Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam
148. Indonesia – Struggle for Independence
By Professor Nazeer Ahmed
Concord, CA
The Islamic world emerged from the First World War with its heartland occupied, its institutions destroyed and its political future in the European colonial juggernaut. While the history of the Islamic world before World War I was a reflection largely of its own internal dialectic, it reflected the dialectic between Europe and the colonized people of Afro-Asia after World War I. It took two world wars to loosen the European stranglehold on Afro-Asia.
In the eighteenth and 19 th centuries Afro-Asia was divided and parceled by European powers. The divisions reflected the power equilibrium between the big players, Great Britain, France and Russia after the Napoleonic wars (1798-1812). The First World War shook Europe to the core. The Second World War further weakened Great Britain and Franc. The rapid Japanese advance across East Asia destroyed the myth of European invincibility and provided hope to the nationalists in Asia and Africa for their liberation from centuries of bondage. Colonial rule established by brute force and cunning in the 19 th century was demolished by brute force in the 20 th century.
Privilege does not abandon its advantage without a fight. Even after the bloodletting of the Second World War, the colonial powers made an end run to reestablish their colonial hold on Asia. The French retook Vietnam until they were defeated and ejected from the Indochina by a determined insurrection. The Dutch landed in Indonesia with British help. A protracted war ensued pitting the independence forces against the colonists that lasted four years. Independence came to Indonesia when the United States, concerned about communist inroads into the Archipelago, forced the Dutch to withdraw. The British gave up India when they realize that the Indian army, the lynchpin of the British Empire, was no longer a reliable ally in its colonial venture.
This is the story of Indonesia. It is a story of a dialectic between nationalism, Islam and communism played out against an overarching background of a ruthless Dutch colonial rule before World War II, the ensuring cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union after the World War, and the relentless pressures of American hegemony after the end of the cold war.
For the last four hundred years the history of Afro-Asia has been inextricably tied to the history of Europe. Riding on the mastery of the oceans, the Europeans touched the far corners of the earth, first in search of trade, then to dominate and colonize the world. Ancient civilizations on the Afro-Asian continents were subjugated while Europe became the mistress of the globe. This was a phenomenon unparalleled in human history. Never in human history had a small corner of Eurasia so completely dominated the entire globe.
The rise of the European colossus was gradual. One may list the major milestones in this rise as the Fall of Granada (1492), the discovery of America (1492), the discovery of sea routes to India around the horn of Africa (1496), the introduction of the printing press (1526), the Protestant Reformation (1517-40), the Battle of Lepanto (1572), the Battle of al Qasr al Kabir (1578), the destruction of the Spanish armada (1588, 1598), the formation of the joint stock companies (1600-1602), the failure of the Second Turkish siege of Vienna (1683), the political implosion of India (1707-1762), the Battle of Plassey (1757) and the Industrial Revolution (1758-1812).
The initial thrust for European expansion was religion. After the conquest of Granada (1492) the crusades spilled over into North Africa and beyond. The need to circumvent the Muslim Maghreb forced the maritime Christian powers of Spain and Portugal to venture out further into the Atlantic. In the process America was discovered (1492) and Africa was circumnavigated (1496). With the Treaty of Tordisillas brokered by Pope Alexander VI, Spain and Portugal divided up the world to explore, conquer and convert.
In 1496 Vasco de Gama sailed to the coast of East Africa and with the help of a Muslim navigator, Ahmed Ibn Majid, reached the west coast of India. He returned ten years later, this time at the end of a flotilla of gunships and blasted his way from Shofala in southern Africa to Cochin in India. Naval technology provided Europe the advantage it needed to establish its sway over the Indian Ocean.
The Portuguese established a string of colonies all along the littoral states of the Indian Ocean. The major outposts were Shofala in East Africa, Hermuz in Persia, Goa and Cochin in India, Malacca in Malaysia and Canton in China. The thriving Indian Ocean trade, hitherto open to all the peoples of the Indian Ocean littoral states, was now in the hands of Europeans. The land powers of Asia surrendered the oceans to Europe and were smug in their attitude towards these seafarers from foreign lands. With the loss of trade, prosperity shrank. Europe expanded while Asia shriveled.
Towards the end of the 16 th century, political power shifted from Spain and Portugal to the Netherlands, England and France. The motive for hegemony changed from religion to profits. The Dutch displaced the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and held sway over the Eastern trade through the first half of the 17 th century. However, superior resources enabled France and England to displace Holland and compete for supremacy in Asia, a competition in which the British emerged victorious. The colonization of Asia starts with competition for trade routes and trade monopolies and ends with a slicing of colonial spheres reflecting the power balance between European powers.
This chapter focuses on the history of Indonesia. Stretching over 3,000 miles of ocean, Indonesia is a nation of nations and consists of more than 12,000 islands. The resource rich island of Sumatra is the largest and stretches along the strategic Gulf of Malacca dominating the sea lanes from India to China. The smaller island of Java is the most densely populated and holds more than fifty percent of the total Indonesian population of 250 million. Some of the islands are so small that they are mere rocks jetting forth from the ocean. Each of the larger islands has its own rich culture. A shared history dating back more than two thousand years and an overarching Malay culture unites the archipelago into a composite mosaic.
Geography and geology have dictated the history of Indonesia. The far-flung islands are connected by the sea which is the conduit for transportation and commerce making the Islanders one of the most seafaring peoples of the world. From ancient times Indonesian boats plied the waters of the Indian Ocean reaching as far as Mozambique and the East coast of Africa. Geologically the great fault lines that separate the Pacific plate from the Indian and Indo-Chinese plates graze the western shores of Java and Sumatra causing immense destruction with earthquakes and tsunamis as they graze past each other and slide. The islands straddle the equator and are blessed with abundant rain and sun, a climate that is conducive to the cultivation of spices. Bountiful nature has made the Indonesians a people of mild disposition and grace.
Ancient empires rose and fell, uniting and dividing the peoples of these far-flung islands. The kingdom of Srivijaya flourished in Sumatra from the 4 th to the 14 th century CE and at times controlled parts of Java and Malaya. The powerful kingdom of Majapahit dominated the islands from the 13 th to the 16 th centuries from its center Eastern Java and through trade and treaties its influence was felt all over Southeast Asia.
Trade with India and China brought cultural, religious and military influence. In ancient times, Hinduism was brought to the islands by traders from the eastern shores of India and was the dominant religious influence until the 4 th century CE, Hindu influence pervaded the islands. In the 4 th century CE, the Indian Emperor Ashoka accepted Buddhism. Through his patronage Buddhism travelled to Sri Lanka and the Indonesian islands. These external influences were modified and adopted to fit the local cultural milieu. The kingdoms of Srivijaya and Majapahit that dominated the islands were Buddhist-Hindu in their religious outlook but the culture of the islands remained decidedly local.
(The author is Director, World Organization for Resource Development and Education, Washington, DC; Director, American Institute of Islamic History and Culture, CA; Member, State Knowledge Commission, Bangalore; and Chairman, Delixus Group)
