Names of Indonesia Oceania and Maritime Southeast Asia. During that era, the East Indies portion now called "Indonesia" fell under Dutch colonial control and therefore was referred to as Dutch East Indies. Insulindia or Insulinde, is an archaic geographical term for Maritime Southeast Asia, encompassing the entire area situated between Australasia and Indochina. More common in Portuguese and Spanish, it is a combined word (portmanteau) from "insula" ("island") and "india" (India). "Indonesia" derives from the Latin and Greek "Indus" (Ἰνδός), and the Greek "nésos" (νῆσος), meaning "island". The name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850,
Indos in colonial history and Indos were expected to speak Dutch as their first language. To a degree the use of Malay and Pecok has persisted in private conversation and literature. Only through the post colonial work of Indo author Tjalie Robinson did the Pecok language regained its cultural status. During the first half of formal colonisation many practices the VOC had introduced in the previous centuries remained in place, and the overall levels of independence from the mother country remained equally high. The position of Indos as important trading intermediaries and main local representation of Dutch governance also remained the same. Moreover, European