Throughout history Indonesia has been famous for its natural
resources. Archeological evidence points to an early Indonesian
understanding of the metallurgy of copper and tin even prior to the first
millennium BC1 and almost certainly an understanding of the value of
gold and its fabrication into jewelry. Early Chinese references mentions
Java as a source of salt, dammar, camphor and sandalwood in AD 13 2.
Cloves from Maluku had reached Rome by 72 AD3. Oil from Aceh had
probably been known from time immemorial, but the first reference to it
in Europe dates from 954 AD4. The ancient Greeks, in particular Ptolemy,
may also have known about Indonesia’s oil. In the late 1500s some early
Dutch explorers brought Indonesian crude oil back to Holland “where it
was held in high esteem for treating rheumatism and sciatica”5. Thus it
can be seen that the ownership and management of Indonesia’s natural
resources is not an historically recent phenomenon created by either
colonialism or the industrial revolution and its ensuing demand for raw
materials.
In the traditional Indonesian society, before the arrival of the Dutch in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the relationship between aristocracy and peasantry was complex and deeply integrated and part of the unquestioned cultural identity.4
Although social subdivision was far advanced in some of the few harbour principalities, with the controls firmly in the hands of the ruling noble families, in the large country-side, seniors in the villages often enjoyed a traditional and independent authority with little control by their aristocratic rulers.5
With the coming of the Dutch East India Company the situation began to change. The power of the Javanese nobility or priyayi was chalIenged by the new force. With the increase of power of the Dutch on Java, the Priyayi suffered a steady decline in prestige. The prestige of the aristocracy was not only weakened because the foreigner took away part of their independence, but also because the Dutch allowed them to maintain some power and control over the native people. The Dutch sometimes even strengthened their hand against local adat chiefs,6 in a system of ''indirect rule", with the result that the peasantry began to identify, the priyayi class with the colonial rule. The system of ''indirect rule" allowed the feudal nobility, however, to remain, be it with lowered prestige, an important group in the Javanese society. The "colour line", enforced by the Dutch rulers,also guaranteed that the priyayi class remained part of the indigenous society.7
