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"The mid-twentieth century marked one of the greatest watersheds of Asian history, when a range of imperial constructs were declared to be nation-states, either by revolution or decolonisation. Nationalism was the great alchemist, turning the base metal of empire into the gold of nations. To achieve such a transformation from the immense diversity of these Asian empires required a different set of forces from those that Europeans had needed in their transitions from multi-ethnic empires to culturally homogeneous nations. In this book Anthony Reid explores the mysterious alchemy by which new political identities have been formed. Taking Southeast Asia as his example, Reid tests contemporary theory about the relation between modernity, nationalism, and ethnic identity. Grappling with concepts emanating from a very different European experience of nationalism, Reid develops his own typology to better fit the formation of political identities such as the Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Acehnese, Batak and Kadazan"--Provided by publisher

The 2004 tsunami intensified fruitful scientific research into dating past tectonic events in Sumatra, though without comparable work on Java. Geology needs to be informed by careful historical research on documented events, but less such work has been done in Indonesia than in other tectonically endangered areas. This paper examines the historical evidence for two hitherto unknown tsunamis of the seventeenth century. In better-researched Sumatra, Dutch reports that a flood from the sea devastated Aceh in 1660 adds to what the geologists have discovered on the ground. By contrast geological research has barely begun on the south coast of Java. Javanese sources for events before 1800 need careful re-evaluation. The myths around Ratu Kidul, the 'Queen of the South Seas', together with more chronologically reliable dated babads, point to a major tsunami in 1618 on the coast south of Yogyakarta.