The History of Java, Vol. 1 of 2

by Thomas Stamford Raffles

Excerpt from The History of Java

The straits of Singa prim being infested by the cruisers of the former king of Malacca, who had been expelled from his dominions by the Portuguese in 1511, the straits of Séban were the usual route of the Portuguese vessels from Malacca to the Spice Islands, and in this voyage they generally touched at the ports of Java.

Genres: History

590 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 2010

About the author

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, FRS was a British statesman and the founder of Singapore.

Reviews

[Saravana Sastha Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people in India and perhaps even Indonesia have little or no idea of the glorious history of Java, the largest island and civilisation in the Indonesian archipelago. It had its own great Hindu civilisation, languages and literature developed over several centuries. The decline of this great civilisation strangely coincides with the decline of Vinayanagara Kingdom of the Deccan. This is an area where more research needs to be done. This book written so long ago by Stamford Raffles (yes the same guy on whom the Raffles square in Singapore is named) is a phenomenal tome of knowledge, observation and interpretation. I'm sure it was hastily done too as the interpretations were in many places incomplete, biased and seen from a Abrahamic lens. Nevertheless it has helped me appreciate the great civilisation of Java of the yore. Looking forward to Vol.2 which deals with the decline of Majapahit, Hindu religion and rise of Mohemadinism, arrival of Portuguese and other important part of modern history of Java.

[Rifhi Anugrah]

good