BALI GUIDE

BALI HISTORY

A second military expedition against Bali was thus mounted in 1848. This time the Dutch sent even more men and ships. But the Balinese, boldly and briliantly led by Jelantik, had installed 25 cannons and mustered 16,000 men, 1500 equipped with firearms. They fought off three attacks inflicting severe casualties upon the Dutch, who retreated to plan and prepare an even more forceful assault.

The third expedition arrived off Buleleng in March 1849. This time the fleet numbered over 100 vessels, heavily armed frigates, steamships, schooners and scores of large and small auxiliary craft and manned by 3,000 sailors and 5,000 landing troops (basakih). They marched into Buleleng and Singaraja, where the Dutch general set up his headquarters in the king's palace (tanah lot bali).

The final showdown occured in April 4th, 1848. The Dutch deployed their their troops in full dress uniform. The Balinese troops were dressed in their most splendid costumes, as if prepared not for battle but for the "Baris" warrior dance (mother temple). They carried themselves haughtily, struck theatrical stances, and fingered their weapons suggestively. The King and Jelantik were especially magnificent in brilliant red sarongs, nattily gathered up to display short tight trousers, below and above which gleamed bare, bronze sking. Their waists were nipped in by golden girdles. The the back, each displayed a huge jeweled kris, the ornate handles extending above shoulder height for quick dramatic draw. Their thick, flowing black hair was bound why white headclothes ["Udeng"], in which the King wore a green sprig and Jelantik wore and crimson flower.

The encounter, which started as a triumph of Dutch and Balinese showmanship, deteriorated into a miserable failure of statesmanship. It ended without a fight or an agreement. Several weeks later, the Dutch attacked the Balinese fortifications at Jagaraga (balinese statue). They suffered 33 dead and 148 wounded. The Balinese lost thousands. Among the casualties was the wife of Jelantik and a party of high-born ladies whom she led in the rite of the "Puputan" [fight to death], advancing in a state of near trance directly into the line of Dutch fire in a deliberation act of self-destruction.