The theme of this volume, state formation and mercantile evolution in Indonesia, has been the subject of historiographical debate for quite some time. In recent decades the focus of this debate has shifted from the external challenge posed by westerners towards the indigenous response to that challenge and towards local and regional situations, adding to the knowledge of state and state formation. Nine case studies on state formation in the Indonesian archipelago illustrate this approach. They deal with widely differing states, in different periods and regions, ranging from the twelfth-century Javanese state of Kadiri to the twentieth-century Netherlands Indies colonial state, and from Riau and West Borneo to Buton and the Seram Sea. Most of the studies concern states that came under the influence of the Dutch East Indies Company or its successor, the Dutch colonial state. The contributors to this volume are from Indonesia—Muhammad Gade Ismail, R.Z. Leirissa, Edi Sedyawati and Suhartono—and from the Netherlands—F. van Baardewijk, V.J.H. Houben, L.W. Nagtegaal, J.W. Schoorl and R. Vos. Based on in-depth bibliographical and archival research, these studies shed new light on historical situations and processes, thus contributing significantly to the knowledge of Indonesia's past and its historiography.

Now that this study is completed and I wish to make due acknowledg ment to all those who have in any degree contributed towards its realization, my thoughts turn in the first place to the one to whom this book is dedicated. It is a great grief to me that he who took such an intense interest in my work has not lived to see its conclusion. It was he who in the beginning urged me to venture upon this course of study and whose encouragement helped me in moments of de spondency. The high standard which, with his keen and critical judgment, he set for his own work, was an example to me, and I shall strive to maintain it in my future studies. Not only did he help me to lay the foundation of my knowledge of archive science, but he was also my guide in a field new to me in many respects, that of Asian maritime trade. His wide knowledge of medieval European trade in the Baltic area led me to compare and contrast the two worlds of East and West and thus helped me to obtain a deeper insight into the differences and similarities between the various problems involved. I am greatly indebted to Prof. Dr. J. M. Romein, who has followed the progress of my studies with great interest all these years, and on whose help and support, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, I have always been able to rely.

In the late colonial period (1870-1942), the Outer Islands of Indonesia formed a dynamic area. The economic development of these islands outside Java is analysed in this book by focusing on the enormous increase in trade after 1900. The Outer Islands are described individually and as a group, paying special attention to regional differences. The core of the study is to examine the effects of trade—foreign and domestic—on economic development. Although the economic policy of the colonial government played a role in the gradual formation of a national economy, it did little to advance the relatively backward regions of the Outer Islands. As one of the largest and most tumultuous economies in Southeast Asia, Indonesia nowadays attracts a lot of international attention. This book will serve the study of the diverse and dynamic economic history of late colonial Indonesia, which profoundly influenced post-war events and the formation of a national state.

The theme of this volume, state formation and mercantile evolution in Indonesia, has been the subject of historiographical debate for quite some time. In recent decades the focus of this debate has shifted from the external challenge posed by westerners towards the indigenous response to that challenge and towards local and regional situations, adding to the knowledge of state and state formation. Nine case studies on state formation in the Indonesian archipelago illustrate this approach. They deal with widely differing states, in different periods and regions, ranging from the twelfth-century Javanese state of Kadiri to the twentieth-century Netherlands Indies colonial state, and from Riau and West Borneo to Buton and the Seram Sea. Most of the studies concern states that came under the influence of the Dutch East Indies Company or its successor, the Dutch colonial state. The contributors to this volume are from Indonesia--Muhammad Gade Ismail, R.Z. Leirissa, Edi Sedyawati and Suhartono--and from the Netherlands--F. van Baardewijk, V.J.H. Houben, L.W. Nagtegaal, J.W. Schoorl and R. Vos. Based on in-depth bibliographical and archival research, these studies shed new light on historical situations and processes, thus contributing significantly to the knowledge of Indonesia's past and its historiography.

Stories of the spice trade of the East Indies have long held the imagination. Cloves, nutmeg, pepper, and cinnamon - indigenous to only 15 of the 13,000 islands forming the Indonesian archipelago - were to bring to the Indies a trade that existed for over 2,000 years, and were to change the course of history as nations battled for control of these precious commodities for use as preservatives, flavourings, fumigants, medicines, and perfumes. Carried by outrigger canoes to the East African coast and by camels along the Silk Road from China in the first and second centuries BC, spices led to the rise of the powerful maritime kingdoms of Srivijaya and Majapahit in the archipelago and, in the sixteenth century onwards, to the establishment of trading monopolies and colonial empires as first the Portuguese, followed by the Spanish, Dutch, and English, broke into the lucrative spice trade.

The Madurese are one of the great maritime and trading peoples of the Indonesian Archipelago. This study takes readers into the trading villages of Madura, with their remarkable traditional vessels (perahu) that were powered by sail until the late twentieth century, and examines their informal-sector economic niches, notably the cattle, salt, and timber trades and the carriage of people. The book argues that the nature of village society, the physical characteristics of the island’s coast, cultural traditions of frugality and self-reliance, and an appetite for risk all contributed to the enduring success of Madurese traders. During Suharto’s New Order, Madurese seafarers prospered through their central role in the booming timber trade between Kalimantan and Java, using great ingenuity and quasi-legal means to negotiate state laws and regulations. Based on data collected during visits to remote ports and unlicensed sawmills in Kalimantan, perahu harbors in Java, and “wild” beach ports in Madura, the book explores the inner workings of Madurese maritime trade during a critical period that brought this village-based transport industry into a modern and increasingly regulated economic environment.

Until the mid-1950s nearly all the waters lying between the far-flung islands of the Indonesian archipelago were as open to the ships of all nations as the waters of the great oceans. In order to enhance its failing sovereign grasp over the nation, as well as to deter perceived external threats to Indonesia’s national integrity, in 1957 the Indonesian government declared that it had “absolute sovereignty” over all the waters lying within straight baselines drawn between the outermost islands of Indonesia. At a single step, Indonesia had asserted its dominion over a vast swathe of what had hitherto been seas open to all, and made its lands and the seas it now claimed a single unified entity for the first time. International outrage and alarm ensued, expressed especially by the great maritime nations. Nevertheless, despite its low international profile, its relative poverty, and its often frail state capacity, Indonesia eventually succeeded in gaining international recognition for its claim when, in 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea formally recognized the existence of a new category of states known as “archipelagic states” and declared that these states had sovereignty over their “archipelagic waters”. Sovereignty and the Sea explains how Indonesia succeeded in its extraordinary claim. At the heart of Indonesia’s archipelagic campaign was a small group of Indonesian diplomats. Largely because of their dogged persistence, negotiating skills, and willingness to make difficult compromises Indonesia became the greatest archipelagic state in the world.

Trade, popular memory and colonialism in Indonesia.