Origins Of Merdeka

Merdeka is a word in the Malay language meaning independence. It is derived from a Sanskrit word (Maharddhika) used to designate former Portuguese and Dutch slaves from India in the East Indies, whence the Malay meaning of “free(dom)” is derived.

When the Indonesians fought for independence from the Dutch they used the slogan Merdeka (“freedom”), which is derived from Mardijker.

The term Mardijker is a Dutch corruption of the Portuguese version of Sanskrit Maharddhika meaning “great and mighty man”. In the Malay archipelago, this term had acquired the meaning of a freed slave.

The ancestors of the Mardijkers had been slaves of the Portuguese in India, and were brought to Indonesia by the Dutch, especially after the 1641 Dutch conquest of Malacca.

The Mardijker were a community in Batavia (modern Jakarta), comprised of descendants of freed slaves. They were mostly Christian, of Indian ancestry, and spoke a Portuguese-based creole language.

sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merdeka
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardijker_people