Military history of Indonesia
Bas reliefs on Javanese temples dating back to the Mataram Kingdom, particularly Borobudur and Prambanan, depict battles and soldiers wielding various types of weapons.
The Kedukan Bukit inscription is the oldest record of Indonesian military history, and noted a 7th-century Srivijayan siddhayatra expedition led by Dapunta Hyang Sri Jayanasa.
The Telaga Batu inscription mentions military titles; such as senāpati (general), cātabhata (soldier), puhāvam (ship captain) and vāsīkarana (blacksmith/weapon maker).
[11]: 228, 236, 269 In 851 an Arabic merchant named Sulaimaan recorded an event about Javanese Sailendras staging a surprise attack on the Khmers by approaching the capital from the river, after a sea crossing from Java.
In 1006 AD, Srivijaya successfully repelled the Javanese invasion, and in retaliation and alarm, assisted Haji (king) Wurawari of Lwaram to revolt, destroying the Mataram palace.
[23]: 1–2 [24][25]: 220 Majapahit under Mahapatih (prime minister) Gajah Mada utilized gunpowder technology obtained from the Yuan dynasty for use in the naval fleet.
The Sultan launched a series of military expeditions against other polities in Java, such as Pajang, Surabaya, Priangan, and went further by attacking the Dutch East India Company (VOC) fortress in the Siege of Batavia (1628–29).
Aceh was one of the earliest Muslim states in the Indonesian archipelago, and they had the ambition to spread Islam as well as their political influence in northern parts of Sumatra.
His son Alauddin al-Kahar (d. 1571) extended the domains farther south into Sumatra, but was less successful in his attempts to gain a foothold across the strait, though he made several attacks on both Johor and Malacca,[36] with the support along with men and firearms from Suleiman the Magnificent's Ottoman Empire.
From Portuguese, Spanish, British to the Dutch, each of them involved in some fierce contests, during the age of European colonialism, to rule Indonesian archipelago.
[45] Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the KNIL launched some conquests on the Indonesian archipelago, and after 1904 the Netherlands East Indies were considered pacified, with no large-scale armed opposition to the Dutch rule.
The fierce Battle of Surabaya on October to November 1945 saw the birth of Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (TKR – People's Security Army) – predecessor to the current Indonesian National Armed Forces – on 5 October 1945; this was a move taken to formalise, unite, and organise the splintered pockets of independent troopers ('laskar') across Indonesia, ensuing a more professional military approach, to contend with the Netherlands and the Allied invasion forces.
[48] The Republican president, vice-president, and all but six Republic of Indonesia ministers were captured by Dutch troops and exiled on Bangka Island off the east coast of Sumatra.
The defeat on Ambon resulted in the flight of the self-declared RMS government to the island of Seram, where guerrilla clashes would take place for more than a decade.
Smaller Darul Islam bands operating in Central Java under Amir Fatah was crushed by Colonel Ahmad Yani's Banteng Raiders in 1954–1957.
General Nasution, who was leading the government forces, launched Operasi Pemanggilan Kembali (Operation Call Back) at the end of 1960 to take advantage of internal rifts within the PRRI.
However, the Permesta rebels continued their resistance, fighting a guerrilla campaign against central government troops until the last remnants surrendered and were given an amnesty in 1961.
In July 1959, the Indonesian government adopted a policy of confrontation against the Dutch to claim West New Guinea and increased military incursions into the island.
Between 1960 and 1962, Indonesia continued its policy of confrontation against the Netherlands for the control of West New Guinea, combining diplomatic, political, and economic pressure with limited military force.
The Indonesians also secured military weapons and political support from the Soviet Union, which induced the United States to intervene in the conflict as a third-party mediator between Indonesia and the Netherlands.
On 19 December 1961 Indonesian President Sukarno decreed the establishment of the Operation Trikora or Tri Komando Rakyat with the objective of 'liberating' West New Guinea by 1 January 1963.
In 1963, Indonesia opposed the British decolonisation initiative on the formation of Malaysia, arguing that it was the western imperialist move to block Indonesian influence.
[63] The conflict lasted nearly four years; however, following General Suharto's replacement of Sukarno, Indonesian interest in pursuing the war with Malaysia declined, and combat eased.
Under the agreement, Aceh would receive special autonomy under the Republic of Indonesia, and non-Aceh native government troops would be withdrawn from the province in exchange for GAM's disarmament.
In eastern front, despite the official international recognition of West New Guinea absorption into Indonesia in 1969, there is some residual problems that still haunting the province up until this day.
This is mostly because previously the Netherlands New Guinea has promoted Papuan nationalism among native population back in the 1950s that inspired their desire to establishing an independence state separated from Indonesia.
[73] Up until this day, most of the West Papuan insurgency were considered as low-level security disturbances and dealt by deploying Indonesian police and military force.
During and after the rule of Suharto, numbers of Islamist movement has been aspired to establish Islamic state based on sharia and toppled the secular Republican government of Indonesia.
[74] After an eight-year hiatus, the Garuda Contingent deployed as part of the United Nations Iran–Iraq Military Observer Group in 1988, followed by the mission to Somalia and Cambodia in 1992, Mozambique in 1994, Bosnia in 1995, Congo in 2003, and Lebanon in the 2010.
With the inauguration of the newly elected national parliament in October 2004, the military no longer has a formal political role, although it retains important influence.
