Pre-colonial Dutch East Indies
In Pre-colonial Dutch East Indies, Hinduism, Buddhism and followed by Islam, were the dominant religions at that time. There were strong hierarchies that involved taxation systems that acquired agricultural produce and labour services from the peasants and natives. The leaders also stressed on the importance of cultures such as music dance and literature. At that time, the writing systems were derived from Sanskrit and local tongues integrated Sanskrit words and phrases. Furthermore, there was a constant exchange of goods and flow of immigrants across Indonesia.
Change
Rapid population growth
There was rapid population growth during the period of colonialism as compared to the pre-colonial period. Java for example, had a population growth rate of about 1.9% per year.
The great extent in the rapid growth of the population could be attributed to increased immigration to meet the demands for labour. This was in line with the economic growth, due to the integration with the global market. Thus, more manpower was needed.
Closer control over the people
State power was invested the village community in order to supervise their subordinates more closely. The provinces thus changed from a system that was relaxed and subjective to changes, to an administrative State institution. Java for example, had a change in their housing organization of villages. Houses were rearranged and compressed neatly to occupy less land space to maximize the usage of the land.
Leadership and power tended to be more focused on an individual, and their formal power increased. During the period of colonialism, there was a cultivation system whereby the farmers in Java had to produce assigned crops for commercial purposes to the State at fixed prices. This required a village chief to make demands which was previously unacceptable in the pre-colonial era. This was to maintain the balance between the village and the state. Since power was heavily influenced by the state, their formal power increased but became distanced with the village. This caused the role of village chief to become a rank with political authority in the State’s affairs.
Increased focus on village life
With a more centralized administrative system, the villagers were deprived of negotiating terms with various potential supporters or to escape from their rivals. Ways in which the people could lighten their burdens, or addressing injustice gradually thinned till it was abolished. The people thus organized and publicized the ways in which they aimed to protect their ways of life.
Urban changes
As mentioned earlier, the rapid population growth proved to be true through city expansion, making them much larger than the pre-colonial periods. This was not only due to economic and population growth, but was also due to the Europeans desire to move away from the city and reside in spacious areas. For example, the Dutch created a spacious residential region in Batavia to stay away from an old port centre.
In addition, Europeans tended to dominate the city regions. The governments in Java during colonialism, made other ethnic groups (Chinese in particular) stay further away from them in order to maintain close control over their activities and protect the natives from their presumed greed.
Western influences on the education system
The Dutch used their Western education on the education system then, to provide the skills required in aiding with the economic growth. The finest schools used Dutch as the main language, which enabled them to have better-paying administrative jobs or the possibility of entering a University in the Netherlands or the medical and law schools in the colony.
Continuity
Although the Europeans had a Western influence on the Dutch East Indies, the percentage of Westerners present at that time was still relatively small. Many Westerners had to adapt and get used to the lifestyles in the Indonesian Archipelago, and compromise with the economic and social structures then. Thus, many of them were hesitant in staying in the Indonesian Archipelago.
