Southeast Asia: Transition among the Nagas - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 396

ports in the region (Chapter 1), but even the Dutch, who
controlled the western third of Java centered on Batavia
(Jakarta), were unaware of Borobudur, perhaps the
greatest Buddhist monument in the world.

The Spice Islands

Long known as the Moluccas and now Maluku, the
Spice Islands are a volcanic mini-archipelago be-
tween Sulawesi and Papua north of Timor-Leste.
Ambon, Banda, and Ceram are only 3 of the 1,000
islands. Some of the islands were known for their
spices, especially nutmeg and cloves. Spices, impor-
tant for preserving and flavoring meat, were traded
for Indian cotton, Chinese porcelain, and Javanese
rice for at least 2,000 years before the Europeans
came on the scene.
The arrival of the Portuguese in 1511 initiated
decades of conflict among the local sultans and the
competing colonial powers. The Dutch established
settlements in 1599 and by 1667 had completed
their conquest of the islands. Their first treaty with
Ambon gave the Dutch monopoly over all the cloves.
The Dutch East India Company , founded in 1602,
put an end to individual profiteering by ousting all
other traders by force and intrigue. At one point, the
company eliminated the entire population of Banda.
T To guarantee control and keep prices high, the
Dutch destroyed all the nutmeg and clove plants
except in those areas approved for cultivation. Even
the number of trees was restricted. Cloves were re-
moved from all of the islands except Ambon. This
was a particularly cruel move because the indige-
nous people planted a clove tree at the birth of a
child and to destroy the tree portended ill-will for
the child. The penalty for cultivating nonregulated
trees was death.
Sago palms were eliminated from Ceram, known
as the “mother island” because of its supply of this
food staple. The area soon became uninhabitable.
T Today, , it is said that Ceram is populated by ghosts.
Restrictive policies were enforced until 1824.
By that time the Mollucans had been reduced to
subsistence existence. The company' s monopoly
was broken when a Frenchman smuggled nutmeg
and clove seedlings to Zanzibar. The spice trade
also declined with the availability of fresh meat and
changing dietary habits in Europe.

Figure 14-11
The main Buddhist wat at Angkor is reflected in a moat surrounding
the complex. This temple, built of laterite, covers one square mile
(2.5 km 2 ) and is one of the largest edifices in the world.
Photograph courtesy of B. A. Weightman.

Fortunately , international assistance is support-
ing archaeologists and the local people in their
restoration efforts. T Treasure hunting raids still oc-
cur, however, and certain sections can only be vis-
ited in the company of armed guards.

The Coming othe Europeans

European political contacts with Southeast Asia com-
menced with the Portuguese conquest of Malacca in
1511. Still, there was no major European political or cul-
tural impress on the region until well into the nineteenth
century . The Philippines is an exception in that Euro-
pean penetration here was greater than anywhere else in
Southeast Asia. Indeed, there were a string of fortified