Samudera Darussalam

Samudera, officially the Crowned Federation of Samudera, the Abode of Peace, (Samuderan: ꦦꦺꦂꦱꦺꦏꦸꦠꦸꦮꦤ꧀​ꦣꦶꦫꦗ​ꦯꦩꦸꦢꦺꦫ​ꦣꦫꦸꦱ꧀ꦱꦭꦩ꧀, Persekutuan Diraja Samudera Darussalam), is a federal, sovereign country located in the Melayu Archipelago. It is situated mainly on the Samuderan peninsula, although it also possess significant overseas territories, such as Labuan and Cempaka. The country has an estimated population of 47.6 millions, mainly concentrated in urban areas (as of 2019).

The concept of a Samuderan nation-state doesn't appear until around the 9th century after the collapse of the Melawati empire that controlled much of the peninsula. At the conclusion of the Great Northern Wars, a loose confederation was formed by the Malay states of the north through the Peace of Indrapura at 1211, which formed a basis of the unified state of Samudera. Throughout the 15th and 16th century the kingdom grew to encompass much of its current territories. Samudera entered a period of self-isolation during the Three Brothers' Era, which was ended in 1720 due to pressure from Dutch merchants to open to the West. After more than a decade of internal conflict in the court, Samudera was left severely weakened and accepted British protection in the late 18th century which lasted until March 1 1960. Eversince its independence, the country has long maintained its neutrality, although as of recently it started to play a more active role in international politics.

Following the Revolution of 1920 and the revision of its constitution, Samudera Darussalam is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with a king or queen as its head of state, and a mangkubumi as its head of government. The national government and parliament is based in the city of Bandar Raja, while the monarch and the royal family mostly resided in the traditional royal capital of Palembang. Samudera exercises a hegemonic influence in its realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs to its component states.

Samudera is a highly developed country with an advanced, high-income economy. Social and labour-market reforms in the 20th century provide the basis of the present state welfare system which is comparable to the Nordic model, with universal health care and education available for all of its citizens. The country relies exclusively on renewable energies and has been utilizing and researching green technology since the late 20th century to reduce its emissions. It maintains large swathes of forested areas within its territories, which are protected with various strict environmental laws.

Etymology
The first known use of the name Samudera dates back to 1650 in a diplomatic letter sent to to the ruler of the neighbouring country of Campuhan. Raja Suleiman, who ruled the realm at the time, introduced himself to the king of Campuhan as "the king of the land of Samudera". Although any copy of the letter seems to have been gone, the contents of the letter were largely documented in the literature Tales of Palembang.

Most linguistic experts believe that the name Samudera is derived from word समुद्र (samudra) which means ocean in Sanskrit and Tamil. Although it has yet to be proved scientifically, the theory aligns with a local folklore that claims the ancestors of Samuderans as coming from the sea. In the country's full name, Persekutuan Diraja Samudera Darussalam, "darussalam" (Arabic: دار السلام‎) means "abode of peace", while "persekutuan diraja" means "the crowned federation" in Malay.

The adjective "Samuderan" is commonly used to refer to matters related to Samudera Darussalam. The term has no definite legal connotation, but is used in law to refer to the citizenship of Samudera Darussalam and matters to do with nationality. However, the term is also used as an ethnic and regional identity by people who hailed from the component state of Samudranagara, and thus may cause confusion. The official designation for a citizen of Samudera Darussalam is "Samuderan citizen".

Background


Settlement by anatomically modern humans in what was to become Samudera occured in waves beginning by about 40,000 years ago. The last and largest of these were the Austronesians, who form the majority of modern population. Favourable geographical conditions led to the development of several prehistoric civilizations in the peninsula, such as the Ambang city-states.

Meilawatian conquest in 3 CE started the written history of the region. The 600-year Meilawatian rule left a lasting legacy to the area, with the locals adopted Indianized Meilawatian culture and religions. A combination of outside threats and devastating civil wars led to the demise of the empire, which was quickly followed by the disintegration of its territories. Invasion by Samuderan settlers to the area not long after confined the remnants of the former Meilawatian nobles to the southwestern part of the peninsula, which led to the creation of the Kingdom of Gadang in the 11th century. Claiming the legacy of the fallen empire, Gadang's attempts to reconquer the rest of the region were barely successful and it remained as the sole stable nation in the peninsula for the next 2 centuries.



Between the 12th and 13th century, taking advantage of the chaos in the north, Gadang staged another invasion of the border states to the north and starting the Great Northern Wars. Following the sack of Yhu, a massive coalition of opposing forces were formed in response to Gadang aggression. After years of stalemate, the coalition forces managed to inflict a decisive defeat on the exhausted Gadang forces in the Battle of Bayang, officially ending the Great Northern Wars in 1211. As the invading forces were destroyed and a new leadership came into power in Gadang, representatives from both sides met and signed two different treaties in what would be known as the Peace of Indrapura, establishing the official borders between the two sides and formally establishing the Northern League, a loose confederacy of northern nations under the leadership of the Detu of Palembang.

Growth of a nation
With most of the northern nations much or less are united under one banner, the situation began to stabilize in the Central Valley region. As a result, commerce began to grow both inwardly and outwardly, bringing prosperity to the formerly war-torn lands. Fuelled by the new riches, the League grew to absorb its surrounding territories, and by 1304 it has already controlled most of the territory north and east of Antara Bay and south of the Diwata mountains.

Administrative divisions
According to the Constitution, the country is composed of three constituent states (nagara) and several federal territories. These are divided between two regions, with two states and one federal territory on Samudera proper, and the rest, including Labuan and Cempaka, as part of overseas territories. Home rule governance has been introduced to the states as early as during the unification of Gadang and Samudranagara, though it is not adopted by the latter. Along with the rest of the federal subjects, the state is placed under direct administration of the federal government, which lead to the so called Autonomy Question.



States are typically divided into regions (wilayah), which are then subdivided into municipalities and autonomous cities. In Gadang as well as Labuan and Cempaka, state governments are led by an elected chief minister (bendara) and legislature, whose members are drawn out from local elections by convention. However, in matters of dire emergency the federal parliament may abolish the state government under the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignity, as seen in 1890 constitutional crisis of Gadang.