HISTORY OF INDONESIA (1400s-1700s)
I. Hindu Empires become Muslim Empires
A. Hinduism had spread from India, through Southeast Asia to Indonesia
B. By the mid-1300s, Muslim traders and missionaries began taking over various islands
C. An Islamic Sultanate was founded on Malacca, and the remnants of the Hindu empire retired to Bali, where they were fairly isolated for several centuries.
II. European Contact
A. The Portuguese had established a base in Indonesia by the 1600s but were soon forced out by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Their interest was to control trade rather than settle colonies.
B. Much trade went on within the area of Indonesia. The spice trade was the most important, though cotton and Asian luxury goods were also of value.
C. Dutch traders determined the most efficient way to raise the spices and control the trade was to have each island concentrate on a specific spice, and ended up destroying many trees and native plants on some of the islands in order for this to happen. This also allowed them to control the natives by forcing them to trade the spices (and their labor) for the essential goods of life.
D. By 1669, the VOC was the richest private company the world had ever seen, with over 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees, and a private army of 10,000 soldiers. However, the British often fought with the Dutch over trade rights and by the end of the 1700s, the Company had gone broke. The British East India Company had taken over as the wealthiest Company at that point.