Puputan is a Balinese term for a mass ritual suicide in preference to facing the humiliation of surrender. It originally seems to have meant a last desperate attack against a numerically superior enemy. [1] Notable puputans in the history of Bali occurred in 1906 and 1908, when the Balinese were being subjugated by the Dutch.
On September 20, 1906, a substantial force of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, named the Sixth Military Expedition, landed at the northern part of Sanur Beach. It was under the command of Major General M.B. Rost van Tonningen. [2] [3] Badung soldiers made some attacks on the bivouacs of the Dutch at Sanur on September 15, and there was some resistance again at Intaran village. [lower-alpha 1]
Overall, the force managed to move inland without much resistance, and arrived in the city of Kesiman on 20 September 1906. There, the local king, a vassal of the king of Badung, had already been killed by his priest, as he had refused to lead an armed resistance against the Dutch. The palace was in flames and the city was deserted. [3]
The force marched to Denpasar, Bali, as if in a dress parade. [3] They approached the royal palace, noting smoke rising from the puri and hearing a wild beating of drums coming from within the palace walls.
Upon their reaching the palace, a silent procession emerged, led by the Raja on a palanquin carried by four bearers. The Raja was dressed in traditional white cremation garments, wore magnificent jewelry, and carried a ceremonial kris. The other people in the procession consisted of the Raja's officials, guards, priests, wives, children, and retainers, all of whom were similarly attired. [3] They had received the rites of death, were dressed in white, and had had their ritual kris blessed. [4]
When the procession was a hundred paces from the Dutch force, they halted and the Raja stepped down from the palanquin and signaled a priest, who plunged his dagger into Raja's breast. The rest of the procession began killing themselves and others. [3] Women mockingly threw jewelry and gold coins at the troops. [3]
A 'stray gunshot' and an 'attack by lance and spear' prompted the Dutch to open fire with rifles and artillery. As more people emerged from the palace, the mounds of corpses rose higher and higher. [3] The whole procession numbered hundreds, [4] and is said to have been over 1,000 people in all. It was mown down by Dutch gunfire. [5]
Alternative accounts describe that the Dutch first opened fire on the Balinese mass moving outside of the palace gate, only equipped with traditional krises, spears, and shields, and that survivors killed themselves, or had themselves killed by their followers according to the dictates of the puputan. [5]
The soldiers stripped the corpses of the valuables and sacked the ruins of the burned palace. The palace of Denpasar was razed to the ground. [5]
The same afternoon, similar events occurred in the nearby palace of Pemecutan, where the co-ruler Gusti Gede Ngurah resided. The Dutch let the nobility at Pemecutan kill themselves, and proceeded with the looting.
The massacre is remembered locally as the "Badung Puputan", as a symbol of resistance to foreign aggression. A huge bronze monument was erected on the central square of Denpasar, where the royal palace used to stand, commemorating Balinese resistance in the Puputan.
The Dutch force continued to the kingdom of Tabanan, where King Gusti Ngurah Agung and his son fled. They surrendered to the Dutch, and attempted to negotiate a settlement to become a regency of the Netherlands.
The Dutch only offered them exile to nearby Madura or Lombok, and they preferred to kill themselves (puputan) in prison two days later. [4] [6] Their palace was plundered and razed by the Dutch. [6]
Another puputan occurred on the 18th of April, 1908, at Klungkung Palace.
The intervention was triggered by a Balinese revolt against a Dutch attempt to impose an opium monopoly in their favour. [7] The Raja of Karangasem opposed the monopoly, leading to Balinese riots in the capital of Klungkung. [8] Riots also erupted in Gelgel, when the Balinese killed a Javanese opium dealer. [8] The Dutch sent troops to quell the riots. In Gelgel, they killed 100 Balinese, forcing the Raja to flee to Klungkung. [8] The Dutch then bombarded the city of Klungkung.
In a final confrontation on 18 April 1908, Dewa Agung Jambe, the Raja of Klungung, accompanied by 200 followers, made a desperate sortie out of his Palace, clad in white and armed with a legendary kris supposed to wreak havoc on the enemy according to a prophecy. [7] The kris failed to fulfill the desired outcome, and the Raja was instead shot by a Dutch bullet. [8] Immediately, the six wives of the king resorted to puputan, killing themselves with their kris, soon followed by the other Balinese in the procession. [8]
The Battle of Margarana (Indonesian : Puputan Margarana) was a battle fought between the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) and the recently created, rebelling Ciung Wanara Battalion that occurred in Marga in Bali, Indonesia.
Raja is a royal Sanskrit title that was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The title was used by Indian sovereign monarchs, vassal rulers and highest ranking nobles.
Denpasar is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. Denpasar is the main gateway to the Bali island, the city is also a hub for other cities in the Lesser Sunda Islands.
Klungkung Regency is the smallest regency (kabupaten) in the island province of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 315 km2 and had a population at the 2010 Census of 170,543 which increased to 206,925 at the Census of 2020; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 214,012. The administrative centre for the regency is in the town of Semarapura.
The Klungkung Palace, officially Puri Agung Semarapura, is a historical building complex situated in Semarapura, the capital of the Klungkung Regency (kabupaten) on Bali, Indonesia.
Gelgel is a village (desa) in the regency (kabupaten) of Klungkung, on Bali, Indonesia. The village, near the coast four kilometers south of the regency capital Semarapura, contains some structures of cultural interest and is known for its pottery and handwoven ceremonial songket cloth.
Dewa Agung or Deva Agung was the title of the kings of Klungkung, the foremost in rank among the nine kingdoms of Bali, Indonesia. It was also borne by other high-ranking members of the dynasty. The term Dewa means "god" and was also a general title for members of the Ksatria caste. Agung translates as "high" or "great". Literally, the title therefore means Great God.
The Dutch conquest of Klungkung, Bali in 1908 marked the final phase of Dutch colonial control over the island of Bali in Indonesia. It was the seventh and last military intervention in Bali, following the Dutch invasion of South (1906).
The Dutch conquest of South Bali in 1906 was a Dutch military intervention in Bali as part of the Dutch colonial conquest of the Indonesian islands, killing an estimated 1,000 people. It was part of the final takeover of the Netherlands East-Indies and the fifth Dutch military intervention in Bali. The campaign led to the deaths of the Balinese rulers of Badung and Tabanan kingdoms, their wives and children and followers. This conquest weakened the remaining independent kingdoms of Klungkung and Bangli, leading to their invasion two years later.
The History of Bali covers a period from the Paleolithic to the present, and is characterized by migrations of people and cultures from other parts of Asia. In the 16th century, the history of Bali started to be marked by Western influence with the arrival of Europeans, to become, after a long and difficult colonial period under the Dutch, an example of the preservation of traditional cultures and a key tourist destination.
The Dutch intervention in Bali in 1849 was a major Dutch military intervention in Northern and Southern Bali, following two failed interventions, the 1846 intervention and the 1848 intervention. The Dutch used as a pretext Balinese salvage claims over shipwrecks, which were customary to the Balinese, but unacceptable under International law.
The Dutch intervention in Lombok and Karangasem took place in 1894, and is part of the string of Dutch interventions in and around Bali that led to complete colonization of both Bali and Lombok by the early 20th century.
Badung is a regency of Bali, Indonesia. Its regency seat is in the upland town of Mangupura. It covers districts to the west of the provincial capital of Denpasar, and it has a land area of 418.52 km2.
Karangasem Regency is a regency (kabupaten) of the island and province of Bali, Indonesia. It covers the east part of Bali, has an area of 839.54 km2 and had a population of 396,487 at the 2010 Census which rose to 492,402 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 511,300. Its regency seat is the town of Amlapura. Karangasem was devastated when Mount Agung erupted in 1963, killing 1,900 people. Karangasem was a kingdom before Bali was conquered by the Dutch.
The Kingdomship of Bali was a series of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms that once ruled some parts of the volcanic island of Bali, Lombok in Lesser Sunda Islands and Java, 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.
I Gusti Ngurah Madé Agung was the king of Badung Kingdom, Bali who died in battle during the Dutch intervention in Bali (1906). He was declared a National Hero of Indonesia by President Joko Widodo in 2015.
The Badung Kingdom was one part of Kingdomship of Bali in the southern part of Bali Island. The center of government of the Badung Kingdom was at Puri Agung Denpasar until finally the Dutch troops defeated the Badung Kingdom through the Puputan Badung War in 1906 and Badung became colony of Dutch Empire in the Dutch East Indies as part of the Bali and Lombok Residency.
Bali and Lombok Residency was an administrative subdivision (residency) of Dutch East Indies as part of Great East after the complete Dutch conquest of the Bangli and Klungkung kingdom in 1908. This residency located in western half of Lesser Sunda Islands east of Sumbawa and Eastern Java. This residency covers Bali, Lombok and surrounding small islands including Gili Islands and Nusa Penida.The capital is Singaradja.
The Karangasem Kingdom is one part of the Kingdomship of Bali that found in 1600 to 1849 on the eastern part of Bali Island. This kingdom was founded by Gusti Nyoman Karang by conquering the eastern part of Bali which was called Karang Semadi. During its peak, Karangasem had a vast territory up to the island of Lombok and finally succeeded in conquering the entire island in 1839. After losing the war with the Netherlands in 1894, Karangasem came under the control of the Dutch East Indies government and become part of Great East in Bali and Lombok Residency.
The island of Lombok became an annexed territory of the Karangasem Kingdom of Bali in 1839. when a Sasak nobility, Arya Banjar Getes asked Karangasem to attack the Selaparang Kingdom of Lombok in 1674. From that a rich Balinese court, culture, language and music developed in Lombok. Karangasem ruled Lombok for almost 2 centuries before the Dutch intervention in Lombok and Karangasem.