•The degree of administrative reform which has been traced in the mainland states is far less apparent in the archipelago. By the 1680s a Persian visitor described Aceh as a collection of satrapies, where 'every corner shelters a separate king or governor and all the local rulers maintain themselves independently and do not pay tribute to any higher authority'.
•A number of reasons can be put forward for the slower rate of centralization in the island world and the greater difficulty in controlling populations. Geographic differences provide one obvious contrast.
•A second problem was the semi-nomadic nature of many societies which was particularly marked in maritime Southeast Asia. Those Javanese living in areas producing wet-rice may have been relatively more settled than peoples in other areas, but movement both internally and to other islands was still common.