A history of modern Indonesia since c. 1300

by M.C. Ricklefs

A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1300

Genres: History, Indonesian Literature, Nonfiction, Asia, Historical, History and Politics

378 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Merle Calvin Ricklefs

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book. Hard to get into at first when you don't know the subject at all. Lots of unfamiliar place names, all maps tucked at the back but would have been helpful in the chapters where mentioned. Subheadings would have also made the text easier to read and navigate. That said, Ricklefs is a real expert and warns you the reader at the beginning that his preference in history writing is less for interpretation and generalization, to go into the detail and cite the evidence to let you draw your own conclusions. Once you get used to his style it's gripping as you follow the stories as they unfold in Java, Sumatra, Bali and the outer islands. You can really feel you understand Indonesia better by the end.
For most periods This is much more detailed than Adrian Vickers' modern history of Indonesia. E.g Sukarno's relationship with Nasution is much more illuminated by Ricklefs. But post Suharto, Vickers has more to tell. Vickers also relies on conversations with thousands he has spoken to.

[Kris Wijoyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hikayat..." konon dalam sebuah hadist Nabi Muhammad di daerah timur yang bernama samudera akan banyak melahir orang2 suci, maka bergeraklah orang2 arab ke Indonesia" itu adalah salah satu bagian dari buku ini yang mengesankan buat gw...ternyata negeri gw punya banyak misteri...hidup Indonesia, sayang yang nulis orang australia, ayo penulis Indonesia, tulislah sejarah kita.

[Thedore Yossia · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is good, now, i'm in chapter 19..
this book tell us about the secret of indonesia history.
even indonesian maybe doesn't know about that secret..
good job, sir M.C.Ricklefs

[Imam Hibatullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of this book managed to deliver a concise yet comprehensive narrative about the modern history of Indonesia.

The book covers a large period in Indonesian history since around 1200s when Islam for the first time are said to established its influence in the archipelago up to 2008 when Indonesia as a sovereign nation still struggling to live up to the ideas of social justice and decentralization in the post-Reformation era.

This book is 'a must read' for anyone that is curious and wanted to know more about the modern history of Indonesia. To all Indonesian history students and enthusiasts, you need to have a copy of this book and read it thoroughly for a more varied insights regarding Indonesian history.

[Anjar Priandoyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is 800 years of Indonesian history, written in 2001. Each chapter detailing the century of changes that happen in the archipelago. I read it as fast as possible because I want to read the happy ending of this story. Unfortunately, this is not a novel, M.C. Ricklefs write carefully the things that a lot of Indonesian does not want to hear. A tragic story.

I read this book after reading Islamic States in Java's H.J. de Graaf and Peter Carey's Diponegoro. I should read Vicker's Modern Indonesia, but I don't know whether I have the courage to read this Indonesian story again. Well, let see. This book should be read more than once, hopefully, when I read it back at third or fourth times I will understand why history should be written.

[Afif Syaiful z m · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good start for those who haven't been to Indonesia, or just want to know the history of Indonesia. As many people said, this book doesn't have detailed information but good enough as the author always find the information from written source.

[Vita Anggraeni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kayak bagian pendahuluannya, sebagai buku pengantar sejarah modern Indonesia dia cukup padat dan komprehensif dan bisa jadi acuan untuk bisa melakkan banyak penelitian kesejarahan menyoal indonesia. Sangat informatif dan memahamkan pembelajar baru seperti saya.

[Airlangga Auvijan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bacanya yang edisi terbaru, s/d 2008.

[Rafli Riansyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book, no critic here. I highly recommend it.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A VERY comprehensive book.

[Miko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indonesia [ Nusantara ] dalam perjalanannya. Kaya ragam, aneka ragam peristiwa hasil dialektika manusianya yang beraneka ragam. Namun dengan segala kekurangannya mampu bertahan mengarungi jaman.

[yudis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memandang sejarah modern dengan temporal awal datangnya islam hingga berakhirnya orde lama. Beberapa narasi "orde lama" cenderung idealis dengan hanya sedikit catatan tentang narasi yang berlawanan.

[Sheri Fresonke Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about how Indonesia grew as a nation after imperial colonisation by various countries involved in trade and war. Uses good facts to show where the information came from--like gravestones, inscriptions, and historical records.

[So Hakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complementing yesterday's review, another book about history of the country. Or should I say, region, because the country "Indonesia" didn't really exist back then. :P

Ricklefs' book is historical treatise with emphasis on cultural factors. As native Indonesian, I'm already familiar with his long list of wars, trades, and shifting alliances -- those were in our schoolbooks -- but the way he illuminates the religious/traditional context is eye-opening.

Some interesting examples:

- While Islam was introduced by merchants, Ricklefs argues that wandering Sufis may have played big role spreading it. He also claims that acceptance of Islam by ningrat (Javanese courtiers) allowed "top-down" conversion of their subjects. This went together with usual "horizontal" preaching and conversion.

- The (imperfect) spread of Islam in Indonesian Archipelago led to distinct 'flavor' in different areas. The Sumatranese has Melayu-Islam culture; the Javanese has Hindu-Java Islam. Interestingly, the Bugis and Makasarese seems to follow Melayu-Islam flavor of Sumatra. Meanwhile the Balinese kept Hinduism; Eastern islands (like Maluku and Timor) accepted Christianity.

- The conversion of Java to Islam is... idiosyncratic, to say the least. One notable convert is Sultan Agung (who almost captured VOC capital in Batavia). A Javanese pagan, he became Muslim in 1633. After this he sponsored composition of Islamic tales in Javanese language. When he died, though? People said admiringly that he was visited by Java's Southern Sea Goddess...

- Javanese leaders were often seen as 'supernatural', in keeping of traditional Messianic belief. This helped them winning approval of the masses. Examples include Sultan Agung, Prince Diponegoro; in modern days Sukarno and Suharto.

- And now to 20th century. It seems that 'modern Indonesia' culture was born in 1920s. Leaving traditional pantun and syair forms, there rose men of letters such as M. Yamin, Sanusi Pane, and Marah Rusli. Meanwhile Balinese painters developed modern style due to Walter Spies' & Rudolf Bonnet's influence.

All in all, fantastic book, even if at times tedious. Indeed I skimmed many details I've learned from school. Non-Indonesian readers may not have that luxury, though.

[htanzil · Rating 4 out of 5]

MASUKNYA Islam di bumi Nusantara mengawali suatu rentangan waktu yang disebut Ricklefs sebagai Indonesia Modern . Ia mengajukan tiga unsur fundamental yang menurutnya telah mempersatukan periode tersebut sebagai "sebuah unit sejarah yang padu".

Yang pertama adalah unsur kebudayaan dan agama: Islamisasi Indonesia yang dimulai tahun 1200 dan berlanjut hingga hari ini. Yang kedua adalah unsur topik: saling pengaruh antara orang Indonesia dan orang Barat yang dimulai tahun 1500 dan masih berlanjut. Yang ketiga adalah historiografi: Sumber-sumber primer sepanjang periode ini ditulis hampir secara eksklusif dalam bahasa-bahasa Indonesia modern (Jawa, Melayu, dan seterusnya, bukannya Jawa Kuno atau Melayu Kuno), dan dalam bahasa-bahasa Eropa.

Dengan mendasarkan penelitiannya pada puluhan jurnal dan lebih dari lima ratus buku, Ricklefs yang pernah mengajar di Sekolah Kajian Oriental dan Afrika (University of London) dan Monash University ini, mengisahkan perjalanan bangsa Indonesia dari zaman ke zaman yang penuh warna, lengkap dengan aneka persoalan dan pertikaian internal maupun eksternalnya.

Di balik struktur narasinya, buku ini menjawab pertanyaan tentang bagaimana komunitas-komunitas dari berbagai kepulauan Indonesia , dengan rupa-rupa etnis dan bahasa dan tersebar ke dalam negara-negara kerajaan yang terpisah-pisah, bisa bersatu menjadi sebuah bangsa modern .

Buku yang cukup tebal ini dibagi dalam enam bagian dengan 25 judul bab. Penulis memulai buku ini dengan kalimat, "Penyebaran Islam merupakan salah satu proses yang sangat penting dalam sejarah Indonesia , tapi juga yang paling tidak jelas." Kemudian dia menutup bukunya dengan kalimat, "Dengan dipilihnya SBY oleh rakyat Indonesia secara langsung dan dengan dukungan yang sekuat itu, maka pada tanggal 20 Oktober 2004 SBY dilantik sebagai Presiden Indonesia ke-6 dengan amanat rakyat yang paling kuat sepanjang sejarah Indonesia merdeka." (S-27)

sumber : Suara Pembaruan, Minggu 26 Juni 2005

*Karena belum sempat buat reviewnya jadi review dr harian suara pembaharuan yang kuposting...:D

[Missy J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally I finished reading this book. It was challenging. From now on I will stick to historical fictions rather than history books. The latter tend to be so serious and a bit boring. This might be one of the few detailed and precise books about Indonesian history. It gave me a very good overview concerning Indonesian politics. That's the problem. I'm not just interested in politics and economy, I want to know "how" people lived back then. This book didn't give me any cultural information.

The book starts off with the "The Coming of Islam" followed by "The Arrival of the Europeans in Indonesia." The first topic fascinated me, because there's not a lot of evidence to suggest what really happened. It is still a mystery how Indonesia became a predominantly Muslim country. The early history of Indonesia was well divided between Western Indonesia and Eastern Indonesia. However, the reader will soon notice that most of the book is very, very Java-centric. Towards the end, Eastern Indonesia was completely left out (except for the problems in Timor and West Papua).

I was pleasantly surprised how the writer described the battles and kingdoms of East Java during the 18th century so precisely. Unfortunately the struggle of Indonesia to gain independence and the Sukarno-era were in my opinion, not well written. It was chaotic and I didn't understand anything (maybe it's my fault). However, the following presidency of Suharto until 2008, the book got interesting again. Like I said, the book contains a lot of details and offers a good overview of this archipelago from 1200-2008. But I still believe more research needs to be done in eastern Indonesia, so that we can get a more balanced view of the whole country.

[Mila Said · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is different than the history of Indonesia teach at my school. I find this book quite interesting with not too much detail but it made me understood about the events happening and the persons involved.
The author described about how the Indonesians struggle to reach independence comprehensively and what was made the foundation of the nation by that time. Even though it was not written by Indonesians, reading how this multicultural country fight for unity and democracy could encourage the nationalism.
The sad thing is that -after I read the book and followed the timeline of Indonesia's development, I think it didn't change much politically and economically from the colonial era until now. Politically, Indonesia is still unstable and can't be free from corruption. Economically, Indonesia still can't be independent. Maybe because as a nation it still in the process of learning and finding true identity.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

After having made my way through this dense history over the last several months, I can now safely say I have a much better understanding of the major events in Indonesian history (from 1200 through the late 1990s, anyway, shortly after which the edition I read was published). I'm partial toward people's histories, which this most definitely is not, but as Ricklefs points out, some of the biases in the book's focus (towards Java and Sumatra over the outer islands and, generally speaking, the political maneuverings of a small group of elite men) are largely a result of what information is available in the historic record. There are still many gaps in my understanding of Indonesian history I want to fill, but I recommend this as a good primer on the main eras in the archipelago's history.

[Leonardo]

En gran medida las compañías capitalistas fueron soberanas al operar en los territorios coloniales o precoloniales, estableciendo su propio monopolio de la fuerza, su propia policía, sus propias cortes. La Dutch East India Company, por ejemplo, gobernó los territorios que explotaba en Java hasta el final del siglo dieciocho con sus propias estructuras de soberanía. Incluso tras la disolución de la compañía en 1800, el capital gobernó relativamente libre del control o la mediación del Estado.

Imperio Pág.230

[anis Ahmad · Rating 4 out of 5]

menarik, komprehensif, kajiannya dimulai ketika islam berkembang sebagai kerajaan di aceh, kemudian menceritakan tentang upaya-upaya dalam memperebutkan hegemoni yang dilakukan di jawa, selain itu ada pula kajian tentang indonesia timu, berdiri dan berekembangnya voc, dan berbagai peristiwa dalam sejarah indonesia modern. buku ini ditutup dengan sebuah analisis walaupun masih bersifat sangat awal tentang pemilihan presiden di indonesia pada tahun 2004. sungguh membuka mata kita tentang sebuah realitas sejarah. sip lah....

[Usi · Rating 5 out of 5]

confuse

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bangsa yang besar adalah bangsa yang menghargai jasa pahlawannya

Jadi, kenapa tidak kita mulai dari diri kita, untuk membuat Indonesia berjaya?
Belajarlah dari sejarah. Supaya kesalahan di masa lalu tidak terulang

eniwe, buku ini cocok bgt buat pengisi waktu luang. Daripada nonton infoTAInment gak jelas?!

[Luqman rimadi · Rating 1 out of 5]

lagi baca mengenai Islam Untuk pertama kali masuk kedalam Indonesia.,.,.,
menarik...ternyata ada banyak teori yang menjelaskan masuknya Islam di Indonesia,.,.
dan ternyata teori2 tersebut bukan hanya di buat oleh para ahli dari Indonesia Saja,.tapi juga para indonesianis- indonesianis dari negara- negara barat,,

[Arif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sejarah singkat, padat, informatif, dengan beberapa pendapat subyektif namun fakta obyektif tetap banyak tersedia untuk banyak hal yang kontrovesial. Informasi 1200 hingga masa kolonialisme meski sangat singkat tapi juga cukup menggugah untuk mencari informasi lebih lanjut. Saya ingin baca pemutakhiran buku ini.

[Douglas MacLean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be prepared to skim heavily and then it's good.

The book fights to cover a broad sweep of history, but wastes a lot of words mentioning notable names and people without giving much context. This is particularly true in the pre-colonial sections. It's still a helpful book in getting a 30,000 foot view of the nation's history. Be prepared to skim and you'll be ok.

[Arifa Jauhari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku yang tepat untuk mengenal sejarah modern bangsa kita secara global. Bahasanya oke. Analisisnya tajam. Tapi yang paling menarik adalah komentar-komentar ringan Ricklefs tentang sejarah bangsa Indonesia yang tersebar acak di dalam halaman-halaman buku.

[Lutfi Retno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku wajib anak sejarah. dulu nyarinya susah banget. untuk orang-orang yang pengen tahu sejarah indonesia.

[Innosanto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bagus, tapi agak terlalu banyak informasi dalam janka sinkat. Mungkin seharusnya di expansi menjadi lima buku.

[Bunga Mawar]

Akhirnya... benar2 akan dibaca, setelah saya membelinya sendiri berkat diskon 40%, tidak hanya berharap meminjamnya untuk jangka panjang dari perpus sekolah \(^o^)/

[Abel · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book tell about the on the future will come one man to change this world