Insight Guides Indonesia (Travel Guide eBook)

By Insight Guides

Insight Guide Indonesia is an essential guide to one of the world's last tourism frontiers, a far-flung archipelago of rainforests, volcanoes, vivid festivals and teeming cities, all brought to life through evocative photography. Our inspirational Best of Indonesia section highlights the unmissable sights and experiences, while a comprehensive Travel Tips section gives you all the practical information you need to plan your trip.

Colourful magazine-style features offer a unique insight into the incomparable Balinese festivals, unique Sulawesi wildlife and colourful batik fabrics. A detailed Places section, with full-colour maps cross-referenced to the text, guides you from the jungles of darkest Borneo to the beaches of Bali, the ancient trading ports of Java and the spice islands to the primeval Papuan highlands.

Insight Guide Indonesia now includes the Walking Eye app, free to download to smartphones and tablets on purchase of the book. The Indonesia app includes our independent selection of the best hotels and restaurants, plus activity, event and shopping listings.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-color print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travelers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

'Insight Guides has spawned many imitators but is still the best of its type.' - Wanderlust Magazine

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: May 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781786710314

Insight Guides

Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

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How To Use This E-Book

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Indonesia, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary life in Indonesia. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Indonesia are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Indonesia. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2016 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

How To Use This E-Book

Indonesia’s Top 10 Attractions

Editor’s Choice

Introduction: Island Nation

A Land of Many Lands

Decisive Dates

Birth of Empires

A Trading Power

The Dutch Colonial Years

Modern Indonesia

The People of Indonesia

Religion

Customs and Rituals

Spice Islands Cuisine

Dance and Theatre

Gamelan Music

Textiles

Insight: Batik: Art on Fabric

Indonesia’s Handicrafts and Art

Architecture

Amazing Biodiversity

Insight: World Heritage Sites

Introduction: Places

Introduction: Java

Jakarta

West Java

Central Java

East Java

Introduction: Sumatra

North Sumatra

West Sumatra

South and East Sumatra

Introduction: Bali

South Bali

Central Bali

Insight: Balinese Ceremonies and Festivals

West and North Bali

East Bali

Introduction: Nusa Tenggara

Lombok

Sumbawa

Komodo and Rinca

Flores

Elsewhere in Nusa Tenggara

Introduction: Kalimantan

East and South Kalimantan

Central and West Kalimantan

Introduction: Sulawesi

South Sulawesi and Tana Toraja

Insight: Weird Wildlife

Southeast and Central Sulawesi

North Sulawesi

Introduction: Maluku and Papua

Maluku

Papua

Transport

A-Z: A Handy Summary of Practical Information

Understanding the Language

Further Reading

Indonesia’s Top 10 Attractions

The astonishing array of Indonesian cultures and customs is equalled by the amazing landscapes and wildlife of this nation of islands.

Top Attraction 1

Borobudur. Mesmerising Borobudur is the world’s largest Buddhist monument. Dating from the 9th century, this gigantic stupa forms the shape of a mandala – a geometric aid to meditation. For more information, click here.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 2

Orang-utans. The best places to see these magnificent creatures are the rainforests of Tanjung Puting National Park (Central Kalimantan) and Gunung Leuser National Park (North Sumatra). For more information, click here and here.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 3

Yogyakarta (Jogja). The Javanese art, dance and music cultivated by 18th-century royalty remain alive in Yogyakarta today, blending seamlessly with the modern-day life of students, farmers and handicraft makers. For more information, click here.

Indonesian Tourist Board

Top Attraction 4

Kuta, Sanur and Seminyak beaches. Visions of Bali almost always include its southern beaches, with Kuta in the limelight for surfers and young partygoers, followed by the trendier scenes at upscale Sanur and Seminyak. For more information, click here, here, and here.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 5

Gunung Bromo. Arrive before dawn to witness the sunrise illuminate one of the world’s most remarkable volcanic landscapes. For more information, click here.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 6

Lake Toba. A water-filled ancient caldera, the largest and deepest in the world, Sumatra’s beautiful Lake Toba is believed to have been formed by a series of super-eruptions nearly 900,000 years ago. For more information, click here.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 7

Ubud. The cultural heartland of Bali, Ubud and its environs attract seekers of spirituality, wellness programs, health foods and tranquillity. Others are drawn by the wealth and handicrafts and artwork produced here. For more information, click here.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 8

Tana Toraja. Tucked away in the green highlands of South Sulawesi, Tana Toraja is a land of breathtaking vistas, ancient funerary rituals and graves guarded by wooden effigies. For more information, click here.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 9

Ikat-weaving villages. In remote Nusa Tenggara are many islands where ikat textiles are still woven on back-strap looms. Each village has its own motifs and colours, many of which are collected by aficionados. For more information, click here.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Top Attraction 10

Komodo National Park. In addition to its extraordinary reptiles, this remote corner of Indonesia offers some of the best diving and snorkelling in the Asia-Pacific region. For more information, click here.

iStock

Editor’s Choice

While Indonesia’s best-known treasures are on most visitors’ itineraries, others await those willing to go off the beaten track. Here, at a glance, are our recommendations for both familiar and lesser-known destinations.

Balinese landscape.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Best Scenery

Terraced rice fields. Dazzling terraced rice fields stretch endlessly along the road from Antosari, passing through Belimbing, to Pupuan, West Bali. For more information, click here.

Volcano views. Enjoy spectacular views of three of Java’s mightiest volcanoes from the hilltop Gedung Songo temples north of Yogyakarta. For more information, click here.

Stormy seas. View the stormy Indian Ocean crashing onto the shore from Bali’s cliff-top Tanah Lot temple. For more information, click here.

Green valleys. The lush, green valleys of South Sulawesi’s Tana Toraja are dotted with stone graves, colourful traditional houses and picturesque farmland. For more information, click here.

Crater lake. Ascend through dense jungle to the ridge atop Lombok’s Gunung Rinjani for fabulous vistas of the crater lake Segara Anak. One for experienced hikers. For more information, click here.

Sulawesi scuba-diving.

Indonesian Tourist Board

Best Diving Spots

Raja Ampat, Western Papua. This remote spot has the world’s greatest concentration of marine life for a region of its size, according to the World Wildlife Fund. For more information, click here.

Pulau Menjangan, West Bali. Bali Barat National Park’s crown jewel and the most accessible of Indonesia’s many magnificent dive spots. For more information, click here.

Bunaken Marine National Park, North Sulawesi. Several well-established, conservation-oriented dive centres abound in Manado, the gateway to the wonders of this national park. For more information, click here.

Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi. Excellent dive sites plus local cultures and wildlife make Wakatobi Marine National Park ideal for groups that include non-divers. For more information, click here.

Maluku. Currently centred around Ambon, the fabled Spice Islands’ diving opportunities are rapidly extending north to Lembeh Strait. For more information, click here.

Alor. In Nusa Tenggara, Alor’s rich reefs attract sunfish (mola-mola), whales, manta rays, whale sharks and migrating orcas; muck diving is also excellent. For more information, click here.

Kecak dance performance on Bali.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Most Unique Cultures

Best variety. The tiny, remote islands of the Solor and Alor archipelagos have Indonesia’s highest concentration of unique cultures and handicrafts. For more information, click here.

Asmat. Best known for their ritual woodcarvings, the Asmats of Papua still live in total isolation from the modern world. For more information, click here.

Dayak. The Dayaks of Kalimantan’s vast rainforests were once known as fierce head-hunters. For more information, click here.

Javanese. The Javanese are Indonesia’s largest ethnic group, and are known for their court cultures and refined manners. For more information, click here.

Balinese. One of the regions’ most sophisticated cultures; the majority of tourists to Indonesia have experienced the fabled Balinese spirituality and hospitality. For more information, click here.

Best Festivals

Pasola. An exciting thanksgiving ritual, Sumba’s Pasola is mock war on horseback held on a date determined by the migration of sea worms. For more information, click here.

Sanur Village Festival. This four-day festival on Bali promises entertainment for all, with an international kite-flying competition, water sports, dance, music and food. For more information, click here.

Waisak Day. The Buddhist Day of Enlightenment procession held at Borobudur, Central Java, attracts thousands of devotees from throughout Southeast Asia. For more information, click here.

Labuhan ritual. Hundreds of Javanese in traditional attire form a procession to Parangkusumo beach, south of Yogyakarta, where sacrifices are made to the South Sea Goddess. For more information, click here.

Independence Day. Every village and town is decorated two weeks before 17 August, Indonesia’s Independence Day, with games, food fairs and family fun punctuating the celebrations. For more information, click here.

Bali surf.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Best Beaches

Kuta beach, Bali. This leads the list as Indonesia’s most famous hang-out beach and stretches north to Legian and Seminyak beaches and beyond. For more information, click here.

Senggigi. Lombok’s west coast has the country’s most beautiful beaches, centred on Senggigi, which blends north into Mangsit, and also includes the southwest peninsula. For more information, click here.

Sangalaki archipelago. Currently being developed off the east coast of Kalimantan, the Sangalaki archipelago includes Derawan and Nabucco islands, dive resorts and white-sand beaches. For more information, click here.

Pantai Merah. The fabulous Pantai Merah (Pink Beach) on Komodo island gets its name from the prolific red corals in surrounding crystal-clear waters. For more information, click here.

Togian islands. In Sulawesi’s azure Tomini Bay, the Togian islands’ scenic limestone cliffs and secluded white-sand beaches are also excellent for snorkelling and diving. For more information, click here.

Maluku. A premier dive destination, the Maluku islands’ shores are lined with sparkling-white beaches, particularly at Ambon and in the Kai archipelago to the southeast. For more information, click here.

Legong dance.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Best Performing Arts

Ramayana epic. Performed seasonally on an open-air stage at Prambanan temple near Yogyakarta, the Hindu Ramayana epic epitomises Javanese culture. For more information, click here.

Hornbill dance. In days of yore, Kalimantan’s Dayak tribes welcomed returning warriors with a traditional hornbill dance, now seen at harvest festivals. For more information, click here.

Contemporary dance. Students at Indonesian Art Institution universities (ISI) in Bali and Yogyakarta often combine contemporary and traditional dance. Performances are open to the public. For more information, click here.

Gamelan. Originating in West Bali, where competitions are held, jegog instruments are made of giant bamboo, their quality judged by resonance and tone. For more information, click here.

Dance and light shows. At Bali Theatre in the Park in Gianyar, and seasonally at Borobudur, Central Java, dancers, animals and technology make for spectacular revues. For more information, click here.

Torajan house.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Unique Architecture

Traditional houses, Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi. Tongkonan traditional houses in Tana Toraja are decorated with carved wooden panels. The more buffalo horns displayed, the wealthier the owner. For more information, click here.

Restored Art Deco buildings, Bandung. These Art Deco buildings are a remnant of the Dutch colonial era and are still in use today. For more information, click here.

Minangkabau architecture, West Sumatra. The Tanah Datar area is the best place to see traditional Minangkabau architecture, their distinctive roofs resembling the horns of a water buffalo. For more information, click here.

Traditional houses, West Sumba. The dwellings here feature steeply pitched roofs where the family’s heirlooms are stored. Their four supporting posts are symbolically placed. For more information, click here.

Javan rhino at Ujung Kulon National Park.

Willem v Strien

Best Wildlife and Trekking

Ujung Kulon National Park. West Java’s major wildlife reserve shelters the endangered Javan rhino and numerous other forest species. For more information, click here.

Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park. In North Sulawesi, this area is home to rare, endemic Sulawesi animals including babirusas, anoas and Sulawesi warty pigs. For more information, click here.

Kerinci Seblat National Park. Kerinci Seblat in West Sumatra shelters Sumatran elephants and tigers, clouded leopards, Malayan sun bears and tapirs, and over 375 species of birds. For more information, click here.

Way Kambas National Park. In South Sumatra, Way Kambas is a sanctuary for Sumatran elephants and rhinos, assuring visitors of the chance to spot them. For more information, click here.

Tanjung Puting National Park. While orang-utans are the flagship species of Tanjung Puting, Central Kalimantan, also abundant are fun-to-watch proboscis monkeys. For more information, click here.

Best Shopping

Weaving villages. Visit the far-flung villages of Nusa Tenggara – notably on Solor and Rote – for hand-woven ikat textiles. For more information, click here.

Bali boutiques. Numerous small shops along the main roads of Seminyak, for export-quality fashions and home furnishings. For more information, click here.

Batik. Yogyakarta is the best place to look for traditional motifs in modern patterns and colours. For more information, click here.

Kuta Beach, Lombok.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Legong dance.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

A Dani child wearing mud markings.

Getty Images

Introduction: Island Nation

This land of untamed natural beauty, exotic cultures and cultural experiences offers a plethora of unique opportunities for the intrepid traveller.

Preparing a fishing trap off Alor.

Getty Images

Shadow puppets.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

At the Banten Mosque in West Java.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Few, if any, other countries on the planet offer the mind-boggling array of holiday options that Indonesia has within its borders. The bonus is that a multitude of them are virtually untapped, giving those who yearn for personal contact with exotic cultures, nature or history such an abundance of choice that time is the only constraint.

The world knows of Bali, Indonesia’s primary tourist destination, and to a lesser degree the court cultures and historic monuments of Central Java and the beaches of Lombok. In recent years, travellers have begun exploring further afield. Divers are flocking to remote Papua’s Raja Ampat, surfers are lured by the daring breaks along the country’s southern coastlines, and hardy climbers explore the many volcanoes. But there is still so much more. Granted, getting to many of these places takes an adventurous spirit, as infrastructure is weak off the beaten path, but for those wishing for unique and authentic experiences, with careful planning they are here for the taking.

For culture aficionados, art, theatre, dance, music, rituals and handicrafts abound. In the remote forests of Kalimantan live the former head-hunting Dayaks, and amid the hills and valleys of Central Sulawesi the Torajans still hold elaborate funeral ceremonies. On the small islands east of Lombok exist various ethnic groups whose isolated locations, far from the country’s commercial centres, have left their lifestyles and traditions almost untouched. Indonesia’s easternmost outpost, Papua, is home to extraordinary ‘lost world’ cultures of great interest to anthropologists.

There are remains of megalithic cultures on Nias Island (Sumatra), Sumbawa, Sumba, Solor (Nusa Tenggara) and Sulawesi. Houses built in distinctive architectural styles range from the curved roofs of the Miningkabau and Batak (Sumatra) regions to Dayak longhouses (Kalimantan), the highly symbolic thatched-roof houses of western Sumba and the treetop homes of the Korawai in Papua.

Wildlife-lovers may already know about the Komodo dragons, the rare Javan rhino, Sumatran elephants and tigers, as well as both Sumatran and Borneo orang-utans. But many aren’t aware that most of these creatures are found within Indonesia’s national parks, which are untapped treasure troves of rare species of mammals, birds and plants. In addition to diving, surfing, trekking and climbing, opportunities for other outdoor sports are prolific. And for those who prefer viewing nature in a more relaxed way, scenic drives and sailing cruises afford spectacular scenery.

A Land of Many Lands

The fourth-most populous nation in the world, Indonesia encompasses 6,000 inhabited islands and an extraordinarily diverse mix of cultures and landscapes.

The far-flung islands of Indonesia span an impressively broad spectrum of world history and human civilisation – from ancient Hindu-Javanese temples to modern luxury resorts, Stone Age Papuan tribes to the immense metropolis of Jakarta. The country’s motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or Unity in Diversity, is no mere slogan. The population of 255 million people is derived from more than 300 ethnic and perhaps several hundred sub-ethnic groups who speak 700 distinct languages. The common elements are a central government and a national language, Bahasa Indonesia, a derivative of Malay.

The fourth-most populous nation in the world, Indonesia straddles two geographically defined racial groups, the Asians to the west and the Melanesians in the east. The majority are Asians, particularly in the western part of the archipelago. Over the centuries, mostly through commerce and trade, Indians, Arabs and Europeans have mingled with the indigenous people. The largest non-indigenous ethnic group is the Chinese, who control a significant share of the nation’s wealth while comprising only 3 percent of the population. 88 percent of Indonesians are Muslim, 8 percent are Christian and there are small Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian minorities. In most cases, at least in the rural areas, these beliefs are augmented by indigenous, centuries-old animistic traditions.

A grey langur at a Bali temple.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Indonesia’s people are unevenly distributed across the archipelago and more than half inhabit Java and Bali alone, which cover only 7 percent of the total land area. With more than 120 million people living in Java – approximately 58 percent of the Indonesian population – the demands on its land and resources are considerable.

The archipelago is the world’s largest. Its 17,508 islands are strewn across some 5,120km (3,200 miles) of tropical seas, straddling the equator. When superimposed on a map of North America, Indonesia stretches from Seattle to Bermuda. On a map of Europe, it extends east from Ireland to beyond the Caspian Sea.

Four-fifths of this vast area is occupied by ocean, and many of the islands are tiny – no more than rocky outcrops populated, perhaps, by a few seabirds. About 6,000 are large enough to be inhabited, and New Guinea and Borneo (Indonesia claims two-thirds of each) rank as the third- and fourth-largest islands in the world (after Australia and Greenland). Of the other major islands, Sumatra is slightly larger than Sweden, Sulawesi is around half the size of Germany, and Java is a little smaller than England. With a total land area of 1.9 million sq km (733,647 sq miles), Indonesia is the world’s 15th-largest nation in terms of size.

An early-19th-century map of the East Indies.

iStock

Volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis

Befitting its reputation as the exotic Spice Islands of the East, Indonesia also constitutes one of the world’s most diverse and biologically intriguing areas. Unique geological and climatic conditions have created spectacularly varied tropical habitats – from the exceptionally fertile rice lands of Java and Bali to the luxuriant rainforests of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and from the savannah grasslands of Nusa Tenggara to the jungle-laced, snowcapped Gunung Puncak Jaya in Papua.

The geological history of the region is complex. The islands are relatively young; the earliest dates from only the end of the Miocene, 6 million years ago – just yesterday on the geological timescale. Since then, the archipelago has been the scene of violent tectonic activity, as islands were torn from jostling super-continents or pushed up by colliding tectonic plates, and then enlarged in earth-wrenching volcanic explosions. The process continues today – this is part of the Pacific ‘ring of fire’, with Australia drifting slowly northwards as the immense Pacific plate presses south and west to meet it and the Asian mainland. Indonesia lies along the lines of impact, a fact reflected in its geography and its seismic instability.

A tropical forest on the lower slopes of Gunung Rinjani, Lombok.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Volcanic fertility

Active volcanoes dominate the landscape of many of the islands, their majestic smoking cones spewing forth millions of tonnes of ash and debris at irregular intervals. Eventually, much of this is washed down to form gently sloping alluvial plains. Where the soil is acidic, the land is infertile and practically useless. But where it is alkaline, as on Java and Bali and a few scattered locations on other islands, it has produced spectacularly fertile land. On both islands, abundant rainfall fills rivers that originate in the mountains and meander through farmlands. Java and Bali have always been Indonesia’s primary rice-growing areas, and thus the centres of population and political power.

Of the hundreds of volcanoes in Indonesia, over 167 are active, and hardly a year passes without at least one major eruption. On a densely populated island like Java, they inevitably bring death and destruction. When Krakatau, off Java’s west coast, blew up in 1883 with a force equivalent to that of 10,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs, it created tidal waves that killed more than 36,000 people on Java. The eruption was heard as far away as Sri Lanka and Sydney, and the great quantities of debris hurled into the atmosphere caused vivid sunsets all over the world for three years afterwards. But the Krakatau explosion was eclipsed by the truly cataclysmic 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, on Sumbawa, the largest in recorded history. Around 90,000 people were killed and over 80 cu km (20 cu miles) of ejected material dimmed the sun for many months, producing a disastrous ‘year without summer’ in distant Europe.

Of Indonesia’s major volcanoes, 18 are on Java, 12 dominate Sumatra and two are in eastern Bali. Kalimantan has no volcanoes.

Already in the 21st century several devastating natural disasters have occurred here. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by a 9.0-magnitude submarine earthquake, originated off the west coast of Sumatra; almost 170,000 people died and 500,000 were displaced in Indonesia alone. Thanks to international aid, early tsunami warning signals are now in place across 28 Indian Ocean countries, drills are regularly held and Indonesia’s Disaster Risk Reduction programme has been introduced at international forums. A new, four-storey, multi-function evacuation centre has been built in Banda Aceh, one of the hardest-hit areas, topped by a helipad to facilitate rescue operations, and 140,000 houses have been built, most of them quake-resistant. There has been almost continual building work along Sumatra’s west coast since 2004.

Rescue workers search for survivors after Gunung Merapi erupts in 2010.

Getty Images

At a few minutes before 6am one Saturday in May 2006, while many people were sleeping, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake originated deep in the sea along tectonic plate boundaries near Yogyakarta, Central Java. Ninety percent of the homes along the fault line collapsed, killing nearly 6,000 people. Refusing all foreign aid, the Indonesian government provided compensation to those who survived, but it was not enough to rebuild their homes and lives. Years later, even though entire villages have been rebuilt, it is estimated that the survivors owe a debt of US$5.86 million to state-owned banks. Earthquakes happen on Indonesian islands quite frequently. In 2013, a 6.1-magnitude quake struck the far western part of Sumatra, in Aceh province, killing 29 people and destroying 1,500 buildings. Most recently, in July 2015, a magnitude 7.0-earthquake hit the Papua region.

Merapi erupts

Following the 2006 earthquake, Central Java was plagued again in October and November 2010 when mighty Gunung Merapi, north of Yogyakarta, erupted. Area residents were evacuated to nearby refugee centres prior to the event, but 300 lives were lost, many through gas inhalation when returning to their villages to tend to their livestock. Blistering pyroclastic blasts and avalanches of house-sized rocks and debris continued for several days, replaced in the weeks following by flash floods. Among the half a million people who were displaced, 2,682 families returned to their villages on the slopes of the mountain, despite government offers to relocate them elsewhere.

The upside to these recent tragedies is that the country has greatly improved its preparedness and response to natural disasters, and is now a consultant to other nations on such matters. In 2011 it sent a relief team to Japan following its 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami. The Indonesian people were honoured to help, given that Japan had been one of the first to offer consultation and aid in Indonesia’s time of need in the past.

Indonesians have also recently become more aware of environmental challenges. Farmers are experimenting with biogas, derived from vegetables, to fuel machinery. Returning to their forefathers’ ways, they are using manure instead of chemicals to fertilise crops. Local governments have planted billions of trees. Aid money has been used in some areas to buy solar-powered pumps, providing water to formerly parched areas.

Scattered populations

As a result of its geographical peculiarities, Indonesia’s hundreds of ethnic groups have been isolated from each other right through history, allowing them to evolve independently and resulting in a multitude of languages and traditions. It was not until road systems were put in place that many isolated villages became aware of the existence of other groups relatively close by. Yet while the implementation of a national language in 1945 has been instrumental in uniting millions of dissimilar peoples into one nation, close scrutiny reveals how unique each group is even today.

In addition to their separation through geography, language and cultural traditions, Indonesia’s people are divided by more commonplace factors such as wealth, social status, education and health care. Generally speaking, the further away from an urban area a village is, the more likely it is to adhere strictly to ancient traditions and rituals, the closer the family ties, the poorer the health care is, and the lower the education opportunities are likely to be.

At the same time, much of Indonesia has changed enormously in recent years. Modern highway systems connect hamlets to marketplaces and ports more efficiently than ever before. Improved transport includes not only public buses and ferries to help people get from one point to another, but there is now increased access to bank loans to finance the millions of motorbikes seen throughout the country. The growing number of budget airlines that reach hitherto inaccessible islands also makes flying more affordable to the growing middle-income group.

Communications, too, have vastly improved over the last decade. Until recently the biggest impact on Indonesians nationwide has been television – nearly every village, no matter how small or remote, has at least one TV and can receive the government-sponsored television channel at the minimum. In the past decade, sales of cellular phones have burgeoned, as the demand for landlines is so great that there will never be enough of them to go around. The internet has perhaps made the greatest impact of all, connecting citizens of even far-flung areas not only to other Indonesians, but also to the situations and attitudes of the outside world.

All these factors have helped to minimise distinctions between people, for better or worse, but they have also created even larger gaps between those who have access to them and the millions who continue to live in poverty and relative isolation.

Prambanan Temple dates from the 9th century, the peak of Sriwijaya power

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Decisive Dates

Prambanan Temple.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Prehistoric era

1.81 million years ago

Solo Man (Homo erectus soloensis) inhabits Central Java.

1.66 million years ago

Java Man (Homo erectus) lives in Java.

40,000 years ago

Fossil records of modern humans found in Indonesia.

5,000 BC

Austronesian peoples begin moving into Indonesia from the Philippines.

500 BC–AD 500

Dong Son Bronze Age influences Indonesian arts.

Indianised kingdoms

AD 400

Hindu kingdoms emerge in West Java and East Kalimantan.

850

Sanjaya (early Mataram) seizes control of Central Java. Sailendran flee to Sriwijaya, southern Sumatra.

860–1000

The golden age of Sriwijaya.

910–1080

Political centre of Java moves to East Java; rise of Hindu kingdoms on Bali.

Singasari and Majapahit

1222–75

Singasari dynasty founded; controls maritime trade from Sriwijaya.

1292

Civil war ensues in Singasari; Mongol invasion joins forces against Singasari.

1294

Singasari falls to Majapahit kingdom, the most powerful in Indonesian history.

15th century

Majapahit and Kediri kingdoms are conquered by Islamic Demak, North Java. Hindu-Javanese aristocracy moves to Bali.

Mid-16th century

Islamic Banten and Cirebon sultanates established in Java.

Late 16th century

Second Mataram kingdom founded; Dutch arrive. Both fight to control Java.

Dutch colonial years

1602–3

United Dutch East India Company (VOC) establishes trading post in Banten.

1619

Dutch take over Jayakarta (now Jakarta) and rename it Batavia.

1613–1755

Mataram expands and attacks Batavia; Dutch prevail.

1740–55

A major conflict originates in Batavia. The Dutch acquire the right to collect tolls throughout Mataram. A new capital at Surakarta is established.

1755

Dutch partition Mataram into two courts, Surakarta and Yogyakarta.

1767–77

VOC conquers eastern Java, abolishing Java’s last Hinduised kingdom.

1799–1800

VOC is dissolved; Dutch assume control.

Resistance and repression

1811–16

English rule under Thomas Stamford Raffles.

1813

Raffles abolishes Banten and Cirebon sultanates.

1817

Raffles writes monumental History of Java.

1825–30

Yogyakarta sultanate’s cataclysmic Java War against the Dutch. Sultan deposed.

1830–50

Dutch introduce the Cultivation System, a land tax payable by labour or land use. Famines occur; 250,000 die.

National awakening

1908

Dutch-educated Indonesians form regional student organisations; national consciousness takes shape.

1910

Indonesian communist movement founded.

1910–30

Turbulent period of strikes, violence and organised rebellions.

1927

Sukarno tries to unite nationalists, Muslims and Marxists into a single mass movement. He is imprisoned by the Dutch and later exiled.

World War II and Independence

1942–4

Japanese invade Bali and Java; promise independence.

1945

Japan surrenders. Nationalist leaders Sukarno and Hatta declare Indonesia’s independence. Dutch return to resume control; war for independence breaks out.

1949

Dutch acknowledge Indonesia’s independence under UN pressure.

Late 1950s

Separatist insurgencies prompt Sukarno to declare martial law and resurrect 1945 ‘revolutionary’ constitution.

1959

Sukarno dissolves parliament; his sentiments become more militant.

1965

Bloodletting focused on Chinese ensues after failed communist coup.

1966

Sukarno persuaded to sign over powers to his protégé, Suharto, who takes over presidency. Until 1998, Suharto is re-elected six times in rigged elections.

1997

Asian economic crisis begins.

1998

Suharto refuses to reform economy and is forced to resign amid mass student uprising.

Contemporary Indonesia

1998–2001

Three presidents govern in quick succession.

2004

In historic first direct presidential election, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) comes into office.

2008

Suharto dies, ending a major chapter in Indonesian history.

2009

SBY is re-elected by overwhelming majority. Pledges at G20 summit to wean Indonesia off fuel subsidies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Poverty rate drops from 60 percent in 1990 to 14.1 percent.

2010

Amid global economic crisis, Indonesia emerges as the region’s third-strongest economy after China and India.

2012

Several high profile court trials of Islamist militants end with long prison sentences, including the 20-year sentence for the bomb maker Umar Patek for his role in the 2002 Bali attack.

2014

Indonesia holds national parliamentary and presidential elections. Jakarta Governor, Joko Vidodo (PDI-P) wins, succeeding Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who was President for 10 years.

2015

Brazil, the Netherlands and Australia recall their ambassadors from Indonesia after the execution by firing squad of citizens from their countries, convicted for drug trafficking.

An anti-government protest in 2010.

Getty Images

Birth of Empires

Indonesians’ prehistoric ancestors, Java Man and Solo Man lived in a fertile region that later saw the rise of great maritime empires.

Homo floresiensis skull.

Ryan Somma

The late 19th-century discovery of hominid remains on Java island took the anthropological world by storm when they were identified as the first scientific evidence on the planet of Homo erectus. Early 20th-century findings of more fossils in nearby Sangiran (Sragen) proved to be even older, for a time establishing Java as the origin of the modern human race. Nearly a century later, when skeletons of nine small individuals were unearthed on Flores – who are now believed to have coexisted with dwarf Stegodon elephants – the scientific world rushed to Indonesia to prove whether or not they were a pygmy race, a controversy that remains unsettled.

These discoveries not only disparaged previous theories about the origin of man, but as some of them displayed definite Southeast Asian features, they threw new light on migration patterns. It is now generally believed that there were two great migratory waves into Indonesia. One was the Melanesian people who entered, perhaps via land bridges, from the north from mainland Asia. The other was the Austronesians, who were great seafarers and whose populations spread throughout Polynesia and Southeast Asia, extending across the Indian Ocean to Madagascar.

It is an interesting turn of events that from these beginnings mighty empires arose that stretched as far afield as Cambodia, and that the fertile lands would produce spices sought after and fought over, extending Indonesia’s influence from Europe to China.

The Brahma Amara Vihar Buddhist temple in North Bali.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Prehistory

Indonesian archaeological findings have contributed more than their share of controversy in the past. In 1891, a Dutch military physician discovered a fossilised primate jawbone with human characteristics on the banks of the Bengawan Solo River, Central Java. The jawbone was at first discounted by anthropologists who thought it was likely to belong to an extinct species of apes. But in the following year, two more humanoid fossils were uncovered. This caused a sensation: together the finds were believed to represent the world’s first evidence of Darwin’s ‘missing link’. Darwin’s evolutionary theories were still in dispute at the time and the discovery, dubbed Java Man, was only vindicated with the unearthing of similar fossils outside Beijing in 1921.

The most striking megaliths in Indonesia are the carved statues of riding men and wrestling animals found on the Pasemah plateau in South Sumatra. No definite date can be given for these.

It is now thought that the Java Man fossils are about 1.66 million years old. Originally named Pithecanthropus erectus, later reclassified Homo erectus, it justified migration theories between China and Indonesia. Until later discoveries were made in Kenya, anthropologists theorised that the ancestors of modern humans were Asian in origin.

Then in 1936 German palaeo-anthropologist G.H.R. von Koenigswald discovered a larger collection of fossils in nearby Ngandong village, at Sangiran, 18km (11 miles) north of Solo. Dubbed ‘Mojokerto Child’ (later called Solo Man), the finds were controversial from the outset due to the size of the cranium, debunking previous theories of the intellectual capacity of the now-extinct Homo erectus. After exhaustive studies and much debate, most scientists now concede that Solo Man (Homo erectus soloensis) was older than Java Man, about 1.81 million years, or about the same age as the Kenya fossils. As a result, it now appears that instead of a single origin of modern man, parallel evolutions occurred in two places at different rates. Interestingly, Solo Man seems to have survived until as recently as 20,000–50,000 years ago, perhaps living alongside Homo sapiens.

Cave paintings at Maros, Sulawesi.

Luc-Henri Fage

Beginning about 20,000 years ago, there is evidence of human burials and partial cremations in Indonesia. Several cave paintings (mainly hand stencils, but also human and animal figures) found in southwestern Sulawesi and New Guinea may be 10,000 or more years old.

The Neolithic centuries – which appear to have begun soon after the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 BC – are characterised here, as elsewhere, by the advent of village settlements, domesticated animals, polished stone tools, pottery and food cultivation. In Southwest Sulawesi and the East Timor plain, for instance, pottery vessels and open bowls dating from about 3,000 BC have been found, together with shell bracelets, discs, beads, adzes and the bones of pig and dogs.

The Flores Hobbits

Heated anthropologic debate began in 2004 with the discovery of the skeletons of nine people of diminutive size on Flores Island, nicknamed ‘Hobbits’. The controversy centres around whether they were a race of pygmies, were malnourished or were victims of ill-formed brains. Currently classified Homo floresiensis, some fossils have been dated from 38,000 to 12,000 years ago, with one specimen about 74,000 years old.

Arguments, debates and extensive research of minuscule details continue and are likely to do so for many years to come, with the added intrigue of missing and damaged samples as well as the blocked access to the discovery site in the early years of the exploration.

The first agriculturalists in Indonesia probably grew yams before the introduction of rice. In fact, rice came to much of Indonesia only in recent centuries, and yams are still a staple crop on many eastern islands. Bark clothing was produced with stone-pounding tools, and pottery was shaped with the aid of a wooden paddle and a stone anvil tapper.

Neolithic Indonesians were undoubtedly experienced seafarers, like their Polynesian cousins who were spreading across the Pacific at this time. Today, the outrigger is commonly found throughout Indonesia and Oceania.

Dong Son bronze culture

It was once thought that Southeast Asia’s Bronze Age began with the Chinese-influenced Dong Son bronze culture of northern Vietnam in the 1st millennium BC. However, the discovery of 5,000-year-old copper and bronze tools in northern Thailand raised the possibility of similar developments elsewhere. All early Indonesian bronzes known to date are clearly of the Dong Son type.

A ceremonial Dong Son bronze drum.

Bình Giang

The finest Dong Son ceremonial bronze drums and axes are decorated with engraved geometric, animal and human motifs. This decorative style was highly influential in many fields of Indonesian art, and seems to have spread together with the bronze casting technique, as ancient stone moulds have been found in Indonesia. The sophisticated ‘lost wax’ technique of bronze casting was employed, and such bronzes were found as far east as New Guinea.

Who were the Indonesian producers of Dong Son bronzes? It is difficult to say, but it seems small kingdoms based on wet-rice agriculture and foreign trade were flourishing in the archipelago during this period. Articles of Indian manufacture have been found at several prehistoric sites in Indonesia, and a panel from a bronze drum found on Sangeang island, near Sumbawa, depicts figures in ancient Chinese dress. Early Han texts mention the clove-producing islands of eastern Indonesia, and it is certain that by the 2nd century BC, trade was widespread in the archipelago.

Indianised kingdoms

Beginning in the 2nd century AD, a number of sophisticated civilisations emerged in Southeast Asia – civilisations whose cosmology, literature, architecture and political organisation were patterned on those of India. These kingdoms are known for the wonderful monuments they created: Borobudur, Prambanan, Angkor, Pagan and others. Yet their creators remain largely an enigma.

The most plausible theory is that Southeast Asian rulers Indianised their own kingdoms – either by employing Indian Brahmans or sending their own people to India to acquire knowledge. Sanskrit writing and texts, along with sophisticated Indian rituals and architectural techniques, afforded a ruler greater organisational control, wealth and social status. They also enabled them to participate in an expanding Indian trading network.

Borobudur.

Indonesian Tourist Board

The first specific references to Indonesian rulers and kingdoms are found in written Chinese sources. Using the South Indian Pallava script, the stone inscriptions were issued by Indonesian rulers in two different areas of the archipelago: Kutai on the eastern coast of Kalimantan, and Tarumanegara on the Citarum River, in West Java near Bogor. Both rulers were Hindus.

There is also the interesting figure Fa Hsien, a Chinese Buddhist monk who journeyed to India in the early 5th century to obtain Buddhist scriptures and on his way home was shipwrecked and stranded on Java. Fa Hsien noted there were many Brahmans and heretics on Java and that the Buddhist Dharma there was not worth