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Curated category

Maritime Southeast Asia

  • SumatraIn 1017, a local king named Haji Sumatrabhumi sent an envoy to China. This event marked one of the earliest known uses of the name Sumatra in historical…
  • JavaThe island of Java was formed by the geologic subduction of the Australian Plate under the Sunda Plate. This tectonic process created a chain of volcanic…
  • Dutch East IndiesIn 1595, the first Dutch expedition set sail to reach the East Indies directly from Asia. Only one third of the original crew returned to Holland after many…
  • East IndiesA 1606 map of the East Indies shows a vast expanse of islands and coastlines stretching from India to New Guinea. Portuguese explorers coined the term Indies…
  • IndonesiaThe name Indonesia derives from the Greek words indos and nesos, meaning Indian islands. This term dates back to 1850 when English ethnologist George Windsor…
  • SingaporeIn 1365, the Javanese eulogy Nagarakretagama recorded a place called Temasek, meaning Sea Town, as a trading port under the influence of the Majapahit Empire.
  • PhilippinesThe first human bones found in the Philippines date back 709,000 years to a site now known as Callao Cave. These remains suggest an unknown species of early…