Expansion and Internalization of Modes of Warfare in Pre-colonial BaliTransition to internalized warfare and the
second wave of expansionLike most Southeast Asian polities, Bali was characterized by decen-
tralization rather than administrative cohesion. A document from 1620
speaks of 33 minor “kings” who governed under the main ruler, the Raja
Dalem.^38 Indigenous babad likewise mention a number of Triwangsa
lineages who governed various parts of the island. Both VOC and
Balinese sources mention occasional rebellions by vassals during the
Gelgel period, but the central king and his two patihs (main ministers)
seem to have maintained the upper hand. The warfare with Java and
Makassar put considerable stress on the system. The sources speak of
armies of up to 20,000 men. Although probably vastly exaggerated, this
figure indicates burdensome efforts by the royal centre to maintain the
external power balance.^39 The stress that warfare put on local societies
was further exacerbated by the troublesome climate fluctuations in the
region during part of the seventeenth century, part of a global trend with
severe economic and long-lasting political consequences.^40
Dutch and Balinese sources agree that internal fighting broke out on
the island in 1651. A list of dates mentions “rundah nagara Bangsul”, the
collapse of the kingdom of Bali, in that year.^41 The indigenous date lists
laconically mention numerous intra-island clashes during the second
half of the seventeenth century. European sources confirm that new
kingdoms arose in the 1660s: Badung in the commercially vital south-
ernmost part of Bali, and Buleleng on the north coast, while a usurper
tried to maintain a position in Gelgel. The erosion of central authority
- H. T. Colenbrander & W.Ph. Coolhaas (eds), Jan Pieterszoon Coen bescheiden
omtrent zijn bedrijf in Indië (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1919-1953): VII-1, 414–15. - Lintgensz, “Bali 1597”, 211; Warna, et al. (eds), Babad Dalem. Teks dan Terjemahan,
93, 104. The figure 20,000 for some of the campaigns interestingly occurs in both
Balinese and VOC sources but nevertheless seems to be too high considering the
population figures at the time. In a Burmese context, Michael Charney has argued
that the apparently inflated military statistics found in the chronicles should be re-
garded as reflecting contemporary concerns of those in power; the statistics would
have supported or denigrated political figures and regimes according to the view
of the chronicler. Michael W. Charney, “A Reassessment of Hyperbolic Military
Statistics in Some Early Modern Burmese Texts”, Journal of the Economic and Social
History of the Orient 46.2 (2003): 211. - Lieberman, Strange Parallels, 2.864.
- Hans Hägerdal, “From Batuparang to Ayudhya”, 90.