10-07-2006, 11:13 PM
Some google hours, and the following:
It was through the trade networks that Islam came to Indonesia around 13/14th century
Marco Polo, who visited the island in 1292, noted in his diary that the state of Perlak, on the northeast coast, was by this time Muslim. The neighbouring state of Pasai was probably also Muslim by the same time, to judge by a royal tombstone found here, dated to 1297 and written entirely in Arabic. The channel through which Islam flowed into the archipelago was trade.
By the end of this era most of the traders taking Indonesian spices west to Europe were Muslims from south Asia and the Middle East. Some Chinese traders were Islamic too, especially those coming from Fujian province with its long history of prominent roles in trade and administration being played by foreign-born and local Muslims.
For many Indonesian traders, conversion to Islam made sense simply because it gave them something in common with their non-indonesian muslim trading partners, who showed a preference for dealing with fellow believers.
For local rulers, conversion to the new religion offered more than economic benefits. In particular, the faith gave them direct access to fellow Muslim rulers in India and the Middle East, and especially to the Ottoman empire, then a major world power. Such contacts enhanced their political standing in the eyes of their populations andâperhaps more importantlyâin the eyes of potential rivals. They also provided a conduit for the supply of military equipment, especially firearms (including cannon), and military advisors.
The conversion to Islam of the entrepot of Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatera, in the mid-fourteenth century, and of Melaka, on the other side of the Straits of Melaka, perhaps half a century later, marks the point when the spread of Islam through Indonesia became significant.
From Sumatera, Islam followed the trade routes east. Gresik, an important port just to the west of Surabaya in east Java, was converted a decade after Aceh. Then followed Ternate, 2000 kilometres to the east in the Maluku islands (1460), Demak in central Java (1480), Banten in west Java (1525), Buton in southwest Sulawesi (1580) and Makasar in south Sulawesi (1605).
By the early decades of the seventeenth century, Islam had been introduced to virtually all the major coastal societies of the archipelago, <b>but from this point it made no further substantial territorial advances. </b>
It was through the trade networks that Islam came to Indonesia around 13/14th century
Marco Polo, who visited the island in 1292, noted in his diary that the state of Perlak, on the northeast coast, was by this time Muslim. The neighbouring state of Pasai was probably also Muslim by the same time, to judge by a royal tombstone found here, dated to 1297 and written entirely in Arabic. The channel through which Islam flowed into the archipelago was trade.
By the end of this era most of the traders taking Indonesian spices west to Europe were Muslims from south Asia and the Middle East. Some Chinese traders were Islamic too, especially those coming from Fujian province with its long history of prominent roles in trade and administration being played by foreign-born and local Muslims.
For many Indonesian traders, conversion to Islam made sense simply because it gave them something in common with their non-indonesian muslim trading partners, who showed a preference for dealing with fellow believers.
For local rulers, conversion to the new religion offered more than economic benefits. In particular, the faith gave them direct access to fellow Muslim rulers in India and the Middle East, and especially to the Ottoman empire, then a major world power. Such contacts enhanced their political standing in the eyes of their populations andâperhaps more importantlyâin the eyes of potential rivals. They also provided a conduit for the supply of military equipment, especially firearms (including cannon), and military advisors.
The conversion to Islam of the entrepot of Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatera, in the mid-fourteenth century, and of Melaka, on the other side of the Straits of Melaka, perhaps half a century later, marks the point when the spread of Islam through Indonesia became significant.
From Sumatera, Islam followed the trade routes east. Gresik, an important port just to the west of Surabaya in east Java, was converted a decade after Aceh. Then followed Ternate, 2000 kilometres to the east in the Maluku islands (1460), Demak in central Java (1480), Banten in west Java (1525), Buton in southwest Sulawesi (1580) and Makasar in south Sulawesi (1605).
By the early decades of the seventeenth century, Islam had been introduced to virtually all the major coastal societies of the archipelago, <b>but from this point it made no further substantial territorial advances. </b>