Just a different story: On September 14, 1906, an overwhelming Dutch force landed at Sanur beach in Bali; there was no significant resistance and the force marched to Denpasar, as if in a dress parade. They passed through a seemingly deserted town and approached the royal palace, noting smoke rising from the puri and, most disquietingly, they heard a wild beating of drums coming from within the palace walls. Upon reaching the palace, a silent procession emerged, led by the Raja, borne by four bearers on a palanquin. The Raja was dressed in traditional white cremation garments, wore magnificent jewelry, and was armed with a ceremonial kris. The other people in the procession consisted of the Rajas officials, guards, priests, wives, children and retainers, all of whom were similarly attired. 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 the Rajas breast. The rest of the procession began killing themselves and others. A stray gunshot and an attack by lance and spear prompted the Dutch to open fire with rifles and artillery. Women mockingly threw jewelry and gold coins at the troops. As more people emerged from the palace, the mounds of corpses rose higher and higher. Approximately 1,000 Balinese died. The soldiers stripped the corpses of the valuables and sacked the ruins of the burned palace. The Dutch intervention in 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 intervention in Bali (1906). The intervention was triggered by a Balinese revolt against a Dutch attempt to impose an opium monopoly in their favour. The raja of Karangasem opposed the monopoly, leading to Balinese riots in the capital of Klungkung. Riots also erupted in Gelgel, when the Balinese killed a Javanese opium dealer. The Dutch sent troops to quell the riots. In Gelgel, they killed 100 Balinese, forcing the Raja to flee to Klungkung. 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. The kris failed to fulfill the desired outcome, and the Raja was instead shot by a Dutch bullet. Immediately, the six wives of the king resorted to ceremonial suicides, or puputan, killing themselves with their own kris, soon followed by the other Balinese in the procession. The Dutch burned the Royal Palace to the ground. As Klungkung came under Dutch power, the Raja of Bangli submitted and in October 1908 negotiated for a Dutch protectorate similar to that of Gianyar and Karangasem. These events ended Balinese resistance to the Dutch.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 09:50:39 +0000
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