Asian Descent > Indonesia Archives

Putri Sri Alam

In 1641, Putri Sri Alam, after the death of her husband, ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalamand (modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh) and took the title Sulṭāna Taj ul-Alam Safiatuddin Syah.

Inayat Zakiatuddin Syah

In 1678, Inayat Zakiatudin Syah became the sixteenth monarch of the Acèh Darussalam (modern-day Indonesia) and the third sulṭāna regnant to rule in succession. She ruled for ten years.

Dewi Sartika

Sundanese advocate for and pioneer of education for women in Indonesia

Martha Christina Tiahahu

Moluccan (Indonesia) freedom fighter against the Dutch colonizers

Rasuna Said

Hajjah Rangkayo Rasuna Said was a major figure in Indonesia’s struggle for independence against the country’s Dutch colonisers.
Said was politically active from a very young age, and founded a political party – the Indonesian Muslim Association (PERMI) – in her early 20s.
An electrifying speaker who delivered speeches “like lightning during the day” according to one biography, her challenge to Dutch colonial authorities earned her the nickname Lioness. The Dutch often halted her speeches, and even imprisoned her in 1932 for 14 months.
When the Japanese invaded Indonesia during World War II in 1942, Said joined a pro-Japanese organisation, but used it to continue her independence activities.
After the Japanese were defeated, the Dutch returned to try to reimpose their control, initially with British help, and a brutal four-year conflict began, until the Dutch finally recognised Indonesian sovereignty in 1949.
Said was declared a National Hero of Indonesia by president Suharto in 1974. One of Jakarta’s main arteries is named for her (Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said) and Padang, West Sumatra.

Shima

Known as a just and wise ruler, Shima was the queen regnant of the 7th-century kingdom of Kalingga on the northern coast of Central Java circa 674 CE.
Reported to be strict in the area of law and order, she introduced a law against stealing to encourage her people to be honest. The harsh punishment for stealing was to lose one of both of their hands. No one was exempt from the laws, including members of the court. According to tradition, a foreign king placed a bag full of gold on a busy intersection in Kalingga to test the famed truthfulness and honesty of Kalingga people. No one dared to touch a bag that did not belong to them, until three years later Shima’s son, the crown prince accidentally touched the bag with his feet. The queen reportedly issued a death sentence to her own son, but was convinced to change her mind by a minister that appealed to the queen to spare the prince’s life. Instead, he argued that because it was prince’s foot that touched the bag of gold, it was the foot that must be punished through mutilation, resulting in his toes being cut off. Though strict, Shima was also reportedly beloved by her people, from the court to the commoners. Under her rule, her people also had extensive trade and sharing of knowledge with those from other lands. She also reportedly developed subak, the water management (irrigation) system for paddy fields on Bali island.

Kartini

Kartini was an Indonesian national hero, a pioneer in the area of education for girls and women’s rights for Indonesians. Her birthday is celebrated as Kartini Day in Indonesia.
Born into an aristocratic Javanese family in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), she attended a Dutch-language primary school. She aspired to further education but there was no opportunity available to girls in Javanese society.
Kartini wrote letters about her ideas and feelings, and they were published in a Dutch magazine and later as Out of Darkness to Light, Women’s Life in the Village, and Letters of a Javanese Princess. Although she died at only 25, her advocacy for the education of girls was continued by her sisters. Kartini Schools in Bogor, Jakarta, and Malang were named for her and a fund established in her name to support the education of girls.