Archive for February 2025

In its heydays in the 16th century, Batavia was known as “The Queen of the East”and “the Jewel of Asia”. Its Sunda Kelapa harbour was abuzz with merchant vessels from Europe, China, India and from throughout the Indonesian archipelago, loading in and sailing away with precious nutmegs, pepper, tea, coffee, ceramics, cloths and other exotic…

Through Indonesia’s long history, from prehistoric man to the arrival of merchants from China and India, to the rise of powerful Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms on Sumatra and Java, and the spread of Islam followed by the colonization of the Indonesian archipelago by European nations, then finally the establishment of the Unitary State of the…