Nor is it difficult to point to features of the Malay-Indonesian archipelago which were to be of critical importance in the creation of contemporary nation states. The trading network which had long served to link areas as distant as Timor and Melaka was not broken, despite VOC efforts, while the Dutch dependence on Malay as a medium of communication reinforced its position of lingua franca, and promoted its use in places where it had previously been little heard.