Yup after I search online it found that India have produced spices since long time ago, but it is false to say that spices farming in Indonesia are started by British. First British doesnt colonize Indonesia. Second Indonesia is already well known as spices producer since old time before western world ever found our nations as Indonesia have already made trade relation with ancient India, Arab, and Chinese and spices are most probably the main Indonesian commodity at that time. Our trade relation with Middle East is even started during Pharoh in Egypt where their mummy use our commodities from barus region in North Sumatra. Their parfum raw material is also likely coming from Indonesia islands.
Third, we are called East Indies in the old time by Dutch is the hint that our nation is among the biggest spices producer in the world or at least in Asia at that time that rival India. Dutch present in Indonesia was also happening in stages, they set up a trade relation first and didnt have anything to do with farming and others. They just trade our commodities that are farmed and produce by Indonesian farmer. Later they invade us and colonized which was also happening in stages, Aceh province for instant can only be colonized after 1900.
This was stated by Indonesian historian :
The ancient Indonesian kingdom of Sriwijaya in the southwestern part of Sumatra played a significant role in the history of the spice trail. The kingdom, which possibly originated in Palembang, South Sumatra, rose to power in the seventh century and retained control over the trade of spices — which had grown in abundance in the region — for around 500 years thanks to its strong navy.
Bambang Budi Utomo, a researcher at the National Archaeological Research and Development Center, said for around five centuries, Sriwijaya was the world’s trade hub, where middlemen from Arab and China came to get commodities that had been shipped from the Eastern island of Maluku.
Maluku Island was a home to lucrative spices such as clove, nutmeg and mace. Back then, these and middlemen carefully hid the map of the island from Europeans.
Indonesia’s fertile soil enabled local farmers to maintain the high quality of their spice produce, leaving overseas consumers asking for more.
Pepper, for instance, was also a popular commodity in the spice trade at that time.
“Although pepper originated in India before it was cultivated on Indonesian soil, the pepper grown [here] was somehow hotter than those grown in India. That was why consumers from the Middle East, like Persia [now Iran], and even India itself preferred Indonesian pepper at that time,” Bambang explained.
Camphor was another highlight product from the archipelago. China and Thailand also produced the commodity at that time, but still, traders preferred Indonesian camphor originating in the Barus area of North Sumatra, due to its higher quality.
From all the foreign spice consumers at that time, Indonesian spices attracted the Europeans most as the country is also a home to religious tradition and scriptures.
“Thanks to the middlemen, the ancient spice trade before Sriwijaya had reached Italy before [the birth of] Christ. In around year 75 to 79 AD, the Rome bishop received a gift of 150 pounds of cloves from the Emperor Constantine. In the Old Testament of the Bible, there is a story of Queen Sheba who presents spices as a gift to Solomon,” Bambang said.
He said the Sriwijaya kingdom was able to sustain its hold on the spice trade for hundreds of years as the kingdom had a strong maritime military strategy and technology.
“Sriwijaya made use of the
suku laut [ocean tribe] at that time to guard the spice trade in the area. Although their main field of operation was the sea, they were also great warriors,” he said.
This strong military base helped the kingdom guard its maritime sovereignty.
Aside from military strategy, Sriwijaya’s shipping technology also played a vital role in making it a successful maritime hub. They had
phinisi wooden boat that helped them navigate the ocean thanks to its design.
Separately, historian JJ Rizal, who runs a publishing company called Komunitas Bambu specializing in history books, said that part of the secret of the kingdom’s survival was its rulers’ strategy in turning financial accumulation into intellectual capital through a sound educational system.
“The port city of Barus gave birth to intellectuals in the seventh century, including Hamzah Fansuri,” he told the
Post, referring to the well-known Islamic writer.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/adv/...e-trade-were-not-a-global-leader-anymore.html
