ROBERT CRIBB. DIGITAL ATLAS OF INDONESIAN HISTORY. Copenhagen: The Nordic Institute for Asian Studies, 2010.
http://www.indonesianhistory.info/
ISBN 978 - 87 - 91114 - 66 - 3 (DVD ed.)*
The digital "Atlas of Indonesian History" by the famous Australian researcher Robert Cribb can be considered one of the fundamental achievements of world science. The two-layer video disc (DVD) contains all the information about Indonesia: history, economy, current demographic processes, religious communities, environmental and geographical features of the largest country in Southeast Asia. The digital edition is based on the "Historical Atlas of Indonesia" published by R. Cribb in 2000 [Cribb, 2000], but the new edition includes more than one hundred and fifty new maps and the latest data collected in 2000. not yet (in particular, the results of the 2000 census).
The digital edition is supported by a special website on the Internet where you can find the latest updates (you just need to register your copy of the disk): http://www.indonesianhistory.info/
The structure of the Atlas is unusual for a book. On their home page, the reader finds seven catalogs: "home" (consisting of a greeting, a preface, a detailed table of contents, and other general sections), "guidebook "(describing the rules for using the Atlas), " chapters "(the actual text part of the Atlas), "maps", " additional equipment "(a collection of useful map links to Internet sites), "updates" and "search". A special search engine for individual words allows you to move freely to the topic of interest, bypassing other sections.
The text part of the Atlas consists of an Introduction and six chapters. The first chapter "Landscape and Environment" includes sections "Mobile continents and fire-breathing mountains", "Land, wind and water", "Ecological changes". The second chapter "People" has four sections: "The emergence of ethnic diversity "(with paragraphs "Language", "Writing", "World religions"), "Migration and ethnicity", "Cities and urbanization", "Population". The third chapter, States and Polities before 1800, provides an overview of the early states in Sumatra and the Malacca Peninsula, Java, Bali and the Outer Islands (Nusatenggara), Kalimantan, Sulawesi and the Moluccas, and describes the emergence and first steps of Europeans in Indonesia. The fourth chapter, "Dutch India, 1800-1942", contains three sections:-
* R. Cribb. Digital atlas of Indonesian History. Copenhagen: Northern Institute of Asian Studies, 2010.
war and annexation", "Governance", "Government, society and the emergence of national identity", the first of which is divided into four paragraphs on a geographical basis: Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and East Indonesia. The fifth chapter, "War, Independence and Political Transformation, 1942-1998", includes seven sections: "Occupation and Revolution", "Tension and Conflict in the Republic, 1950-1966", "New Order", "The End of the New Order", "International Relations", "East Timor", "Sea borders". The sixth chapter, "The Era of Reforms: from 1999 to the present Day", has five sections:" Elections"," Decentralization and Division"," Ethnic and Religious Conflict"," Natural Disasters", and"Borders".
Each chapter is provided with beautiful colored maps. Unlike a paper edition, an electronic publication allows the reader to zoom in on the map and view different maps without being tied to the text of the chapter. This is made easier by the search engine and cross-pointers: when the reader looks at the map " Probable spread of the Srivijaya Maritime Empire "(map N 3-05), he sees links to all related maps on the right, and below - a list of place names found on it, also with corresponding links. All maps are provided with a list of references for further reading. Each of them can be obtained as a pdf file, a jpg photo, or a printable version.
Unlike the usual books for readers, the electronic edition does not have pagination, but this does not detract from its advantages. The most important of them is the fundamental nature and representativeness of the information provided. The broad scope of the material can be illustrated by the following examples: geological history in maps, including the eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883, the 2004 Aceh tsunami, the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake and the split of the prehistoric continent of Gondwana, on the one hand, and the migration of Austronesians, linguistic maps of Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi and other islands of Indonesia, literacy maps in different years, the Islamization of the archipelago, the dynamics of pilgrimage to Mecca - on the other hand. There are separate maps with population migration, from slavery in the XVII-XVIII centuries to modern demographic trends - the Javanization of the outer islands and the flow of migrants to Java. There are maps showing migrant settlements on various islands of Indonesia, in particular on Sumatra. A special place is given to the Chinese population. In a separate section, the history of the Indonesian city is highlighted, starting from the capital of Majapahit Trovulana (XIV century) to modern urbanization. A map of changes in toponyms (N 0 - 09) is very useful.
The essay on the history of Indonesia is valuable for its care in defining the political evolution of local societies, brevity and clarity: it provides maps of hypothetical polities of the mid-third, fifth and sixth centuries, a map of the Archipelago states of the seventh century, detailed maps of the polities of Sumatra and the Malacca Peninsula, Java, including the Majapahit Empire, the first Muslim principality of Demak, the majestic Late Mataram The East India Company. Particularly interesting are the maps of Batavia, the colonial administrative division of West Java, and private estates. Of course, R. Cribb does not ignore the polities of Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Lombok, Sumbawa and other islands of Indonesia. He pays special attention to the era of Dutch India and the development of independent Indonesia.
It is not possible to retell the entire content of the Atlas. I will only mention that the sixth chapter, devoted to modern Indonesia, provides maps and diagrams for all (presidential, parliamentary, provincial) elections from 1999 to 2007, the administrative division of Indonesia up to individual provinces (for example, Aceh or Jambi in Sumatra), a map of areas with local Muslim law in 2000-2006., maps of ethnic conflicts, natural disasters, border disputes with Malaysia and East Timor, as well as with Singapore over the lease of Batam and Bintam Islands.
Despite the fundamental nature of the Atlas, there are omissions and controversial statements. A map of archaeological sites in Indonesia would be highly desirable. Of course, maps 2.12 "Kavi and Pallava inscriptions of the IV-XII centuries "and 2.22" Hindu and Buddhist temple complexes in Central and Eastern Java " can provide some insight into the archaeology of Indonesia, but in the light of numerous studies in Sumatra and Java, this is not enough (see [From Distant Tales..., 2009; Indonesian Heritage... , 1996]). The dating of inscriptions from Kutei in map 2.12 of the IV century is somewhat controversial: usually they write about the time around 400 AD [Vogel, 1918, p. 231-232; De Casparis, 1975, p. 18].
In my opinion, this Atlas is necessary for all specialists in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Thanks to this publication, there is a unique opportunity to visually present the largest country in the region in all its diversity and greatness. It remains only to thank R. Cribb for his titanic work and wish him further creative success.
list of literature
Cribb R. Historical Atlas of Indonesia. London: Curzon Press, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, Singapore: New Asian Library, 2000. 266 p., 327 maps.
De Casparis J.G. Indonesian Palaeography: A History of Writing in Indonesia from the Beginnings to c. A.D. 1500. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1975.
From Distant Tales: Archaeology and Ethnohistory in the Highlands of Sumatra / Ed. D. Bonatz, J.N. Miksic, J.D. Neidel & Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz. Newcastle upon Tune: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009.
Indonesian Heritage. Vol. I: Ancient History / Ed. J.N. Miksic. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet-Archipelago Press, 1996.
Vogel J.Ph. The Yupa Inscriptions of king Mulavarman, from Koetei (East Borneo) // Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. D. 75. 1918.
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