<![CDATA[This study examines the 1522 Sunda–Portuguese Treaty as an early milestone in the political and economic encounter between indigenous polities of the Indonesian archipelago and European powers. Following the Portuguese conquest of Malacca in 1511, Portugal sought to expand its commercial network toward the pepper-producing regions of West Java. The Kingdom of Sunda viewed an alliance with the Portuguese as a strategic measure to counter the expansionist threat of the Islam-oriented Demak Sultanate. Employing the historical method and the theoretical frameworks of Political Realism and Economic Diplomacy, this research interprets the treaty not merely as a manifestation of religious conflict, but as a calculated strategy of power consolidation and economic interest. Primary sources, including the Suma Oriental and the Padrao inscription of Sunda Kelapa, are analyzed to reconstruct the dynamics of this relationship. The findings indicate that the Sunda–Portuguese cooperation represented Sunda’s defensive interests and Portugal’s economic ambitions, while Demak’s attack in 1527 marked the beginning of a broader geopolitical confrontation between Islamic polities and Western powers in the sixteenth-century archipelago.]]>
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