International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 156

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES
SPRING 2016
Sumatra and Java from between the 7th to 14th century under the influences of Hinduism
and Buddhism with its local kingdoms. The coastal areas of India contributed to the
eastward expansion of its culture; southern India having greater influences than other
areas.39 It is estimated that there around 750 loans words from Sanskrit still be found in
modern Bahasa Indonesia. Whether directly or indirectly, a far greater number of Sanskrit
terms found their way into Old Javanese languages (the dialect spoken by people in the Java
island).
Almost half of the Old-Javanese language was composed of loans words from
Sanskrit. Sanskrit was taught among the high-ranking nobility. The middle class spoke lowMalay language. The spread of the Sanskrit was used to spread Hinduism as well as
Buddhism, the language being was circulated via ritual exercises. The form of the religious
school was termed Padepokan, a three-in-one system of teaching-learning-working.40 A
small number of students studied under the supervision of religious teachers. The school
dealt with the study of Shivaism, Buddhism, literature, language, exact science, astronomy,
arts, and architecture,41 an assessment supported by the evidence found in many HinduBuddha temples in different parts of Java and South Sumatera. Hinduism and Buddhism
were challenged by the arrival of Islam in Indonesia brought by Gujarat South Indian traders
as early as the thirteenth century.
The Majapahit of Java slowly lost its ground and moved east to East Java finally
residing on the island of Bali where most of its present population adhere to Hinduism.
Islam began to spread widely to the East Indies in the fifteenth century with the rise of the
Sultanate of Malacca in the straits between Sumatra and the continent. The oldest Islamic
Kingdom was established in Perlak, Aceh in 1292. The merchants from Gujarat who came to
Indonesia formerly did not come with the intention of propagating Islam rather in search for
spice trade. This importance of the spice trade challenges the assumptions of some historian
as to the significance of religious-based missions in the arrival of foreign influences from
India whether Hinduism, Buddhism, and later Islam. Their first footholds were set up in East
Indies as a result of commercial ambitions and relations, especially connected to the spice
trade. Before the arrival of the Portuguese, Indian merchants became the sole main
connections between the Asian spice trade and the European continents with other
competitors, such as Persian and Chinese merchants.
Along the former dynasties’ commercial business structures, Islamic dynasties then
transformed most of the Hindu-Buddha kingdoms except Bali. The most notable Hindudynasty that transformed to Islam was Mataram located in Yogyakarta. The second new
foreign language, Arabic, was then introduced to the natives. This language, however, only
39

Coedès, Les Etats hindouisés, 59-61 cited by Vlekke, Op. Cit., 25.
Sadtono, “ELT Development in Indonesia: a Smorgasbord in Sadtono (ed.), The Development of TEFL in
Indonesia, 2.
41
Mestoko, Soemarsono, Pendidikan di Indonesia dari Jaman ke Jaman, 25-29.
40

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