When Alfred Russel Wallace went to Indonesia and studied biology, he noticed that marsupials lived in the Eastern Islands (Australia, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Makulu Islands, North Makulu Islands, The Spice Islands, and East and West Nusa Tenggara,) while placental Mammals lived in the Western Islands (Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, The Philippines, and Mainland Asia). However, I know that humans created trading empires that traded with both the Eastern Islands and the Western Islands, so there should have been animals that were traded. Domestic animals in Eurasia would have been traded for nutmeg in the Spice Islands, and rulers would have bought kangaroos and other marsupial animals to put in their zoos. The Majapahit Empire controlled much trade and was in charge of the nutmeg trade. They traded with Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, and Papua New Guinea. In fact, the Coins from the Kilwa Sultanate in East Africa have been found from the year 900!! With all this connection, some animals must have been exchanged. Were there any animals that were found on the eastern Islands and the western Islands? The theory we were taught makes me think that there was no trade between the islands and that Indonesia was always a primitive state, but this is not true. The Indian Ocean trade was THRIVING, and the Indian Ocean was definitely well explored. Australia was KNOWN to Indian Ocean sailors. So, can you please help me?
In addition, Eurasian diseases were experienced by Northern Aboriginals, but not the South. Since Australia was not connected, the Eurasian diseases killed half of the northern isolated tribes and immunified the other half. Then, the disease could not continue spreading through Australia, so it had to kick the bucket in Australia, which is why South Aboriginals were vulnerable to Eurasian diseases when the British arrived. However, the north did have diseases.
Edit: I understand that colonization/trade with Northern Australia would not have been very beneficial, but Australia has many rare metals, including silver, gold, iron ore, and much more. Like Mali and the Swahili Coast, could these resources have been extracted? Probably not, as Mali had a fertile South and extremely smart traders in the North to learn from. The Swahili Coast was a combination of Arabs and Africans, and they could extract their gold due to
- Superior Arab Technology: This could allow easier mining and conquest of inland Africans so they could help get the resources. This also meant that they had technology
- Routes to India: They had somewhere to sell it to, so there was more of a need. As for Northern Australia, they have the resources just like Mali or the Swahili coast. They could have connections to the Majapahit or other smart Indonesians, just like for the Swahili Coast had India and the Malians had North Africans. Finally, just like the Swahili Coast, they could have superior Indonesian technology against the native Australians, so the native Australians could be conquered and put to work. As for arable land, they could do what the Mali Empire did for salt: trade. Java, a major rice producer, could have easily sold their rice in exchange for gold.
So, was there this form of trade? We don't know, but seeing as there were so many Kilwan coins in Australia, it seems true. Was it as flourishing as the Mali or Swahili coast? Probably not, as they had more arable land, although they could have traded with Java for rice. If none of this happened, they must have at least been discovered, and that is a fact because of the Kilwan coins.