Very Revealing Book published by Harvard

[Guest guest]

Very Revealing Book published by Harvard

 

"In the beginning, Islam meant little more for the masses

of the people than a change in the name of the Supreme Being from

Shiva-Buddha to Allah. On one of the oldest Mohammedan graves we

still find Shivaitic symbols. Slowly the people of Java have been edu-

cated by Moslem missionary work to a stricter conception of the

Mohammedan belief, a work that has been strongly influenced from

Mecca and is still continuing."

 

The following is a chapter called "THE MOHAMMEDANS AND THE PORTUGUESE"

from the Book titled "NUSANTARA, A History of the East Indian

Archipelago" published by HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS in 1943. It is

written by Prof Bernard H.M. Vlekke

Copyright By the President and Fellows of Harvard College

 

It is very revealing and applicable to current events. Among other

things, it reveals the fact that, as early as 1400, Muslims were using

stones from Indian Hindu Temples for Islamic graves in Indonesia. In

turn, these same stones were then taken from the Islamic grave sites by

the Portuguese to build thier forts and churches.

 

It also discloses the fact that even in 1942, Indonesians were being

torn from their ancient Hindu past as a direct result of pressure from

Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The chapter also clearly exposes the fallacy of

the Arabs as the source of Islam's vast shipping and political power.

In fact it was Indian Muslims that controlled the shipping and trade of

the Indian Ocean and most trade between China, Africa and the Middle

East.

 

In other words, by following the ancient shipping routes of the Hindus,

the Muslims were able to succeed in spreading Islam and developing

their massive Trade and vast territorial holdings. The chapter also

explains that the Portuguese used Christian conversion of Hindus as a a

means to fight their crusade against Islam.

 

Another interesting point from the book, but not in this chapter is

that to this day the People of India are called 'KLING' by the

Indonesians. This is a direct referance to Kalinga. This appears to

show that there was a very ancient interaction between Ancient Hindu

Indonesia and Vedic East India.

Vrndavan Parker

(PS Chapter was scanned using Charachter recognition software. Any

typos are unintented and are not in the original book. I did my best to

correct any errors.)

 

QUOTE FROM BOOK BEGINS HERE

"NUSANTARA, A History of the East Indian Archipelago"

 

THE MOHAMMEDANS AND THE PORTUGUESE

"Commerce was developing quicly. a growing number of traders came from

the west and visited these islands, either to buy pepper, spices, and

precious wood or to rest before continuing their trip from the

Indonesian archipelgo to China. Many of these merchants were

Mohammedans, and to the chinese all Mohammedans were Arabs. Thus came

the existance the accounts of extensive arabian shipping and trading

all over southern and eastern Asia. In reality, there were very few, if

nay, natives of arabia among these traders....

....The Mohameddans who came to the Indies and China were from

Hindustan, where the city of Cambay in Gujerat still maintained its

tradition as a shipping center. from the 9th century on, commerce had

brought a number of Persian merchants to Gujerat. In this manner Islam

had been introduced and by the 13th cnetruy had gaine dthe upper hand

in that part of India.

 

 

Under Chinese protection Malacca flourished. The name of the sec-

ond prince of Malacca was Muhammad Iskandar Shah, which indicates

that he was a Moslem. The title Shah points to Persia and was probably

given to him by Persian merchants. Thus we know that Malacca was

converted to Islam in the first decade of the fifteenth century. The

tombstones of the first Moslem rajas were imported from Gujerat.

 

When all bits of information are patched together, the whole story of

the conversion becomes plain. The merchants from Gujerat had frequented

the growing commercial center and had imported their religion,creating

in this way a market for that curious piece of merchandise the nicely

carved tombstone with inscriptions in the Arabiclanguage.

 

It must have become fashionable among the first Indonesian

adherents of the Prophet to have their memory perpetuated on their

gravestones in the newly introduced holy script and language, just as

for a long time it was fashionable in occidental countries to have a

Latin inscription on one's grave.

 

The Gujerats(Indian Muslims) got the material for the stones cheaply.

THEY SIMPLY TOOK THEM FROM HINDU TEMPLES, which they learned to despise

as monuments of idolatry. But the same fate befellthe same stones once

more, when the Portuguese used them for construction of Malacca's

fortress, without respect for the hated Moslem religion.

 

Mohammad Iskandar Shah ascended the throne in 1414. Islam had

spread at that time along the northeast coast of Sumatra, but had no-

there penetrated into the interior. It rapidly conquered the coastal

district of the Peninsula. The first Arabic grave in Java (at Gresik,

North of Surabaya) dates from 1419. It is the grave of Malik Ibrahim,

from popular belief has made into an apostle and the saint of the

Moslem religion. Modern scholars deciphered the inscription on his

Tombstone and concluded that he was a wealthy Persian merchant who

probably made his money in the spice trade.

 

There is some truth in a legend like this, which makes an unknown

Persian trader into an apostle.

We do not know whether this man Malik was specially influential in

spreading of Islam; we do not know the names of the real apostles of

that creed; but it is beyond doubt that the new religion was propaogated

by a great number of merchants from the western coasts of the

Indian Ocean, even if those merchants must remain nameless for us.

The propagation of Mohammedan doctrines followed exactly the trade

and shipping routes of southeastern Asia. They were brought from the

Gujerat to the Peninsula, from Malacca to Eastern Java, and from there

to the principal islands of the Moluccas. From these central points they

spread along the coast of the islands.

 

The interior was converted centuries later, or has never been converted

at all. Only where the old

Hindu immigration had created organized states in the interior could

Islam expand rapidly. This development makes it probable that Islam

was first confessed in the principal ports by small groups of

foreigners, enterprising men who had great resources and many slaves at

their disposal.Thus the old story of the traders who became kings was

repeated once more, and this time not only in the less civilized parts

of the archipelago, but also on Java.

 

The kingdom of Madjapahit had lost all power in the last quarter

the fifteenth century, and a prince of Kadiri finally conquered the

Capital which fell rapidly into ruin. The petty princes on the coast

glad to marry their sons and daughters to the children of the rich

foreign merchants and became in that way attracted to Islam.

 

In a few decades, the Javanese aristocracy of the coastal districts had

gone over to the new belief. This meant no break with the old

traditions and customs, such as the wayang performances, which

continued to be enjoyed by the people even if they were not in

accordance with the rules of the Koran.

 

In the beginning, Islam meant little more for the masses

of the people than a change in the name of the Supreme Being from

Shiva-Buddha to Allah. On one of the oldest Mohammedan graves we

still find Shivaitic symbols. Slowly the people of Java have been edu-

cated by Moslem missionary work to a stricter conception of the

Mohammedan belief, a work that has been strongly influenced from

Mecca and is still continuing.5

 

The introduction of Islam made the difference between the Malayan

traders who lived on the coast of Borneo and Celebes and the native

tribes in the interior still greater than it had been. For these

traders,the chapter on the spreading of the Holy Word was one of the

most interesting parts of the Koran. If directed against pagans, the

propagation of the faith by the sword was not only justifiable but even

highly laudable. This was a wonderful expedient, to combine piety and

piracy, and the petty kings on Sumatra's north coast grasped the

opportunity.

 

To the merchant kings in the Moluccas it gave a chance to secure salva-

tion by expanding their commercial sphere of interest. Malacca, too,

profited by the same system, but when commercial interest demanded

it the princes of that city made little distinction between Moslem and

Kafir (infidels). The only power that might have checked this move-

ment was the Chinese Empire, but the Ming dynasty had declined in

strength as quickly as it had risen (±1450).

 

This was the state of affairs when the first Portuguese arrived in

Indonesia in the beginning of the sixteenth century. With them they

brought another holy war, that of the Christians of Spain and Portugal

against the Moors of Africa. The idea of the Crusade was always and

everywhere present in the mind of the Portuguese conquistadores. It

influenced all their colonial activities. They started on their distant

expeditions with the express intention of carrying the Crusades into

the territory of the enemy. The direct attack on Africa was difficult,

and therefore the Portuguese planned to attack the Moors in the rear

by sailing towards Africa's south coast.

 

These enterprises carried them

much farther than they had originally intended, but wherever they

they found "Moors" to fight, for to them all believers in Islam

were "Moors" and enemies. There is something great in this concep

tion, something that seems more noble because more disinterested than

the motives which later brought the British and the Dutch to Indonesia.

But if we look at the details of the campaign, there is little left of

the glamor of chivalry.6

 

Vasco da Gama reached the coast of India in the spring of 1498. A

years later he returned to the Indian seas with the definite order

the king of Portugal to stop all Arabian shipping between Meso-

and India. By fierce fighting he secured control over the west-

half of the Indian Ocean for his king.

 

This work was later

completed by the greatest of all conquistadores, Alfonso de Albuquer-

que, who in the six years of his governorship, 1509-1515, opened the

seas of the Far East to the Portuguese merchants. He arrived in India at

the moment when the first ship that had been sent exploring to Malacca

returned from its voyage. The crew had had unfortunate experiences

with the sultan of Malacca. First they had been received very kindly,

and later they had been attacked without any warning. Several men

had been taken prisoner. It may be that the Javanese merchants, who

must have suffered heavy losses because of the repercussions of the

Arabian-Portuguese war, were anxious to block further extension of

European sea power. They insisted that the intruders should be pun-

ished immediately. The sultan of Malacca was dependent on these

merchants for his income and therefore consented.

 

Albuquerque heard of these events after he had conquered the city

of Goa, the conquest of which gave the maritime empire of Portugal

a bridgehead on the continent. He decided that Malacca should be its

second bridgehead, and in 1511 sailed eastward. Thus began a holy war

in Indonesia between Moors and Crusaders, in which the champions

of Islam remained victorious.....

 

The hostility of the Moslems of northern Java made this route very

unsafe for the Portuguese ships.

 

The governor of Malacca was, therefore, very much interested in estab-

lishing regular connections with the Shivaitic kings of the interior of

Java, one of whom had sent an embassy to Malacca immediately after

the conquest of the city. In 1522 a Portuguese ship visited western

Java and halted at the port of Sunda Kalapa, the very place where

Batavia now is located. The king of this city was still Shivaitic, and

eagerly offered to the Portuguese all facilities for the construction

of a fortress, hoping to obtain their protection against his Moslem

enemies.

 

The city of Bantam, more to the west, had already gone over to Islam.

Bantam was an important center for the pepper trade and attracted the

attention of the Mohammedan traders from East Java who, as usual,

had introduced their own religion. The Portuguese were unable to

follow the invitation of the king of Sunda Kalapa immediately. When

they returned five years later, entrance to the city was denied to them.

 

It had been conquered by the Moslems of Bantam, under whom it

received the name of Jacatra. For nearly twenty years, the Mohammedan

rulers refused to enter into trading relations with the hated conquerors

of Malacca. Before 1535 the whole of the north coast of Java had been

converted to Islam, while in the interior the remnants of the old Shi-

vaitic empire continued to exist some decades longer. The only point

where the Portuguese could get into contact with the Shivaists, who

sought their friendship in common hatred of Islam, was the extreme

eastern point of Java, where Shivaism maintained its freedom for fifty

years more.16

 

In the meantime, Islam had spread from Bantam over

southern Sumatra and from Demak over southern Borneo. This rapid

extension of Islam was a serious setback for the Portuguese plans of

conquest. The holy war threatened to spread also over the Moluccas,

where the Bandanese and the Amboinese, already partly converted,

maintained close connections with the sultans of Java.

 

The only effective counter-policy seemed to be a rapid propagation

of the Christian faith. Missionary work had to concentrate on the

pagan populations, for wherever Islam had been introduced the chances |

for the Catholic Mission were very slight.

 

The missionaries who were sent to the Shivaitic kingdom in Eastern Java

came too late. The down-fall of this last Hindu-Javanese kingdom was

already a certainty.

 

The most dramatic events in the history of this missionary movement

happened therefore, in the Moluccas. The Catholic Church gained a

foothold on the island of Amboina, on the northern part of Halmahera,

on some of the smaller islands, but the existence of these commu-

remained very precarious. Their future depended on the attitude

the Portuguese authorities in the fortress of Ternate. When the

power of Portugal weakened, the missions were attacked by

the Moslems, and whenever the governors vigorously maintained the

king's authority the natives flocked together around the missionaries

to receive baptism. For all these uncivilized tribes religion was

synonymous with political power. Many villages embraced Catholicism

as a token of their alliance with the Catholic king of Portugal, just as

they went over to Islam when they joined his enemies.

 

As we have said, the Moluccas were divided into two political fac-

tions, one under the leadership of the sultan of Tidore, the other under

Ternate. Ternate was the enemy of Christianity and therefore the

enemy of Catholic Portugal but, at the same time, it was allied with the

Portuguese king's officers for commercial purposes. The confusion that

resulted from this strange combination may be imagined. The govern-

ors did not dare to oppose the sultan of Ternate for fear of losing the

profitable monopoly of the clove export.

 

The missionaries protested in Goa and Lisbon against a policy under

which the officers supported the enemies of the Catholic Church. The

easiest way out of this dilemma seemed to be to concentrate both

commercial and religious efforts on the island of Amboina, since this

produced clove as well as nutmeg and was not subject to either Ternate

or Tidore.

 

Moreover,the establishment of a second base in the Moluccas would give

the Portuguese more freedom of action and make them less dependent on

the support of far-away Malacca. A great number of villages on

Amboina and the neighboring islands were reported to be awaiting the

arrival of missionaries. At one time the number of Christians in these

parts was estimated to be as high as 70,000. It is true that the reports

sent to Rome indicated among the newly converted complete ignorance of

Christain doctrines.

 

 

NOTES

5 The early history of Islam on the island of Java is rather contusing.

An excellent survey, based on recent studies, may be found in C.

Lekkerkerker, Land en volk van Java (Groningen-Batavia, 1938), i, 309

sq. See also D. A. Rinkes, "De Heiligen van Java," TBG, vols. LII—LV

(1910-1913).

 

6.For an older survey of Portuguese activities in the East Indies and

for the literature on the subject, see P. A. Tiele, "De Europeeers in

den Indischen Archipel," in BKI, 4 ser.i (i877), 321 s(!-, continued in

the volumes of 1879, 1880, i88r, 1882, and 1884. A discussion of the

Portuguese contemporary literature on the subject appears in G. P.

Rouffaer, "Wanneer is Madjapahit gevallen?" BKI, 6 ser. vi (1899),

Appendix i (pp. 145-197) The two volumes of F. C. Danvers' The

Portuguese in India (London, 1894) deal also with the affairs of the

East Indies, but are based almost entirely upon Portuguese

information. The author apparently did not consult the numerous

publications of documents from Dutch archives and therefore his

exposition of the Dutch-Portuguese war in the years between 1600 and

1661 is not satisfactory.Of the Portuguese contemporary historians, the

books of Duarte Barbosa and Antonio Galvao have been published in

English versions by the Hakluyt Society.

 

16 We have only scanty information concerning the disappearance of

Hinduism in Java and the history of the last Shivaitic states. For a

survey containing most of the information at our disposal, see

Lekkerkerker, Land en volk. van Java, i, 292-309

[Guest guest]

A couple notes regarding this article. First, the word 'Kling' was

meant to be translated as "FOREIGNER" not "INDIAN." This term has

been used in Indonesian literature for centuries. The fact that

foreigners were called 'Kalingas' says alot about the ancient and

ongoing interaction between India and ancient Nusantara=Indonesia.

 

Indonesia means the Islands of India and it was the name applied to

all islands North of Australia and south of Malaysia, Thailand etc.

This included the Philipines and Papua-New Guinea as well.

Interestingly enough, The Indonesian Nationalists preferred the name

Indonesia=Islands of India over the Indonesian word=Nusantara.

 

Another interesting point is that in the second edition of the book,

all referances to Islamic agents, Meccan and others, actively

campaigning against Hindu culture in Indonesia, have been removed. In

fact the later edition gives the impression that there is no effort

being made to convert or remove Hindu cultural aspects from daily

Indonesian life.

 

The second edition of the book was printed in 1957. It is obvoius

that the political climate had changed and that any information

regarding the truth regarding Islam's history with Hinduism had to be

covered up. With the recent invention of Pakistan, created witht the

intent of giving Indian Moslems a Hindu-free environment, the true

story of Islam in formerly Hindu Indonesia had to be hidden.

Vrndavan Parker

 

vediculture, "vrnparker" <vrnparker>

wrote:

> Very Revealing Book published by Harvard

>

> "In the beginning, Islam meant little more for the masses

> of the people than a change in the name of the Supreme Being from

> Shiva-Buddha to Allah. On one of the oldest Mohammedan graves we

> still find Shivaitic symbols. Slowly the people of Java have been

edu-

> cated by Moslem missionary work to a stricter conception of the

> Mohammedan belief, a work that has been strongly influenced from

> Mecca and is still continuing."

>

> The following is a chapter called "THE MOHAMMEDANS AND THE

PORTUGUESE"

> from the Book titled "NUSANTARA, A History of the East Indian

> Archipelago" published by HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS in 1943. It is

> written by Prof Bernard H.M. Vlekke

> Copyright By the President and Fellows of Harvard College

>

> It is very revealing and applicable to current events. Among other

> things, it reveals the fact that, as early as 1400, Muslims were

using

> stones from Indian Hindu Temples for Islamic graves in Indonesia.

In

> turn, these same stones were then taken from the Islamic grave

sites by

> the Portuguese to build thier forts and churches.

>

> It also discloses the fact that even in 1942, Indonesians were

being

> torn from their ancient Hindu past as a direct result of pressure

from

> Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The chapter also clearly exposes the fallacy

of

> the Arabs as the source of Islam's vast shipping and political

power.

> In fact it was Indian Muslims that controlled the shipping and

trade of

> the Indian Ocean and most trade between China, Africa and the

Middle

> East.

>

> In other words, by following the ancient shipping routes of the

Hindus,

> the Muslims were able to succeed in spreading Islam and developing

> their massive Trade and vast territorial holdings. The chapter also

> explains that the Portuguese used Christian conversion of Hindus as

a a

> means to fight their crusade against Islam.

>

> Another interesting point from the book, but not in this chapter is

> that to this day the People of India are called 'KLING' by the

> Indonesians. This is a direct referance to Kalinga. This appears to

> show that there was a very ancient interaction between Ancient

Hindu

> Indonesia and Vedic East India.

> Vrndavan Parker

> (PS Chapter was scanned using Charachter recognition software. Any

> typos are unintented and are not in the original book. I did my

best to

> correct any errors.)

>

> QUOTE FROM BOOK BEGINS HERE

> "NUSANTARA, A History of the East Indian Archipelago"

>

> THE MOHAMMEDANS AND THE PORTUGUESE

> "Commerce was developing quicly. a growing number of traders came

from

> the west and visited these islands, either to buy pepper, spices,

and

> precious wood or to rest before continuing their trip from the

> Indonesian archipelgo to China. Many of these merchants were

> Mohammedans, and to the chinese all Mohammedans were Arabs. Thus

came

> the existance the accounts of extensive arabian shipping and

trading

> all over southern and eastern Asia. In reality, there were very

few, if

> nay, natives of arabia among these traders....

> ...The Mohameddans who came to the Indies and China were from

> Hindustan, where the city of Cambay in Gujerat still maintained its

> tradition as a shipping center. from the 9th century on, commerce

had

> brought a number of Persian merchants to Gujerat. In this manner

Islam

> had been introduced and by the 13th cnetruy had gaine dthe upper

hand

> in that part of India.

>

>

> Under Chinese protection Malacca flourished. The name of the sec-

> ond prince of Malacca was Muhammad Iskandar Shah, which indicates

> that he was a Moslem. The title Shah points to Persia and was

probably

> given to him by Persian merchants. Thus we know that Malacca was

> converted to Islam in the first decade of the fifteenth century.

The

> tombstones of the first Moslem rajas were imported from Gujerat.

>

> When all bits of information are patched together, the whole story

of

> the conversion becomes plain. The merchants from Gujerat had

frequented

> the growing commercial center and had imported their

religion,creating

> in this way a market for that curious piece of merchandise the

nicely

> carved tombstone with inscriptions in the Arabiclanguage.

>

> It must have become fashionable among the first Indonesian

> adherents of the Prophet to have their memory perpetuated on their

> gravestones in the newly introduced holy script and language, just

as

> for a long time it was fashionable in occidental countries to have

a

> Latin inscription on one's grave.

>

> The Gujerats(Indian Muslims) got the material for the stones

cheaply.

> THEY SIMPLY TOOK THEM FROM HINDU TEMPLES, which they learned to

despise

> as monuments of idolatry. But the same fate befellthe same stones

once

> more, when the Portuguese used them for construction of Malacca's

> fortress, without respect for the hated Moslem religion.

>

> Mohammad Iskandar Shah ascended the throne in 1414. Islam had

> spread at that time along the northeast coast of Sumatra, but had

no-

> there penetrated into the interior. It rapidly conquered the

coastal

> district of the Peninsula. The first Arabic grave in Java (at

Gresik,

> North of Surabaya) dates from 1419. It is the grave of Malik

Ibrahim,

> from popular belief has made into an apostle and the saint of the

> Moslem religion. Modern scholars deciphered the inscription on his

> Tombstone and concluded that he was a wealthy Persian merchant who

> probably made his money in the spice trade.

>

> There is some truth in a legend like this, which makes an unknown

> Persian trader into an apostle.

> We do not know whether this man Malik was specially influential in

> spreading of Islam; we do not know the names of the real apostles of

> that creed; but it is beyond doubt that the new religion was

propaogated

> by a great number of merchants from the western coasts of the

> Indian Ocean, even if those merchants must remain nameless for us.

> The propagation of Mohammedan doctrines followed exactly the trade

> and shipping routes of southeastern Asia. They were brought from

the

> Gujerat to the Peninsula, from Malacca to Eastern Java, and from

there

> to the principal islands of the Moluccas. From these central points

they

> spread along the coast of the islands.

>

> The interior was converted centuries later, or has never been

converted

> at all. Only where the old

> Hindu immigration had created organized states in the interior could

> Islam expand rapidly. This development makes it probable that Islam

> was first confessed in the principal ports by small groups of

> foreigners, enterprising men who had great resources and many

slaves at

> their disposal.Thus the old story of the traders who became kings

was

> repeated once more, and this time not only in the less civilized

parts

> of the archipelago, but also on Java.

>

> The kingdom of Madjapahit had lost all power in the last quarter

> the fifteenth century, and a prince of Kadiri finally conquered the

> Capital which fell rapidly into ruin. The petty princes on the coast

> glad to marry their sons and daughters to the children of the rich

> foreign merchants and became in that way attracted to Islam.

>

> In a few decades, the Javanese aristocracy of the coastal districts

had

> gone over to the new belief. This meant no break with the old

> traditions and customs, such as the wayang performances, which

> continued to be enjoyed by the people even if they were not in

> accordance with the rules of the Koran.

>

> In the beginning, Islam meant little more for the masses

> of the people than a change in the name of the Supreme Being from

> Shiva-Buddha to Allah. On one of the oldest Mohammedan graves we

> still find Shivaitic symbols. Slowly the people of Java have been

edu-

> cated by Moslem missionary work to a stricter conception of the

> Mohammedan belief, a work that has been strongly influenced from

> Mecca and is still continuing.5

>

> The introduction of Islam made the difference between the Malayan

> traders who lived on the coast of Borneo and Celebes and the native

> tribes in the interior still greater than it had been. For these

> traders,the chapter on the spreading of the Holy Word was one of

the

> most interesting parts of the Koran. If directed against pagans,

the

> propagation of the faith by the sword was not only justifiable but

even

> highly laudable. This was a wonderful expedient, to combine piety

and

> piracy, and the petty kings on Sumatra's north coast grasped the

> opportunity.

>

> To the merchant kings in the Moluccas it gave a chance to secure

salva-

> tion by expanding their commercial sphere of interest. Malacca, too,

> profited by the same system, but when commercial interest demanded

> it the princes of that city made little distinction between Moslem

and

> Kafir (infidels). The only power that might have checked this move-

> ment was the Chinese Empire, but the Ming dynasty had declined in

> strength as quickly as it had risen (±1450).

>

> This was the state of affairs when the first Portuguese arrived in

> Indonesia in the beginning of the sixteenth century. With them they

> brought another holy war, that of the Christians of Spain and

Portugal

> against the Moors of Africa. The idea of the Crusade was always and

> everywhere present in the mind of the Portuguese conquistadores. It

> influenced all their colonial activities. They started on their

distant

> expeditions with the express intention of carrying the Crusades into

> the territory of the enemy. The direct attack on Africa was

difficult,

> and therefore the Portuguese planned to attack the Moors in the rear

> by sailing towards Africa's south coast.

>

> These enterprises carried them

> much farther than they had originally intended, but wherever they

> they found "Moors" to fight, for to them all believers in Islam

> were "Moors" and enemies. There is something great in this concep

> tion, something that seems more noble because more disinterested

than

> the motives which later brought the British and the Dutch to

Indonesia.

> But if we look at the details of the campaign, there is little left

of

> the glamor of chivalry.6

>

> Vasco da Gama reached the coast of India in the spring of 1498. A

> years later he returned to the Indian seas with the definite order

> the king of Portugal to stop all Arabian shipping between Meso-

> and India. By fierce fighting he secured control over the west-

> half of the Indian Ocean for his king.

>

> This work was later

> completed by the greatest of all conquistadores, Alfonso de

Albuquer-

> que, who in the six years of his governorship, 1509-1515, opened

the

> seas of the Far East to the Portuguese merchants. He arrived in

India at

> the moment when the first ship that had been sent exploring to

Malacca

> returned from its voyage. The crew had had unfortunate experiences

> with the sultan of Malacca. First they had been received very

kindly,

> and later they had been attacked without any warning. Several men

> had been taken prisoner. It may be that the Javanese merchants, who

> must have suffered heavy losses because of the repercussions of the

> Arabian-Portuguese war, were anxious to block further extension of

> European sea power. They insisted that the intruders should be pun-

> ished immediately. The sultan of Malacca was dependent on these

> merchants for his income and therefore consented.

>

> Albuquerque heard of these events after he had conquered the city

> of Goa, the conquest of which gave the maritime empire of Portugal

> a bridgehead on the continent. He decided that Malacca should be its

> second bridgehead, and in 1511 sailed eastward. Thus began a holy

war

> in Indonesia between Moors and Crusaders, in which the champions

> of Islam remained victorious.....

>

> The hostility of the Moslems of northern Java made this route very

> unsafe for the Portuguese ships.

>

> The governor of Malacca was, therefore, very much interested in

estab-

> lishing regular connections with the Shivaitic kings of the

interior of

> Java, one of whom had sent an embassy to Malacca immediately after

> the conquest of the city. In 1522 a Portuguese ship visited western

> Java and halted at the port of Sunda Kalapa, the very place where

> Batavia now is located. The king of this city was still Shivaitic,

and

> eagerly offered to the Portuguese all facilities for the

construction

> of a fortress, hoping to obtain their protection against his Moslem

> enemies.

>

> The city of Bantam, more to the west, had already gone over to

Islam.

> Bantam was an important center for the pepper trade and attracted

the

> attention of the Mohammedan traders from East Java who, as usual,

> had introduced their own religion. The Portuguese were unable to

> follow the invitation of the king of Sunda Kalapa immediately. When

> they returned five years later, entrance to the city was denied to

them.

>

> It had been conquered by the Moslems of Bantam, under whom it

> received the name of Jacatra. For nearly twenty years, the

Mohammedan

> rulers refused to enter into trading relations with the hated

conquerors

> of Malacca. Before 1535 the whole of the north coast of Java had

been

> converted to Islam, while in the interior the remnants of the old

Shi-

> vaitic empire continued to exist some decades longer. The only point

> where the Portuguese could get into contact with the Shivaists, who

> sought their friendship in common hatred of Islam, was the extreme

> eastern point of Java, where Shivaism maintained its freedom for

fifty

> years more.16

>

> In the meantime, Islam had spread from Bantam over

> southern Sumatra and from Demak over southern Borneo. This rapid

> extension of Islam was a serious setback for the Portuguese plans of

> conquest. The holy war threatened to spread also over the Moluccas,

> where the Bandanese and the Amboinese, already partly converted,

> maintained close connections with the sultans of Java.

>

> The only effective counter-policy seemed to be a rapid propagation

> of the Christian faith. Missionary work had to concentrate on the

> pagan populations, for wherever Islam had been introduced the

chances |

> for the Catholic Mission were very slight.

>

> The missionaries who were sent to the Shivaitic kingdom in Eastern

Java

> came too late. The down-fall of this last Hindu-Javanese kingdom

was

> already a certainty.

>

> The most dramatic events in the history of this missionary movement

> happened therefore, in the Moluccas. The Catholic Church gained a

> foothold on the island of Amboina, on the northern part of

Halmahera,

> on some of the smaller islands, but the existence of these commu-

> remained very precarious. Their future depended on the attitude

> the Portuguese authorities in the fortress of Ternate. When the

> power of Portugal weakened, the missions were attacked by

> the Moslems, and whenever the governors vigorously maintained the

> king's authority the natives flocked together around the

missionaries

> to receive baptism. For all these uncivilized tribes religion was

> synonymous with political power. Many villages embraced Catholicism

> as a token of their alliance with the Catholic king of Portugal,

just as

> they went over to Islam when they joined his enemies.

>

> As we have said, the Moluccas were divided into two political fac-

> tions, one under the leadership of the sultan of Tidore, the other

under

> Ternate. Ternate was the enemy of Christianity and therefore the

> enemy of Catholic Portugal but, at the same time, it was allied

with the

> Portuguese king's officers for commercial purposes. The confusion

that

> resulted from this strange combination may be imagined. The govern-

> ors did not dare to oppose the sultan of Ternate for fear of losing

the

> profitable monopoly of the clove export.

>

> The missionaries protested in Goa and Lisbon against a policy under

> which the officers supported the enemies of the Catholic Church.

The

> easiest way out of this dilemma seemed to be to concentrate both

> commercial and religious efforts on the island of Amboina, since

this

> produced clove as well as nutmeg and was not subject to either

Ternate

> or Tidore.

>

> Moreover,the establishment of a second base in the Moluccas would

give

> the Portuguese more freedom of action and make them less dependent

on

> the support of far-away Malacca. A great number of villages on

> Amboina and the neighboring islands were reported to be awaiting the

> arrival of missionaries. At one time the number of Christians in

these

> parts was estimated to be as high as 70,000. It is true that the

reports

> sent to Rome indicated among the newly converted complete ignorance

of

> Christain doctrines.

>

>

> NOTES

> 5 The early history of Islam on the island of Java is rather

contusing.

> An excellent survey, based on recent studies, may be found in C.

> Lekkerkerker, Land en volk van Java (Groningen-Batavia, 1938), i,

309

> sq. See also D. A. Rinkes, "De Heiligen van Java," TBG, vols. LII—

LV

> (1910-1913).

>

> 6.For an older survey of Portuguese activities in the East Indies

and

> for the literature on the subject, see P. A. Tiele, "De Europeeers

in

> den Indischen Archipel," in BKI, 4 ser.i (i877), 321 s(!-,

continued in

> the volumes of 1879, 1880, i88r, 1882, and 1884. A discussion of

the

> Portuguese contemporary literature on the subject appears in G. P.

> Rouffaer, "Wanneer is Madjapahit gevallen?" BKI, 6 ser. vi (1899),

> Appendix i (pp. 145-197) The two volumes of F. C. Danvers' The

> Portuguese in India (London, 1894) deal also with the affairs of

the

> East Indies, but are based almost entirely upon Portuguese

> information. The author apparently did not consult the numerous

> publications of documents from Dutch archives and therefore his

> exposition of the Dutch-Portuguese war in the years between 1600

and

> 1661 is not satisfactory.Of the Portuguese contemporary historians,

the

> books of Duarte Barbosa and Antonio Galvao have been published in

> English versions by the Hakluyt Society.

>

> 16 We have only scanty information concerning the disappearance of

> Hinduism in Java and the history of the last Shivaitic states. For

a

> survey containing most of the information at our disposal, see

> Lekkerkerker, Land en volk. van Java, i, 292-309