Indonesia is one of the few Mohammedan countries where Islam did, not supplant the existing religions by conquest or external force. On: the century, the new faith came to Indonesia much in the same way m Indian culture had done. The protagonists of Islam originated mainly from the same district, Gujarat in north-western India, with which links had been established centuries before. Islam spread, not by systematic missionary activity, but by personal contacts on an individual basis which were chiefly established in the course of trade. Later, when Islamic kingdoms came into being in lndonesia, in some areas the faith was indeed spread by means of that sword, but here it was political considerations that were the decisive factor.

. In central Sumatra Malayu, the kingdom of the Menangkabau, remained in existence as an ostensibly independent state until 1825.

All these events led to decisive changes in the cultural as well as in the political field. For certain reasons, to be mentioned later, after the collapse of the Hindu kingdom of Madjapahit so further concentration of power developed in Java capable of playing an important role outside that island. From the time of Malacca's supremacy onwards Malay replaced Javanese as the language of commece. This development continued even after the Malay sultanates had lost their power.

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