The First Appearance of Nusantara Concept in The 20th Century
In 1920, Ernest Francois Eugene Douwes Dekker (1879–1950), who was also known as Setiabudi introduced a name for his country (Indonesia) which didn't contain any words etymologically inherited from any Indian languages. This is the first instance of the term Nusantara appearing after it had been written into pararaton manuscript.
The definition of Nusantara introduced by Setiabudi is different to the 14th century definition of the term. During the Majapahit era, Nusantara described vassal areas to be conquered. Setiabudi didn't want this aggressive connotation, so he defined Nusantara as all the Indonesian regions from Sabang as far as Merauke.
Palapa Oath (where the term Nusantara was first used) is in reality the embryo of the modern unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia, notwithstanding the fact that the territory of Majapahit was then even much wider than the current territory of Indonesia.
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