East Indies East Indies The East Indies or the Indies are the lands of South and Southeast Asia. In a more restricted sense, the Indies can be used to refer to the islands of Southeast Asia, especially the Indonesian Archipelago and the Philippine Archipelago. The name "Indies" is derived from the River Indus and is used to connote parts of Asia that came under Indian cultural influence. Dutch-occupied colonies in the area were known for about 300 years as the Dutch East Indies before Indonesian independence, while Spanish-occupied colonies were known as the Spanish East Indies before the American conquest and later
Batavia, Dutch East Indies Batavia, Dutch East Indies Batavia was the name of the capital city of the Dutch East Indies that corresponds to the present-day Central Jakarta. Just as modern Jakarta may refer to either the city itself or to the larger area of the city, with its geographic surroundings, which taken together is one of the provinces of Indonesia, Batavia can refer to the city proper as it existed then, with its various increases over time in urbanized acreage, or can refer to the surrounding hinterland. The establishment of Batavia at the site of the razed city of Jayakarta by the Dutch