2. Those that have received a strong Indian influence and where both
Hinduism and Buddhism were able to take root especially as in Central
and East Java, where powerful Hindu- Javanese kingdoms were
established existing until the coming of Islam in the fifteenth century
A.D. and where to this day that influence is felt, despite the spread of
Islam; Bali, where the population has largely remained Hindu; and
various other areas that were influenced by the former Hindu- Javanese
kingdoms.
3. Those that were almost completely Islamized, such as Sumatra (except
the Batak area in Central Sumatra), where Islam first arrived and
where Marco Polo found concrete evidence of an indigenous Muslim
community in 1292, when he passed through on his way back from
China to Europe; the coastal areas of the larger islands; and smaller
islands like Madura, Lombok and others.
4. Those that received Western and Christian influence more or less
directly on their former archaic cultural structures, such as many
Bataks, Torajas and other areas in the east of Indonesia.
It will be obvious that such a categorization cannot Ise maintained as
strictly as the division presented here suggests. As already mentioned,
the inland seas dividing the islands were at the same time also a means of
communication. The coastal areas have, through trade, also received
Chinese and other foreign influence from early times. Moreover, as was
previously suggested, there must have existed much inter-island trading
since early times.
It should be noted that, on one hand, the various aspects of foreign
influence have been the cause of deepening inter-ethnic differences where
these existed, while on the other hand they were the means of bringing
diver gent groups to gether.
None the less, the basic roots remain apparent, for the Indonesians
have shown a remarkable ability to adapt foreign influence in such a way
that something new is created that is found nowhere else and differs
considerably from the original influence. This ability has been called
‘local genius’ by foreign scholars and may be seen, for instance, in the
creation of the temple of Borobudur which is unique in the Buddhist world.
The basic common roots and the variety of local customs that have
developed in the course of time are acknowledged in the coat of arms of
the Republic of Indonesia with its motto Bhinneku Tunggul Ilia, taken
from sn Old Javanese manuscript of possibly the eleventh century A.D.,
the Sutusoma. Literally, the motto’s meaning is ‘[Although] divided it is
[nevertheless] one’, which usually is translated as ‘Unity in Diversity’.
The many ethnic groups may vary in their local cultures and languages or
adaptations, but nevertheless have one and the same basis which is still
obvious today. Therefore it was never a problem for Indonesians to find
the right basis for a policy in which to develop national culture. The state
Constitution drawn up in 1945 when Indonesia proclaimed its independence