Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from New Guinea island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region includes the four countries of Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, the concept among Europeans of Melanesia as a distinct region evolved gradually over time as their expeditions mapped and explored the Pacific. Early European explorers noted the differences among groups of Pacific Islanders. In the first half of the nineteenth century Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent, over time, Europeans increasingly viewed Melanesia as a distinct cultural, rather than racial, area. Scholars and other commentators disagreed on its boundaries, which were fluid, in the nineteenth century Robert Codrington, a British missionary, produced a series of monographs on the Melanesians based on his long-time residence in the region. He did not include the islands of New Guinea because only some of its people were Melanesians, like Bory de Saint-Vincent, he excluded Australia from Melanesia.
It was in works that Codrington introduced the cultural concept of mana to the West. Uncertainty about the delineation and definition of the region continues, the scholarly consensus now includes New Guinea within Melanesia. Ann Chowning wrote in her 1977 textbook on Melanesia that there is no agreement even among anthropologists about the geographical boundaries of Melanesia. In 1998 Paul Sillitoe wrote of Melanesia, it is not easy to define precisely, on geographical, biological, or any other grounds, where Melanesia ends and the neighbouring regions. It covers populations that have a linguistic and cultural affinity – a certain ill-defined sameness. Both Sillitoe and Chowning include the island of New Guinea in the definition of Melanesia, most of the peoples in Melanesia have established independent countries, are admistered by France or have active independence movements. Many have recently taken up the term Melanesia as a source of identity, stephanie Lawson writes that the term moved from a term of denigration to one of affirmation, providing a positive basis for contemporary subregional identity as well as a formal organisation.
For instance, the author Bernard Narokobi wrote about the Melanesian Way as a form of culture that could empower the people of this region. The concept is used in geopolitics. For instance, the Melanesian Spearhead Group preferential trade agreement is a trade treaty among Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea. The people of Melanesia have a distinctive ancestry, the limit of this ancient migration was Sahul, the continent formed when Australia and New Guinea were united by a land bridge as a result of low sea levels. The first migration into Sahul came over 40,000 years ago, a further expansion into the eastern islands of Melanesia came much later, probably between 4000 B. C. and 3000 B. C
Ethiopian Empire
The Ethiopian Empire, known as Abyssinia, was a kingdom that spanned a geographical area covered by the northern half of the current state of Ethiopia. It existed from approximately 1137 until 1974, when the Solomonic dynasty was overthrown in a coup détat, the country was one of the founding members of the United Nations in 1945. It was the second-to-last country in Africa to use the title of Emperor, the one was the Central African Empire. Ethiopias human occupation began early, as evidenced by the findings and it is believed that the ancient Egyptians claimed that Punt, known as gold country, was in Ethiopia in 980 BC, according to the report of the Kebra Nagast Menelik I founded the Ethiopian empire. In the 1st century BC. settled the Axumite empire that existed from the 7th century and this kingdom was founded in the 4th century with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as the state religion and was thus one of the first Christian states. After the conquest of Aksum by Queen Gudit or Yodit, a period began which some refer to as the Ethiopian Dark Ages.
According to Ethiopian tradition, she ruled over the remains of the Aksumite Empire for 40 years before transmitting the crown to her descendants, very little is known about the queen or the state, if indeed there even was one she set up. What is evident, however, is that her reign marked the end of Aksumite control in Ethiopia, the last of Queen Yodits successors were overthrown by Mara Takla Haymanot. He founded the Zagwe dynasty in 1137, and married a descendant of the last Aksumite emperor to stake his claim as the legitimate heir to the long dead empire. The kingdoms capital was at Adafa, not far from modern day Lalibela in the Lasta mountains, the Zagwe continued the Christianity of Aksum and constructed many rock-hewn churches such as those at Lalibela. The dynasty would last until its overthrow by a new regime claiming descent from the old Aksumite kings, in 1270 the Zagwe dynasty was overthrown by a king claiming lineage from the Aksumite kings and, Solomon. The thus-named Solomonic dynasty was founded and ruled by the Habesha, the Habesha reigned with only a few interruptions from 1270 until the late 20th century.
It was under this dynasty that most of Ethiopias modern history occurred, during this time, the empire conquered and incorporated virtually all the peoples within modern Ethiopia. They successfully fought off Italian and Turkish armies and made contacts with some European powers. In 1529 Adal forces, led by Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, during the conflict, Adal employed cannons provided by the Ottoman Empire. In the aftermath of the war, Adal annexed Ethiopia, uniting it with territories in what is now Somalia, in 1543, with the help of the Portuguese Empire, the Solomonic dynasty was restored. From 1769 to 1855 the Ethiopian empire was passed through the period of Princes Era and this was a period of Ethiopian history with numerous conflicts between the ras the emperor had a limited power, only dominated the area around the former capital of Gondar. Both the development of society and culture stagnated in this period, religious conflicts, both within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Muslims were often used as a pretext for mutual strife
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies near the intersection of geological plates, with seismic and volcanic activity. Southeast Asia consists of two regions, Mainland Southeast Asia, known historically as Indochina, comprising Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar. Maritime Southeast Asia, comprising Indonesia, East Malaysia, Philippines, East Timor, Cocos Islands, definitions of Southeast Asia vary, but most definitions include the area represented by the countries listed below. All of the states are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the area, together with part of South Asia, was widely known as the East Indies or simply the Indies until the 20th century. Sovereignty issues exist over some territories in the South China Sea, Papua New Guinea has stated that it might join ASEAN, and is currently an observer. Southeast Asia is geographically divided into two subregions, namely Mainland Southeast Asia and Maritime Southeast Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia includes, Maritime Southeast Asia includes, The Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India are geographically considered part of Southeast Asia.
Eastern Bangladesh and the Seven Sister States of India are culturally part of Southeast Asia, the eastern half of Indonesia and East Timor are considered to be biogeographically part of Oceania. Homo sapiens reached the region by around 45,000 years ago, homo floresiensis lived in the area up until 12,000 years ago, when they became extinct. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the population in Indonesia, Brunei, East Timor. Solheim and others have shown evidence for a Nusantao maritime trading network ranging from Vietnam to the rest of the archipelago as early as 5000 BC to 1 AD. The peoples of Southeast Asia, especially those of Austronesian descent, have been seafarers for thousands of years and their vessels, such as the vinta, were ocean-worthy. Magellans voyage records how much more manoeuvrable their vessels were, as compared to the European ships, Passage through the Indian Ocean aided the colonisation of Madagascar by the Austronesian people, as well as commerce between West Asia and Southeast Asia.
Gold from Sumatra is thought to have reached as far west as Rome and this was replaced by Hinduism. Theravada Buddhism soon followed in 525, in the 15th century, Islamic influences began to enter. This forced the last Hindu court in Indonesia to retreat to Bali, in Mainland Southeast Asia, Burma and Thailand retained the Theravada form of Buddhism, brought to them from Sri Lanka. This type of Buddhism was fused with the Hindu-influenced Khmer culture, very little is known about Southeast Asian religious beliefs and practices before the advent of Indian merchants and religious influences from the 2nd century BCE onwards. Prior to the 13th century CE, Hinduism and Buddhism were the religions in Southeast Asia
Indus River
The Indus River, called Sindhū or Abāsīn, is a major south-flowing river in South Asia. The total length of the river is 3,180 km which makes it one of the longest rivers in Asia and it is the longest river and national river of Pakistan. The river has a drainage area exceeding 1,165,000 km2. Its estimated annual flow stands at around 207 km3, making it the twenty-first largest river in the world in terms of annual flow, the Zanskar is its left bank tributary in Ladakh. In the plains, its left tributary is the Chenab which itself has four major tributaries, the Jhelum, the Ravi, the Beas. Its principal right tributaries are the Shyok, the Gilgit, the Kabul, the Gomal. Beginning in a spring and fed with glaciers and rivers in the Himalayas. The Indus forms the delta of present-day Pakistan mentioned in the Vedic Rigveda as Sapta Sindhu, the river has been a source of wonder since the Classical Period, with King Darius of Persia sending his Greek subject Scylax of Caryanda to explore the river as early as 510 BC.
In Pali, Síndhu means river and refers to the Indus River in particular, the word Indus is the romanised form of the ancient Greek word Indós, borrowed from the old Persian word Hinduš which is in turn borrowed from the Sanskrit word Sindhu. Megastheness book Indica derives its name from the rivers Greek name, Indós, the ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indói, literally meaning the people of the Indus. The country of India and the Pakistani province of Sindh owe their names to the river, Rigveda describes several mythical rivers, including one named Sindhu. The Rigvedic Sindhu is thought to be the present-day Indus river and is attested 176 times in its text –95 times in the plural, more often used in the generic meaning. In the Rigveda, notably in the hymns, the meaning of the word is narrowed to refer to the Indus river in particular. The Rigvedic hymns apply a feminine gender to all the rivers mentioned therein, Sindhu is seen as a strong warrior amongst other rivers which are seen as goddesses and compared to cows and mares yielding milk and butter.
The Indus River provides key resources for Pakistans economy – especially the breadbasket of Punjab province, which accounts for most of the nations agricultural production. The word Punjab means land of five rivers and the five rivers are Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej, the Indus supports many heavy industries and provides the main supply of potable water in Pakistan. The ultimate source of the Indus is in Tibet, the river begins at the confluence of the Sengge Zangbo and Gar Tsangpo rivers that drain the Nganglong Kangri, the Indus flows northwest through Ladakh and Baltistan into Gilgit, just south of the Karakoram range. The Shyok and Gilgit rivers carry glacial waters into the main river and it gradually bends to the south, coming out of the hills between Peshawar and Rawalpindi
Sikhism
Sikhism, or Sikhi, is a panentheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent during the 15th century. It is one of the youngest of the world religions. Sikhism has 25-28 million adherents worldwide and is the ninth-largest religion in the world, Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, and the ten successive Sikh gurus. Guru Nanak established Kartarpur around 1520 and gathered the original core of the Sikh Panth there, an Indian religion, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth. Sikhism emphasizes simran, that can be expressed musically through kirtan or internally through Nam Japo as a means to feel Gods presence, hand in hand, secular life is considered to be intertwined with the spiritual life. He established the system of the langar, or communal kitchen, Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, established the political/temporal and spiritual realms to be mutually coexistent.
The development of Sikhism was influenced by the Bhakti movement, Sikhism developed while the region was being ruled by the Mughal Empire. Two of the Sikh gurus – Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Islamic era persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa, as an order for freedom of conscience and religion. A Sikh is expected to embody the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī – a saint-soldier, the majority of Sikh scriptures were originally written in Gurmukhī alphabet, a script standardised by Guru Angad out of Laṇḍā scripts used in North India. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs, which means students or disciples of the Guru, the anglicized word Sikhism is derived from the Punjabi verb Sikhi, with roots in Sikhana, and Sikhi connotes the temporal path of learning. Sikhism is a religion and states that there is one supreme entity holding control of the entire universe. This entity is referred to as Ik Onkar, the basis of Sikhism lies in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors.
The essence of Sikh teaching is summated by Guru Nanaks words, Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste and gender. Sikh principles encourage living life as a householder, Sikhism is a monistic form of monotheistic religion. In Sikhism, the concept of God is Vāhigurū—is shapeless and invisible, niraṅkār, the beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure 1—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite with power over everything, Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Gods hukam. God in Sikhism is known as Ik Onkar, the One Supreme Reality or the all-pervading spirit and this spirit has no gender in Sikhism, though translations may present it as masculine. It is Akaal Purkh and Nirankar, in addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which it has created life
South Asia
Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, the current territories of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985, South Asia covers about 5.1 million km², which is 11. 51% of the Asian continent or 3. 4% of the worlds land surface area. The population of South Asia is about 1.749 billion or about one fourth of the worlds population, overall, it accounts for about 39. 49% of Asias population and is home to a vast array of peoples. The area of South Asia and its extent is not clear cut as systemic. Aside from the region of South Asia, formerly part of the British Empire, there is a high degree of variation as to which other countries are included in South Asia.
Modern definitions of South Asia are consistent in including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar is included by some scholars in South Asia, but in Southeast Asia by others. Some do not include Afghanistan, others question whether Afghanistan should be considered a part of South Asia or the Middle East, the mountain countries of Nepal and Bhutan, and the island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives are generally included as well. Myanmar is often added, and by various deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the common concept of South Asia is largely inherited from the administrative boundaries of the British Raj, with several exceptions. The Aden Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore, though administered at various times under the Raj, have not been proposed as any part of South Asia. Additionally Burma was administered as part of the Raj until 1937, the 562 princely states that were protected by but not directly ruled by the Raj became administrative parts of South Asia upon joining Union of India or Dominion of Pakistan.
China and Myanmar have applied for the status of members of SAARC. This bloc of countries include two independent countries that were not part of the British Raj – Nepal, and Bhutan, Afghanistan was a British protectorate from 1878 until 1919, after the Afghans lost to the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan war. The United Nations Statistics Divisions scheme of sub-regions include all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia, population Information Network includes Afghanistan, Burma, Nepal and Sri Lanka as part of South Asia. Maldives, in view of its characteristics, was admitted as a member Pacific POPIN subregional network only in principle, the Hirschman–Herfindahl index of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region includes only the original seven signatories of SAARC. The British Indian Ocean Territory is connected to the region by a publication of Janes for security considerations, the inclusion of Myanmar in South Asia is without consensus, with many considering it a part of southeast Asia and others including it within South Asia.
Afghanistan was of importance to the British colonial empire, especially after the Second Anglo-Afghan War over 1878–1880, Afghanistan remained a British protectorate until 1919, when a treaty with Vladimir Lenin included the granting of independence to Afghanistan. Following Indias partition, Afghanistan has generally included in South Asia
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the tip of peninsular Malaysia. Singapores territory consists of one island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its size by 23%. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, after early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global commerce and transport hub, the country has been identified as a tax haven. Singapore ranks 5th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index and it is ranked highly in education, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied, 38% of Singapores 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals.
There are four languages on the island, Mandarin, Tamil. English is its language, most Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The Peoples Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959, however, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince said to have founded and named the island Singapura, perhaps saw a Malayan tiger. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name, the central island has been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE, literally island at the end in Malay. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by was part of the Johor Sultanate.
The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period, in 1824 the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, prior to Raffles arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations
Greater India
In Central Asia transmission of ideas were predominantly of religious nature. By the early centuries of the common era most of the principalities of maritime and continental Southeast Asia had effectively absorbed defining aspects of Hindu culture and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. To the north, Indian religious ideas dissipated into the cosmology of Himalayan peoples, most profoundly in Tibet, Buddhist monasticism extended into Afghanistan and other parts of Central Asia and Buddhist texts and ideas successfully reached China and Japan in the east. Unlike Southeast Asia cultural and technological stimulation in East Asia always went in both directions, to the west, Indian culture converges with Greater Persia via the Hindukush and the Pamir Mountains. The concept of the Three Indias was in common circulation In pre-industrial Europe, Greater India was the southern part of South Asia, Lesser India was the northern part of South Asia, and Middle India was the region near the Middle East.
The Portuguese form was used at least since the mid-15th century, however, in some accounts of European nautical voyages, Greater India extended from the Malabar Coast to India extra Gangem and India Minor, from Malabar to Sind. Farther India was sometimes used to all of modern Southeast Asia. German atlases distinguished Vorder-Indien as the South Asian peninsula and Hinter-Indien as Southeast Asia, the Greater India Basin hypothesis Greater India, or Greater India Basin signifies the Indian Plate plus a postulated northern extension, the product of the Indian–Asia collision. Although its usage in geology pre-dates Plate tectonic theory, the term has seen increased usage since the 1970s, the hypothesis is legitimate as long as the controversy of the location and time of the India-Asia convergence exists. How and where the India–Asia convergence was accommodated, after the collision, at or before 52 Million years ago. Since the plates have converged up to 3,600 km ±35 km, yet the upper crustal shortening documented from the record of Asia.
The Greater India Society The use of Greater India refers here to a popularization by a network of Bengali scholars in the 1920s who were all members of the Calcutta-based Greater India Society, the movements early leaders included the historian R. C. Majumdar, the philologists Suniti Kumar Chatterji and P. C, bagchi and the historians Phanindranath Bose and Kalidas Nag. The term Greater India and the notion of an explicit Hindu expansion of ancient Southeast Asia have been linked to both Indian nationalism and Hindu nationalism, iron age trade expansion caused regional geostrategic remodeling. Southeast Asia was now situated in the area of convergence of the Indian and the East Asian maritime trade routes. The earliest Hindu kingdoms emerged in Sumatra and Java, followed by mainland polities such as Funan, selective adoption of Indian civilization elements and individual suitable adaption stimulated the emergence of centralized states and development of highly organized societies. Ambitious local leaders realized the benefits of Hindu worship, rule in accord with universal moral principles represented in the concept of the devaraja was more appealing than the Chinese concept of intermediaries.
The exact nature and extent of Indian influence upon the civilizations of the region is still debated by contemporary scholars
East Timor
East Timor or Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a sovereign state in Maritime Southeast Asia. It comprises the half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse. The countrys size is about 15,410 km2, nine days later, it was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesias 27th province the following year. The Indonesian occupation of East Timor was characterised by a highly violent decades-long conflict between separatist groups and the Indonesian military, in 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory. East Timor became the first new state of the 21st century on 20 May 2002 and joined the United Nations. In 2011, East Timor announced its intention to gain status in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by applying to become its eleventh member. It is one of two predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia, the other being the Philippines.
In Indonesian, the country is called Timor Timur, thus using the Portuguese name for the island followed by the word for east, the official names under the Constitution are Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste in English, República Democrática de Timor-Leste in Portuguese and Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste in Tetum. Humans first settled in East Timor 42,000 years ago, descendants of at least three waves of migration are believed still to live in East Timor. The first is described by anthropologists as people of the Veddo-Australoid type, around 3000 BC, a second migration brought Melanesians. The earlier Veddo-Australoid peoples withdrew at this time to the mountainous interior, proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina. Hakka traders are among those descended from this final group, Timorese origin myths tell of ancestors that sailed around the eastern end of Timor arriving on land in the south. Some stories recount Timorese ancestors journeying from the Malay Peninsula or the Minangkabau highlands of Sumatra, austronesians migrated to Timor, and are thought to be associated with the development of agriculture on the island.
Thirdly, Proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina, before European colonialism, Timor was included in Chinese and Indian trading networks, and in the 14th century was an exporter of aromatic sandalwood, slaves and wax. It was the abundance of sandalwood in Timor that attracted European explorers to the island in the early 16th century. During that time, European explorers reported that the island had a number of small chiefdoms or princedoms, the Portuguese established outposts in Timor and Maluku. Effective European occupation of a part of the territory began in 1769, when the city of Dili was founded. For the Portuguese, East Timor remained little more than a trading post until the late nineteenth century, with minimal investment in infrastructure, health
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, the Philippines, Australia and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, coffee, medicinal plants and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it.
Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde
Hinduism
Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, mythology, Vedic yajna, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha and Moksha, karma and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals.
Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus.
The term Hinduism, spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Batavia was the name of the capital city of the Dutch East Indies and corresponds to the present-day city of Jakarta. The establishment of Batavia at the site of the city of Jayakarta by the Dutch in 1619 led to the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. Batavia became the center of the Dutch East India Companys trading network in Asia, monopolies on nutmeg, black pepper and cinnamon were augmented by non-indigenous cash crops like coffee, cacao, rubber and opium. To safeguard their commercial interests, the company and the colonial administration, Batavia lies on the north coast of Java, in a sheltered bay, over a flat land consisting of marshland and hills, and crisscrossed with canals. Batavia was a city for about 320 years until 1942 when the Dutch East Indies fell under Japanese occupation during World War II. During the Japanese occupation and again after Indonesian nationalists declared independence on August 17,1945, the period started with the founding of the walled city of Batavia by the Dutch East India Company following the destruction of the port city of Jayakarta.
The period ends with the dissolution of the Dutch East India Company, in 1595, merchants from Amsterdam embarked upon an expedition to the East Indies archipelago. Under the command of Cornelis de Houtman, the expedition reached Bantam, capital of the Sultanate of Banten, in 1602, the English East India Companys first voyage, commanded by Sir James Lancaster, arrived in Aceh and sailed on to Bantam. There he was allowed to build a trading post that became the center of English trade in Indonesia until 1682, in 1602, the Dutch government granted a monopoly on Asian trade to the Dutch East India Company. In 1603, the first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia was established in Bantam, in 1610, Prince Jayawikarta granted permission to Dutch merchants to build a wooden godown and houses on the east bank of the Ciliwung River, opposite to Jayakarta. This outpost was established in 1611, as Dutch power increased, Jayawikarta allowed the British to erect houses on the west bank of the Ciliwung River, as well as a fort close to his customs office post, to keep the forces balanced.
In December 1618, the relationship between Prince Jayawikarta and the Dutch escalated, and Jayawikartas soldiers besieged the Dutch fortress, containing the godowns Nassau. A British fleet of 15 ships arrived under the leadership of Sir Thomas Dale, after a sea battle, the newly appointed Dutch governor, Jan Pieterszoon Coen, escaped to the Moluccas to seek support. Meanwhile, the commander of the Dutch garrison, Pieter van den Broecke, along with five men, was arrested during negotiations. Later and the British entered into a friendship agreement, the Dutch army was on the verge of surrendering to the British when, in 1619, Banten sent a group of soldiers to summon Prince Jayawikarta. Jayawikartas friendship agreement with the British was without approval from the Bantenese authorities. The conflict between Banten and Prince Jayawikarta, as well as the relationship between Banten and the British, presented a new opportunity for the Dutch. Coen returned from the Moluccas with reinforcements on 28 May 1619 and razed Jayakarta to the ground on 30 May 1619, only the Padrão of Sunda Kelapa remained
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