Indonesia Indian Civilization

During the early centuries A.D., elements of Indian civilization, especially Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism, were brought to Sumatra and Java and stimulated the emergence of centralized states and highly organized societies. Scholars disagree on how this cultural transfer took place and who was involved. Apparently, traders and shippers, not just Indian but Indonesian as well, were primarily responsible. Small indigenous states existed in the coastal regions of western Indonesia at a time when Indian Ocean trade was flourishing.

But, unlike the Islamic culture that was to come to Indonesia nearly 1,000 years later, India in the first centuries A.D. was divided into a rigid caste hierarchy that would have denied many features of Indian tradition to relatively low-caste merchants and sailors. Historians have argued that the principal agents in Indianization were priests who were retained by indigenous rulers for the purpose of enhancing their power and prestige. Their role was largely, although not exclusively, ideological. In Hindu and Buddhist thought, the ruler occupied an exalted position as either the incarnation of a god or a bodhisattva (future Buddha). This position was in marked contrast to the indigenous view of the local chief as merely a "first among equals." Elaborate, Indian-style ceremonies confirmed the ruler's exalted status. Writing in Sanskrit brought literacy to the courts and with it an extensive literature on scientific, artistic, political, and religious subjects.

Some writers are skeptical about the role of priests because high-caste Brahmins would have been prohibited by Brahmanic codes from crossing the polluting waters of the ocean to the archipelago. Some must have gone, however, probably at the invitation of Southeast Asian courts, leading to the hypothesis that Hinduism may indeed have been a proselytizing religion. In the early nineteenth century, the British faced mutinies by their high-caste Indian troops who refused to board ships to fight a war in Burma. Perhaps such restrictions were less rigid in earlier times, or the major role in cultural diffusion was played by Buddhists, who would not have had such inhibitions.

Although the culture of India, largely embodied in insular Southeast Asia with the Sanskrit language and the Hindu and Buddhist religions, was eagerly grasped by the elite of the existing society, typically Indian concepts, such as caste and the inferior status of women, appear to have made little or no headway against existing Indonesian traditions. Nowhere was Indian civilization accepted without change; rather, the more elaborate Indian religious forms and linguistic terminology were used to refine and clothe indigenous concepts. In Java even these external forms of Indian origin were transformed into distinctively Indonesian shapes. The tradition of plays using Javanese shadow puppets (wayang--see Glossary), the origins of which may date to the neolithic age, was brought to a new level of sophistication in portraying complex Hindu dramas (lakon) during the period of Indianization. Even later Islam which forsakes pictorial representations of human brings, brought new developments to the wayang tradition through numerous refinements in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

Aztecs

Aztecs are Indians known for their control over south and central Mexico, ruling primarily between the 14th and 16th centuries. The name "Aztec" comes from their homeland of the north called Azatlan. Amongst the Indians, they call themselves Mexica. In addition, the language spoken by the Aztecs comes from the Nauatlan branch of the Uto-Aztecan family.

This particular tribe of Indians created the Toltec civilization, which was the result of hundreds of people coming to Lake Texcoco. The families that migrated to this area later were left to choose only swamp land, leaving the prime land to those who arrived first. For the late comers, the swamp provided just a single plot of land, completely enveloped by marshes. Although it seemed impossible, the Aztecs took their difficult situation, turning it into what we know as the Aztec Empire.

History shows us that the Aztec Empire was created partially on legend, which states that from the swampy area, an eagle could be seen eating a snake while perched high upon a cactus growing out of the swamps. This legend also states that the priests claimed when they came to this new land, this was the first thing they saw.

Through hard work and determination, the capital city called Tenochtitlan was completed in 1325. Amazingly, technology for this time included pipelines, bridges, and chinapas, which were small islands created by piling up mounds of mud. The Aztec people took full advantage of the chinapas, growing many foods such as beans, corn, chilies, squash, tobacco, and tomatoes.

Then, as a way of showing homage and respect to the gods, the capital city was covered in huge religious statues. These gods according to the Aztec beliefs is that they control every aspect of the Astec's daily life. For example, Uitzilpochtli is the sun god, Coyolxauhqui is the moon goddess, Tlaloc is the rain god, and the creator of the calendar and writing is Quetzalcoatl.

In addition to worshipping gods, the Aztec people also believe strongly in sacrifices. In fact, the high priest would choose a man or woman, laying him or her over a round stone. Then with a very sharp knife, the individual's heart would be cut out. With this type of sacrifice, the belief was that the good gods would stop the bad gods from carrying out evil deeds.

They also believed that the good gods drew their strength and power from the shed human blood and heart. Because they depended so heavily on the gods, they needed to continually keep them strong. Some rituals involved warriors being sacrificed, which was considered the ultimate honor. If a small sacrifice was required, then a prisoner would be used.

For marriage among the Aztec people, the groom would tie his shirt to the bride's dress as an expression of bonding. After being tied together, the couple would then burn incense for four consecutive days. When done, the wedding ceremony could commence.

A change came about in 1519 when a Spanish explorer by the name of Hernando Cortes brought with him more than 500 men into the Aztec territory in their search for gold. Because the Aztec Indians believed Cortes was a white god so the held him in high regard. However, once the Aztecs saw Cortes and his men melting down their gold statues to ship back to Spain, their opinion changed dramatically.

To stop this, the Aztec Indians attacked Cortes and all his men, driving them away from the Aztec territory. However, just one year later, the Spanish came back to attack the capital city, destroying the entire Aztec civilization. Although the Aztec Indians had long overcome challenges, this battle would be the end to these people, leaving us with only the legend and history of their struggles and accomplishments.

Wounaan and Embera Indians

Both the Wounaan and Embera Indians are beautiful and unique people. Formerly known as Choco Indians, they live today very much as they did during the days of Christopher Columbus. The Embera tribe is around 15,000, inhabiting the Darien rainforest of Panama. The Wounaan tribe is only about 2,600 strong, but they too live in the Darien rainforest. The culture of both tribes is that of a river basin, living in the forest territory.

One of the most fascinating aspects of these people is their contribution to the making of modern day pharmaceuticals. With incredible botanical knowledge from living in the rainforest, their expertise has been unrivaled. Today, you can visit this rainforest and see the magnificent flowers along the jungle trek for yourself. In fact, you can take tours that will show you how to paint your body in the same way as the Embera Indians do, using Jagua, which is a natural type of fruit dye. Then, the handicrafts made by the Indians are incredible.

Considered master artisans, these tribes make beautiful baskets and woodcarvings that cannot be topped. The Embera people also use woodcarving for everyday life such as making canoes, weapons, paddles, furniture, and so on. However, they now also carve tagua, which is called "vegetable ivory". From this material, the Indians have made some of the most imaginative art you have ever seen, inspired by the animals and plants found within the rainforest.

Taking the tagua, they sand it down and then use various types of lacquer or varnish to create sheen. The tagua is ivory colored with dark brown or gray skin. In addition, the Embera Indians can use natural extracts taken from the earth and plants to create vibrant colors, which are then used to dye the baskets. For the pieces of handiwork with jaguar details, only top quality Indian ink is used.

Although both Wounaan and Embera Indians now exist in a modern village, they once lived a very primitive life in the rainforest. They remained in the rainforest until the early part of the 16th century until the Spaniards arrived. Although they were far from the comforts of civilization, they were happy people, living their own life in the only way they knew. Their tribes were peaceful and harmonious. As proud and peaceful people, they do tend to be a bit suspicious of people from the outside but once their trust is gained, they are very genuine.

If you visit the village, be aware that both men and women walk around without much clothing so you know what to expect, as this is simply their way of living. The men are muscular with straight black hair and earrings. Some men do wear a g-string but not much else. The body is often heavily painted using dye from the genip tree. For red paint, achiote is used and for orange, seed pod.

Conquest and Colonization of Chile

Conquest and Colonization of Chile, 1535-1810

Ferdinand Magellan, Chile's first known European discoverer stopped there during his voyage on October 21, 1520. A concerted attempt at colonization began when Diego de Almagro, a companion of conqueror Francisco Pizarro, headed south from Peru in 1535. Disappointed at the dearth of mineral wealth and deterred by the pugnacity of the native population in Chile, Almagro returned to Peru in 1537, where he died in the civil wars that took place among the conquistadors.

Pedro de Valdivia began the second Spanish expedition from Peru to Chile in 1540. Proving more persistent than Almagro, he founded the capital city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. Valdivia managed to subdue many northern Amerindians, forcing them to work in mines and fields. He had far less success with the Araucanians of the south, however.

Valdivia (1541-53) became the first governor of the captaincy general of Chile, which was the colonial name until 1609. In that post, he obeyed the viceroy of Peru and, through him, the king of Spain and his bureaucracy. Responsible to the governor, town councils known as cabildos administered local municipalities, the most important of which was Santiago, which was the seat of a royal audiencia (see Glossary) from 1609 until the end of colonial rule.

Seeking more precious metals and slave labor, Valdivia established fortresses farther south. Being so scattered and small, however, they proved difficult to defend against Araucanian attack. Although Valdivia found small amounts of gold in the south, he realized that Chile would have to be primarily an agricultural colony.

In December 1553, an Araucanian army of warriors, organized by the legendary Mapuche chief Lautaro (Valdivia's former servant), assaulted and destroyed the fort of Tucapel. Accompanied by only fifty soldiers, Valdivia rushed to the aid of the fort, but all his men perished at the hands of the Mapuche in the Battle of Tucapel. Valdivia himself fled but was later tracked down, tortured, and killed by Lautaro. Although Lautaro was killed by Spaniards in the Battle of Mataquito in 1557, his chief, Caupolicán, continued the fight until his capture by treachery and his subsequent execution by the Spaniards in 1558. The uprising of 1553-58 became the most famous instance of Araucanian resistance; Lautaro in later centuries became a revered figure among Chilean nationalists. It took several more years to suppress the rebellion. Thereafter, the Araucanians no longer threatened to drive the Spanish out, but they did destroy small settlements from time to time. Most important, the Mapuche held on to their remaining territory for another three centuries.

Despite inefficiency and corruption in the political system, Chileans, like most Spanish Americans, exhibited remarkable loyalty to crown authority throughout nearly three centuries of colonial rule. Chileans complained about certain policies or officials but never challenged the regime. It was only when the king of Spain was overthrown at the beginning of the nineteenth century that Chileans began to consider self-government.

Chileans resented their reliance on Peru for governance, trade, and subsidies, but not enough to defy crown authority. Many Chilean criollos (creoles, or Spaniards born in the New World) also resented domination by the peninsulares (Spaniards, usually officials, born in the Old World and residing in an overseas colony), especially in the sinecures of royal administration. However, local Chilean elites, especially landowners, asserted themselves in politics well before any movement for independence. Over time, these elites captured numerous positions in the local governing apparatus, bought favors from the bureaucracy, co-opted administrators from Spain, and came to exercise informal authority in the countryside.

Society in Chile was sharply divided along ethnic, racial, and class lines. Peninsulares and criollos dominated the tiny upper class. Miscegenation between Europeans and the indigenous people produced a mestizo population that quickly outnumbered the Spaniards. Farther down the social ladder were a few African slaves and large numbers of Native Americans.

The Roman Catholic Church served as the main buttress of the government and the primary instrument of social control. Compared with its counterparts in Peru and Mexico, the church in Chile was not very rich or powerful. On the frontier, missionaries were more important than the Catholic hierarchy. Although usually it supported the status quo, the church produced the most important defenders of the indigenous population against Spanish atrocities. The most famous advocate of human rights for the native Americans was a Jesuit, Luis de Valdivia (no relation to Pedro de Valdivia), who struggled, mostly in vain, to improve their lot in the period 1593-1619.

Cut off to the north by desert, to the south by the Araucanians, to the east by the Andes Mountains, and to the west by the ocean, Chile became one of the most centralized, homogeneous colonies in Spanish America. Serving as a sort of frontier garrison, the colony found itself with the mission of forestalling encroachment by Araucanians and by Spain's European enemies, especially the British and the Dutch. In addition to the Araucanians, buccaneers and English adventurers menaced the colony, as was shown by Sir Francis Drake's 1578 raid on Valparaíso, the principal port. Because Chile hosted one of the largest standing armies in the Americas, it was one of the most militarized of the Spanish possessions, as well as a drain on the treasury of Peru.

Throughout the colonial period, the Spaniards engaged in frontier combat with the Araucanians, who controlled the territory south of the Río Bío-Bío (about 500 kilometers south of Santiago) and waged guerrilla warfare against the invaders. During many of those years, the entire southern region was impenetrable by Europeans. In the skirmishes, the Spaniards took many of their defeated foes as slaves. Missionary expeditions to Christianize the Araucanians proved risky and often fruitless.

Most European relations with the Native Americans were hostile, resembling those later existing with nomadic tribes in the United States. The Spaniards generally treated the Mapuche as an enemy nation to be subjugated and even exterminated, in contrast to the way the Aztecs and the Incas treated the Mapuche, as a pool of subservient laborers. Nevertheless, the Spaniards did have some positive interaction with the Mapuche. Along with warfare, there also occurred some miscegenation, intermarriage, and acculturation between the colonists and the indigenous people.

Chile’s Wars for Independence

Chile Wars of Independence, 1810-18

Aristocratic Chileans began considering independence only when the authority and legitimacy of the crown were cast in doubt by Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Spain in 1807. Napoleon replaced the Spanish king with his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. On the peninsula, Spanish loyalists formed juntas that claimed they would govern both the motherland and the colonies until the rightful king was restored. Thus, Chileans, like other Spanish Americans, had to confront the dilemma of who was in charge in the absence of the divine monarch: the French pretender to the throne, the Spanish rebels, or local leaders. The latter option was tried on September 18, 1810, a date whose anniversary is celebrated as Chile's independence day. On that day, the criollo leaders of Santiago, employing the town council as a junta, announced their intention to govern the colony until the king was reinstated. They swore loyalty to the ousted monarch, Ferdinand VII, but insisted that they had as much right to rule in the meantime as did subjects of the crown in Spain itself. They immediately opened the ports to all traders.

Chile's first experiment with self-government, the Old Fatherland (Patria Vieja, 1810-14), was led by José Miguel Carrera Verdugo (president, 1812-13), an aristocrat in his mid-twenties. The military-educated Carrera was a heavy-handed ruler who aroused widespread opposition. One of the earliest advocates of full independence, Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, captained a rival faction that plunged the criollos into civil war. For him and for certain other members of the Chilean elite, the initiative for temporary self-rule quickly escalated into a campaign for permanent independence, although other criollos remained loyal to Spain. Among those favoring independence, conservatives fought with liberals over the degree to which French revolutionary ideas would be incorporated into the movement. After several efforts, Spanish troops from Peru took advantage of the internecine strife to reconquer Chile in 1814, when they reasserted control by winning the Battle of Rancagua on October 12. O'Higgins and many of the Chilean rebels escaped to Argentina.

During the Reconquest (La Reconquista) of 1814-17, the harsh rule of the Spanish loyalists, who punished suspected rebels, drove more Chileans into the insurrectionary camp. More and more members of the Chilean elite were becoming convinced of the necessity of full independence, regardless of who sat on the throne of Spain. As the leader of guerrilla raids against the Spaniards, Manuel Rodríguez became a national symbol of resistance.

When criollos sang the praises of equality and freedom, however, they meant equal treatment for themselves in relation to the peninsulares and liberation from Spanish rule, not equality or freedom for the masses of Chileans. The criollos wanted to assume leadership positions previously controlled by peninsulares without upsetting the existing social and economic order. In that sense, the struggle for independence was a war within the upper class, although the majority of troops on both sides consisted of conscripted mestizos and native Americans.

In exile in Argentina, O'Higgins joined forces with José de San Martín, whose army freed Chile with a daring assault over the Andes in 1817, defeating the Spaniards at the Battle of Chacabuco on February 12. San Martín considered the liberation of Chile a strategic stepping-stone to the emancipation of Peru, which he saw as the key to hemispheric victory over the Spanish. Chile won its formal independence when San Martín defeated the last large Spanish force on Chilean soil at the Battle of Maipú on April 5, 1818. San Martín then led his Argentine and Chilean followers north to liberate Peru; and fighting continued in Chile's southern provinces, the bastion of the royalists, until 1826.