Countries / Southeast Asia
19 notable historical events in Indonesia, in chronological order.
Around 3000 BCE, Austronesian-speaking peoples began migrating from Taiwan into the Philippines and Indonesia, eventually spreading across the Pacific and as far as Madagascar.
The Chinese monk Yijing stops at Srivijaya (Palembang) to study Sanskrit, recording it as a centre of Buddhist learning and maritime trade.
The Sailendra dynasty builds Borobudur in Central Java, the largest Buddhist monument in the world.
The fleet of the Chola king Rajendra I raids Srivijayan ports along the Strait of Malacca, weakening the maritime empire.
Raden Wijaya exploits the Yuan expedition to Java to found Majapahit, the most powerful Hindu-Buddhist empire of the Indonesian archipelago.
Jan Pieterszoon Coen of the Dutch East India Company seizes Jayakarta and founds Batavia (now Jakarta), the hub of Dutch power in Asia.
The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on Sumbawa, causing the global "Year Without a Summer" of 1816.
Britain and the Netherlands divide their spheres in the Malay world, roughly creating today's Malaysia–Indonesia divide.
Prince Diponegoro leads a major uprising against Dutch colonial rule in Central Java; the war ends with his capture.
The cataclysmic eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait triggers tsunamis killing over 36,000 people; the explosion is heard thousands of kilometres away.
Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim Indonesia's independence in Jakarta, beginning the revolution against Dutch rule.
Following the Hague Round Table Conference, the Netherlands formally transfers sovereignty to the United States of Indonesia, ending the Indonesian National Revolution.
Delegates from 29 Asian and African nations meet in Bandung to promote Afro-Asian cooperation and oppose colonialism, a forerunner of the Non-Aligned Movement.
After the failed 30 September Movement coup, the army and militias kill hundreds of thousands of alleged communists, paving the way for Suharto's rise.
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand sign the Bangkok Declaration, founding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Indonesia invades East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, beginning a 24-year occupation.
Amid the Asian financial crisis and mass protests, President Suharto resigns after 31 years in power, opening Indonesia's Reformasi era.
Following the 1999 referendum and a period of UN administration, East Timor becomes an independent state.
A magnitude 9.1 earthquake off Sumatra triggers tsunamis that kill around 230,000 people across many countries.