page_title: History of Indonesia
section_title: Colonial era
hierarchical_section_title: History of Indonesia / Colonial era
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Het spinhuis, oftewel het tuchthuis of de gevangenis, te Batavia. Voor de kade wordt wasgoed gewassen. Rechtsboven: 202 De prent uit de Atlas Van Stolk, inv. nr top 1035 en Koninklijke Bibliotheek 388 A 9 deel II, na p. 202, 1 is zwart-wit, de prent uit de Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Atlas van der Hagen, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Den Haag Deel 4, inv. nr. 1049B13_025 ) is ingekleurd. English: The spinning house; that is the house of correction or prison, at Batavia. Laundry is being washed on the quay. Top right: 202. The print in the Atlas Van Stolk, inv. nr. top 1035 and Koninklijke Bibliotheek 388 A 9 part II, after p. 202, 1 is in black and white, while the print from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Atlas van der Hagen, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague Part 4, inv. nr. 1049B13_025) has been coloured in.
context_page_description: The history of Indonesia has been shaped by its geographic position, its natural resources, a series of human migrations and contacts, wars and conquests, as well as by trade, economics and politics. Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,000 to 18,000 islands stretching along the equator in South East Asia. The country's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade; trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history. The area of Indonesia is populated by peoples of various migrations, creating a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and languages. The archipelago's landforms and climate significantly influenced agriculture and trade, and the formation of states. The boundaries of the state of Indonesia represent the 20th century borders of the Dutch East Indies.
  Fossilised remains of Homo erectus and his tools, popularly known as the "Java Man", suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited by at least 1.5 million years ago. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, are thought to have originally been from Taiwan and arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE.
context_section_description: Beginning in the 16th century, successive waves of Europeans—the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British—sought to dominate the spice trade at its sources in India and the 'Spice Islands' (Maluku) of Indonesia. This meant finding a way to Asia to cut out Muslim merchants who, with their Venetian outlet in the Mediterranean, monopolised spice imports to Europe. Astronomically priced at the time, spices were highly coveted not only to preserve and make poorly preserved meat palatable, but also as medicines and magic potions.
  The arrival of Europeans in South East Asia is often regarded as the watershed moment in its history. Other scholars consider this view untenable, arguing that European influence during the times of the early arrivals of the 16th and 17th centuries was limited in both area and depth. This is in part due to Europe not being the most advanced or dynamic area of the world in the early 15th century. Rather, the major expansionist force of this time was Islam; in 1453, for example, the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, while Islam continued to spread through Indonesia and the Philippines. European influence, particularly that of the Dutch, would not have its greatest impact on Indonesia until the 18th and 19th centuries.
caption: Dutch settlement in the East Indies. Batavia (now Jakarta), Java, c. 1665 CE.
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