BALI GUIDE

BALI HISTORY

The colonial administration in Bali remained centered in the port town of Buleleng and the adjoining royal capital of Singaraja. The first resident Dutch official was Herr P.L. van Bloeman Waanders, who like certain of his successors, was to become a serious and sympathetic student of Balinese life and customs. After the difficulties of the first few years were overcome and the Dutch and Balinise had made certain basic accommodations to each other, at least to a certain less humiliated point for the Balinese, the latter part of the 19th century (art of bali) was relatively peaceful and saw progressing rectifications for the northern states. But continuing strifes between the warring fractions in the states of the south resulted in several more Dutch military campaigns.

Meanwhile, the Dutch under van Bloeman Waanders and his successor announced strict new regulations against slavery and undertook a so-called program to "improve" economic conditions. They encouraged extension of the irrigation system to improve the rice harvest, the planting of coffee as a cash crop, and by 1875 (bali painting), northern Bali was already a distinctly profitable colonial enterprise. The ever increasing contact between Buleleng and the outside world resulted in an attempt to introduce Christian missions. But they met with little success. The colonial successes and failures produced a policy of benevolent paternalism, which resulted in Bali in a relatively enlightened administration. Still, the darkest days of the Dutch colonial penetration lie ahead.

The first Dutch military expedition against Bali in 1846 seemed a formidable enough force to cope with any native impudence. The invasion fleet consisted of 58 vessels and nearly 3000 men, well-armed and equipped. The force anchored off Buleleng on June 22 and the Dutch sent ultimatums to the kings ashore. The kings ignored them and the Dutch attack began six days later. The Balinese put up a strong defense (bali temple) under the guiding hand of Jelantik, but the Dutch nevertheless won a swift victory, losing only 18 dead, while the Balinese suffered severe losses of life and property. The Dutch victory was empty, however, unless they could enforce their will upon the kings who were firmly entrenched in the nearby hills. A flamboyant Danish trader who had set up a profitable enterprise in Kuta, Mads Lange, stepped into the stalemate. He helped negotiate a truce. But the Balinese kings, led by Jelantik, failed to deliver on promises to pay reparations and to provision a Dutch garrison on the island (balinese temples).