Homo erectus presence fossils of Java Man (
H. e. erectus), at
Naturalis,
Leiden , Washington, D.C. Fossilised remains of
Homo erectus, popularly known as the "
Java Man", dating back 1.3 million years were found along the banks of the
Bengawan Solo River.
H. erectus arrived in Eurasia approximately 1.8 million years ago, in an event considered to be the first African exodus. There is evidence that the Java population of
H. erectus lived in an ever-wet forest habitat. More specifically the environment resembled a
savannah, but was likely regularly inundated ("hydromorphic savanna"). The plants found at the Trinil excavation site included grass (
Poaceae),
ferns,
Ficus, and
Indigofera, which are typical of lowland rainforest.
H. e. soloensis was the last population of a long occupation history of the island of Java by
H. erectus, beginning 1.51 to 0.93 million years ago at the Sangiran site, continuing 540 to 430 thousand years ago at the Trinil site, and finally 117 to 108 thousand years ago at Ngandong. If the date is correct for Solo Man, then they would represent a terminal population of
H. erectus which sheltered in the last open-habitat refuges of East Asia before the rainforest takeover. Before the immigration of modern humans, Late Pleistocene Southeast Asia was also home to
H. floresiensis endemic to the island of
Flores, Indonesia, and
H. luzonensis endemic to the island of
Luzon, the Philippines. Genetic analysis of present-day Southeast Asian populations indicates the widespread dispersal of the
Denisovans (a species currently recognisable only by their genetic signature) across Southeast Asia, whereupon they interbred with immigrating modern humans 45.7 and 29.8 thousand years ago. A 2021 genomic study indicates that, aside from the Denisovans, modern humans never interbred with any of these endemic human species, unless the offspring were
unviable or the hybrid lineages have since died out. Judging by the sheer number of specimens deposited at Ngandong at the same time, there may have been a sizeable population of
H. e soloensis before the volcanic eruption which resulted in their interment, but population is difficult to approximate with certainty. This site is quite far from the north coast of Java Island, and it is not always easy to determine the position of the coastline in prehistoric times because of significant geographical changes. The southern coastline and estuary of the Bengawan Solo River at that time may have been different from what it is today, due to geological factors such as sedimentation, erosion, and changes in sea level over time. Currently, the estuary of the Bengawan Solo is in the Java Sea, but in prehistoric times, the river flow and estuary location may have changed. Geological and paleogeographic studies are often used to understand these changes.
After the arrival of modern humans surrounded by rice fields. Java's volcanic topography and rich agricultural lands are the fundamental factors in its history. The island's exceptional fertility and rainfall allowed the development of wet-field rice cultivation, which required sophisticated levels of cooperation between villages. Out of these village alliances, small kingdoms developed. The chain of volcanic mountains and associated highlands running the length of Java kept its interior regions and peoples separate and relatively isolated. Before the advent of Islamic states and European colonialism, the rivers provided the main means of communication, although Java's many rivers are mostly short. Only the
Brantas river and Solo river could provide long-distance communication and this way their valleys supported the centers of major kingdoms. A system of roads, permanent bridges, and toll gates is thought to have been established in Java by at least the mid-17th century. Local powers could disrupt the routes as could the wet season and road use was highly dependent on constant maintenance. Consequently, communication between Java's population was difficult. Foreign sources around the beginning of the Common Era (see
Names of Java), such as Valmiki's
Ramayana, attest to Java's wealth and political organization at that time:"Yavadvipa is decorated with seven kingdoms, gold and silver islands, rich in gold mines, and there is Śiśira (cold) Mountain that touches the sky with its peak." The Greek geographer
Ptolemy called the island Iabadiu or Sabadibai (). Ptolemy said that the name meant the "Island of Barley" and produced a lot of grain and gold, adding that its metropolis was called Argyre (Ἀργυρῆ) meaning silver in Greek. According to Chinese record
Míng Shǐ, the Javanese kingdom was founded in 65 BC.
Hindu-Buddhist (Classic) period Buddhist
stupa in Central Java The period between the 5th and 15th century in Java is often referred to as the Hindu-Buddhist period, while in the broader context of Southeast Asia it is also referred to as the Classic period. The
Taruma kingdom of western Java existed from the 5th to the 7th centuries, while the
Heling kingdom sent embassies to China starting in 640. The first state to leave a substantial historical record was the
Mataram kingdom that was founded in central Java at the beginning of the 8th century. The rulers of Mataram patronised both Hindu and Buddhist institutions, including Java's earliest Hindu temples on the
Dieng Plateau. In the second half of the 8th century, these rulers described themselves as members of the
Sailendra dynasty, which strongly supported
Mahayana Buddhism. Monumental temple complexes such as
Borobudur (late 8th century) and
Prambanan (mid-9th century) in central Java were constructed at this time. In the late 920s, the center of power shifted from central to eastern Java. The eastern Javanese kingdoms of
Kediri (–1222),
Singhasari (1222–1292) and
Majapahit (1293–) were mainly dependent on rice agriculture, yet also pursued trade within the Indonesian archipelago, and with China and India. Majapahit was established by King
Wijaya in 1293, The port-cities of the north coast like Surabaya, Gresik, Demak and Cirebon were the first Javanese polities to adopt Islam, thanks to their interactions with foreign Muslim traders and clerics.
Demak was the first Muslim kingdom to achieve a degree of hegemony Java during the early 16th century, extending the reach of Muslim kingdoms westward to Cirebon and defeating the remnants of the Majapahit kingdom. After the mid-16th century, Demak gave way to other Muslim coastal kingdoms such as
Cirebon and
Banten in the west, and Surabaya in the east. By the end of the 18th century the Dutch had extended their influence over the sultanates of the interior through the
Dutch East India Company in Indonesia. The Dutch repeatedly intervened in wars between rival Mataram claimants to the Javanese throne. When the side they supported inevitably won due to their industrialised weapons, the Dutch forced land concessions from the side they supported. The Dutch whittled down the Mataram kingdoms until most of the island was conquered. Internal conflict prevented the Javanese from forming effective alliances against the Dutch. In the 1750s, the Javanese Sultan Mangkubumi tried to restore Mataram's control, but the Dutch divided the kingdom. Remnants of the Mataram survived as the Surakarta (Solo) and Yogyakarta principalities. Javanese kings claimed to rule with divine authority and the Dutch helped them to preserve remnants of a Javanese aristocracy by confirming them as regents or district officials within the colonial administration. Java's major role during the early part of the colonial period was as a producer of rice. In spice-producing islands like
Banda, rice was regularly imported from Java, to supply the deficiency in means of subsistence. During the
Napoleonic Wars in Europe, the Netherlands fell to France, as did its colony in the
East Indies. During the short-lived
Daendels administration, as French proxy rule on Java, the construction of the
Great Post Road was commenced in 1808. The road, spanning from
Anyer in Western Java to Panarukan in East Java, served as a military supply route and was used in defending Java from British invasion. In 1811, Java was
captured by the British, becoming a possession of the
British Empire, and Sir
Stamford Raffles was appointed as the island's governor. In 1816, under the governorship of
John Fendall, Java was returned to the Dutch by the
Treaty of Paris. In 1815, there may have been five million people in Java. In the second half of the 18th century, population spurts began in districts along the north-central coast of Java, and in the 19th century population grew rapidly across the island. Factors for the great population growth include the impact of Dutch colonial rule including the imposed end to civil war in Java, the increase in the area under rice cultivation, and the introduction of food plants such as
cassava and maize that could sustain populations that could not afford rice. Others attribute the growth to the taxation burdens and increased expansion of employment under the
Cultivation System to which couples responded by having more children in the hope of increasing their families’ ability to pay tax and buy goods.
Cholera claimed 100,000 lives in Java in 1820. The advent of trucks and railways where there had previously only been buffalo and carts, telegraph systems, and more coordinated distribution systems under the colonial government all contributed to famine elimination in Java, and in turn, population growth. There were no significant famines in Java from the 1840s through to the
Japanese occupation in the 1940s. However, other sources claimed the Dutch cultivation system was linked to famines and epidemics in the 1840s, first in
Cirebon and then in
Central Java, as cash crops (indigo, sugar, etc) were grown instead of rice.
Independence Indonesian nationalism first took hold in Java in the early 20th century, and
the struggle to secure the country's independence following
World War II was centered in Java. In 1949, Indonesian independence was recognized. ==Administration==