The Balinese copperplate inscription or Sembiran inscription is a collection of ten copper plate inscriptions, which were found in the village of Sembiran, Tejakula district, Buleleng Regency, on the northern part of Bali island. [1] [2] All inscription plates have a date, which is between 922 and 1181 CE, so they include more than 200 years. [3] Sembiran AI is dated 844 saka (922 CE), Sembiran B is dated 873 saka (951 CE), Sembiran A II is dated 897 saka (975 CE), Sembiran A III is dated 938 saka (1016 CE), Sembiran A IV is dated 987 saka (1065 CE), and Sembiran C is dated 1103 saka (1181 CE). Some of the oldest inscriptions are written in Old Balinese, while some of the later ones are written in Old Javanese. [3]
These inscriptions are the earliest information regarding the condition of the Julah area and its surroundings. [3] The written text states that the inscriptions were addressed to the "keraman of Julah" (Julah village elders). This implies that the original inhabitants of Sembiran village were from the village of Julah, some of whom then moved 1 km up the mountain from the coast to avoid attacks from the sea. [1]
The Bali Aga, Baliaga, or Bali Mula are the indigenous people of Bali. Linguistically they are an Austronesian people. Bali Aga people are predominantly located in the eastern part of the island, in Bangli, Buleleng and Karangasem, but they can also be found in north-western and central regions. Bali Aga people who are referred to as Bali Pergunungan are those that are located at Trunyan village. For the Trunyan Bali Aga people, the term Bali Aga is regarded as an insult with an additional meaning of "the mountain people that are fools"; therefore, they prefer the term Bali Mula instead.
Sri Kesari Warmadewa was the first king of Bali whose name is recorded in a written inscription. He was the issuing authority for four inscriptions, including the famous 914 CE inscription on the Belanjong pillar in southern Sanur.
The Warmadewa dynasty, also Varmadeva dynasty, was a regnal dynasty on the island of Bali.
The Belanjong pillar, also Blanjong pillar or Blanjong inscription, is a pillar established in 914 CE in the harbour of Belanjong, in the southern area of Sanur in Bali.
Jayasakti was a king of Bali. He is known through his copper plate inscriptions, especially the Prasasti Desa Depaa.
Dalem Segening was a king of Bali who reigned in the first half of the 17th century, his exact dating being still uncertain. He belonged to a dynasty which originated from Majapahit on Java, and ruled from the palace (puri) of Gelgel.
Tejakula is a village (desa) and a district (kecamatan) in Buleleng regency, northern Bali, Indonesia. It stands on the north-eastern coast of the island.
The Mantyasih inscription is an important inscription found and kept by Li Djok Ban in Ngadireja Parakan Temanggung, then the inscription was brought by one of the princes of Surakarta to brought to Surakarta and is now stored in the Radyapustaka Museum, Central Java, Indonesia. It is dated to 907 and was created by King Balitung from the Sanjaya dynasty, of the Ancient Mataram Kingdom. This inscription contains a genealogy of the kings of Mataram before King Balitung.
Tenganan Pegringsingan or Pageringsingan is a village in the regency of Karangasem in East Bali, Indonesia. It is known for the gringsing or geringsing, double ikat textiles woven in only 3 places in the world; and for its gamelan selunding or Gambelan selonding music played on iron metallophones.
Balinese textiles are reflective of the historical traditions of Bali, Indonesia. Bali has been historically linked to the major courts of Java before the 10th century; and following the defeat of the Majapahit kingdom, many of the Javanese aristocracy fled to Bali and the traditions were continued. Bali therefore may be seen as a repository not only of its own arts but those of Java in the pre-Islamic 15th century. Any attempt to definitively describe Balinese textiles and their use is doomed to be incomplete. The use of textile is a living tradition and so is in constant change. It will also vary from one district to another. For the most part old cloth are not venerated for their age. New is much better. In the tropics cloth rapidly deteriorates and so virtue is generated by replacing them.
Geringsing is a Tenun textile created by the double ikat method in the Bali Aga village of Tenganan Pegeringsingan in Bali. The demanding technique is only practiced in parts of India, Japan and Indonesia. In Indonesia it is confined to the village of Tenganan.
Negara: The Theatre State in Nineteenth-Century Bali is a 1980 book written by anthropologist Clifford Geertz. Geertz argues that the pre-colonial Balinese state was not a "hydraulic bureaucracy" nor an oriental despotism, but rather, an organized spectacle. The noble rulers of the island were less interested in administering the lives of the Balinese than in dramatizing their rank and enhance political superiority through large public rituals and ceremonies. These cultural processes did not support the state, he argues, but were the state.
It is perhaps most clear in what was, after all, the master image of political life: kingship. The whole of the negara - court life, the traditions that organized it, the extractions that supported it, the privileges that accompanied it - was essentially directed toward defining what power was; and what power was what kings were. Particular kings came and went, 'poor passing facts' anonymized in titles, immobilized in ritual, and annihilated in bonfires. But what they represented, the model-and-copy conception of order, remained unaltered, at least over the period we know much about. The driving aim of higher politics was to construct a state by constructing a king. The more consummate the king, the more exemplary the centre. The more exemplary the centre, the more actual the realm.
The Kingdomship of Bali was a series of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms that once ruled some parts of the volcanic island of Bali, in Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. With a history of native Balinese kingship spanning from the early 10th to early 20th centuries, Balinese kingdoms demonstrated sophisticated Balinese court culture where native elements of spirit and ancestral reverence combined with Hindu influences—adopted from India through ancient Java intermediary—flourished, enriched and shaped Balinese culture.
Trunyan or Terunyan is a Balinese village (banjar) located on the eastern shore of Lake Batur, a caldera lake in Bangli Regency, central Bali, Indonesia. The village is one of the most notable homes of the Bali Aga people, the others being the villages of Tenganan and Sambiran. Trunyan is notable for its peculiar treatment of dead bodies, in which they are placed openly on the ground, simply covered with cloth and bamboo canopies, and left to decompose. The influence of a nearby tree is said to remove the putrid smell of the corpses.
Śri Ajñadewi was a reigning queen of Bali, who flourished in 1016 CE.
Sang Ratu Aji Tabanendra Warmadewa was a king from the Warmadewa dynasty, who is thought to have ruled in Bali between 877-889 Saka. His name is mentioned on three inscriptions in Manik Liu village, dated the 1st of Srawana month in the year of 877 Saka; and in another inscription in Kintamani village, dated the 6th of Bhadrapada month, Suklapaksa in the year of 889 Saka.
Sang Ratu Sri Janasadhu Warmadewa was a king of the Warmadewa dynasty, who ruled Bali around the end of the 10th century CE. Based on various inscriptions, he was the fifth king of the dynasty. King Janasadhu's name has been found in only one inscription, namely the Sembiran inscription, which was dated to 897 Saka.
Marakata Pangkaja was a Balinese king from the Warmadewa dynasty. He was the son of King Udayana and Queen Mahendradatta, a Javanese princess. His royal title was Çri Dharmawangsa Wardhana Marakata Pangkajastanottunggadewa. He ascended to the throne in 1022 CE, and probably reigned until 1049 CE. His reign coincided with the reign of his elder brother, King Airlangga, who ruled the Mataram Kingdom in Java. After he died, the next king who ruled Bali was his younger brother, King Anak Wungsu.
Sang Ratu Sri Ugrasena was a Balinese king who is thought to have ruled between 837-864 Saka, or 915-942 CE. The capital of his kingdom was Singhamandawa. The king issued several inscriptions regarding various activities of his people, including giving royal endowment, tax regulation, religious ceremonies, and construction of public lodges and places of worship for pilgrims. His reign was approximately the same period as King Sindok's of the Isyana dynasty in East Java.
Çri Maharaja Çri Ragajaya was a Balinese king who ruled in the middle of the 12th century CE. The territory of his kingdom most likely covered only the areas north of Lake Batur and East Bali, mainly from Tejakula in Buleleng Regency to Bugbug in Karangasem Regency. The king's name is mentioned on the Tejakula inscription, dated to 1077 Saka. In the inscription, the king appointed the village of Sabhaya to do the jataka for the benefit of a sacred temple, which was named the Bhatara ri Kunjarasana. In return, the villagers were granted various rights for the obligations they had to do.