THE WORLD CIVILIZATIONS AND INDIA , PART-68

THE HISTORY OF INDONESIA AT A GLANCE ( INDONESIA SERIES-1 )

INDONESIA is an archipelagic country having more than 18000 islands located along the equator in South-East ASIA . Historians are of the opinion that INDONESIA was linked with the ASIAN mainland during PLEISTOCENE ( ABOUT FOUR MILLION BC ) period of history . This was the period when the first HOMINIDS appeared in this archipelago . Today they are called JAVA MAN who had inhabited INDONESIA about two million to five lakhs years ago , was first discovered by the DUTCH anatomist EUGENE DUBOIS at TRINIL in 1891 . Other HOMO ERECTUS Fossiles of a similar age were found at SANGIRAN in the 1930s by the anthropologist like GUSTAV HEINRICH RALPH VON KOENIGSWALD . AUSTRONESIAN people , who constituted the majority of the modern population of INDONESIA , were supposed to have originally came from TAIWAN around 2000 BC ago . From the seventh century AD onwards , the SRIVIJAYA naval kingdom flourished , thus began the HINDU and BUDDHIST influences in INDONESIA . SRIVIJAYA was a BUDDHIST THALASSOCRATIC Empire based on the island of SUMATRA which ultimately influenced much of South-East ASIA . SRIVIJAYA was an important centre of the expansion of BUDDHISM from the 7th to 12 century AD . SRIVIJAYA was the first unified kingdom to dominate much of the INDONESIA and MALYA archipelago .

THE AGRICULTURIST SHAILENDRA DYNASTY — IN BRIEF

The SHAILENDRA DYNASTY was an INDIANISED DYNASTY that emerged in JAVA in the 8th century AD . The word SHAILENDRA was derived from two SANSKRIT words : 1. SAILA ; and 2. INDRA . SAILA means mountain and INDRA means King . Thus , etymologically speaking SHAILENDRA means ‘ KING OF THE MOUNTAIN ‘. Their reign signified a cultural renaissance in the entire region . The SHAILENDRAS were promoters of MAHAYANA BUDDHISM with inherent elements of HINDUISM . They covered the KEDU PLAIN and CENTRAL JAVA with BUDDHIST Monuments . The colossal STUPA of BOROBADUR was one of them . It has now been designated as the UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE as such . Though considered as THALASSOCRATIC reign , yet they relied on the agricultural pursuits . They developed KEDU PLAIN of CENTRAL JAVA as an area of intensive rice cultivation . The Dynasty appeared to be the ruling family of both : 1. MATARAM KINGDOM of CENTRAL JAVA ; and 2. SRIVIJAYA KINGDOM of SUMATRA .

The MATARAM KINGDOM of CENTRAL JAVA flourished as a JAPANESE HINDU- BUDDHIST Kingdom between 8th to 11th century . It was established by King SANJAY. It expanded from CENTRAL JAVA to EAST JAVA . The kingdom was also ruled by the SHAILENDRA DYNASTY and the ISHANA DYNASTY . Its capitals at various times were MAMRATIPUR , POH PITU , TAMWLANG and WATUGALUH respectively . The common languages of the kingdom were OLD JAVANESE and SANSKRIT . It spread from 716 AD to 1016 AD . And religions that were followed by the people during the period were : 1. HINDUISM ; 2. BUDDHISM ; and 3. ANIMISM as such . The kingdom was seemed to have relied heavily on agriculture . Extensive rice farming was the profession of most of the people of the Kingdom . Later they were benefited by maritime trade also . The kingdom was prosperous and populated . It had a well developed culture and refined civilization as such . Between the late eighth century and the mid-9th century , the Kingdom saw rapid growth of temple construction . The most important temples constructed during the period in MATARAM were KALASAN , SEWU , BOROBADUR and PRAMBANAN . All these temples were quite closer to the modern day city of YOGYAKARTA . All these temples reflected the the blossoming of JAVANESE art and architecture . The Kingdom had become a dominant empire not only in JAVA , but also in BALI , SUMATRA , SOUTHERN THAILAND , THE INDIANISED KINGDOM OF PHILIPPINES and KHMER in CAMBODIA . Later the Dynasty was divided into two Kingdoms . The one became BUDDHIST and other SHIVAIST Dynasty . The BUDDHIST Dynasty of SRIVIJAYA Kingdom in SUMATRA was led by BALAPUTRADEWA . The SHIVAIST Dynasty of MATARAM Kingdom of JAVA was led by RAKAI PIKATAN .