centuries BCE.[13] Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.[14]

From the seventh 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.[15] Between the eighth and 10th centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra's Borobudur and Mataram's Prambanan. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of Indonesia; this period is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history.[16]

Although Muslim traders first traveled through South East Asia early in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamized populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra.[17] Other Indonesia 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.[18] The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.[19] Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.[19]

For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over these territories was tenuous; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries.[20] The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during WWII ended Dutch rule,[21] and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed president.[22] The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, and a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence.[23]

Sukarno moved from democracy towards authoritarianism, and maintained his power base by balancing the opposing forces of the military, Islam, and communism.[24] However, rising tensions between the military and the increasingly powerful Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) culminated in an attempted coup on 30 September 1965, during which six top-ranking generals were murdered under mysterious circumstances. The army, led by Major General Suharto, countered with a violent anti-communist purge, by which the PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed.[25] Between 500,000 and one million people were killed.[26] Politically, Suharto capitalized on Sukarno's gravely weakened position; following a drawn-out power play with Sukarno, Suharto was formally appointed president in March 1968. Suharto's "New Order" administration[27] encouraged foreign investment in Indonesia, which was a major factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth.

In 1997 and 1998, however, Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the East Asian Financial Crisis.[28] This increased popular discontent with the New Order[29] and led to popular protests. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998.[30] In 1999, East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia, after a twenty-five-year occupation, which was marked by international condemnation of repression and human rights abuses.[31] The Reformasi era following Suharto's resignation, has led to a strengthening of democratic processes, including a regional autonomy program, and the first direct presidential election in 2004. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption, 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.[32] A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.[33]