THE EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO. 



H7 



Kedfth, and Perak- At present its limits arc, on tlic coat const, the 

 Tamiarig, f 9 25' N., sej winning it from Sink territory ; and on the weeW the 

 rt- 'li till' tin 1"UV Sfn:.' nf Tiuhhih, in ii 1 N. lint Ai'lu'n prop, r is 

 now understood to be limited by a line <lrawn from Pedir Pniut Oil tha 

 tturth-i'£Lst to Kuala Lambi-*! on the west coast. The inhabitants, who ore 

 «kin to the neighbouring Bat las, are chiefly occupied with tho cultivation 

 of rice, pep|«'Tp and lu'ltd, which they export jn exchange for opium, 

 wit, iron, and cxrPpir-W*P', piece-goods, pottery, Chinese good« h dried ti.sh, 

 fire-arms, ami nnininnition. The cnpital lies close to Aehin Head at the 

 northern exth-mity, and west of trio il Golden Mountain," a volcanic 

 peak etOGG ft'*-t hfglu Aehin was occupied by the Dutch in two 

 yearn alter the commencement of the hostilities which si ill continue, and 

 ulii.li have for their object tho Complete reduction of thi« ■warlike and 

 independent people. Siin-c 1201 A.»* tliey have been zealous JiIc^Liitii- 

 medjina. 



Historical Notes, — Of the ancient hhtnr? of SumEitra little; k 

 known beyond tlic fact that many of the natives adopted some form 

 of Hinduism at nn early date, ns is euirliciently attested by the 

 Sanskrit elements present in iheiT lan^ua^e?, and by solne of the 

 local monuments and inscription*. Tliu JuraiH$e also seem to have 

 largely influenced the southern populations, as shown by inscrip- 

 tions in the Javanese character occurring as far north as Menanjj- 

 kabau, and by many purely Javanese names of places both here, and 

 in hilrjiiUinL'. 



Tho most important subsequent event is the comparatively recent 

 spread of Isli'trn throughout nearly the whole island. In the north it 



Marco Folo'a time (about 1360) the people of the eastern aeaooard were 



throughout the Peninsula ami Archipelago. All earlier migrations must 

 bo referred to Hindu and prehistoric times, tlie former from Java chiefly, 

 the Utter most probahlv from tho Asiatic mainland. 



Sumatra wns first ijsir.-d \ \ the Portuguese in l&Ofl, by the Dutch in 

 1600, and two yeans later bv the English, who appeared at Aehin wirb live 

 merchant nhips under £ir dames LaiirastfT, hearsr of a letter from Queen 

 Elizabeth to the Sultan. Tho English continued to establish factories and 

 settlement)* in the island during the seventeenth century, but principally 

 in ltkS5-8. These settlements were retained till 1825, when they were all 

 reded to the Dutch in exchange for Mahu-ra, Since that time thn liritinli 

 liavi: ivasi-d N.i maintain any >.l ipLon:a1 i<' r. -1 :a C i u Li:=i with Sumatra, wver 

 which Holland now claims template supremacy. 



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