Warring Societies of Pre-colonial Southeast Asiatherefore came before the real political decline of Mataram (1670s) and
Makassar (1667–69), at a time when these entities could still pose a
threat. As was common in insular Southeast Asia, shared ethnicity was
insufficient to bring about lasting political unity, even in the face of exter-
nal pressure.^42 While the heir to Gelgel’s political position, Klungkung,
still had a position of island-wide precedence after 1686, this had lim-
ited consequences for the continuous state of internal warfare. We are
reminded of other ritually laden kingships in the Archipelago, such as
Pagaruyung on Sumatra and Sonba’i on Timor, which were “kingdoms
of words” without substantial means to wield power.
Whatever the immediate reasons for the break-up after 1651, the ex-
panding influence of the VOC in the Archipelago decreased the external
threats to Bali, and thence possibly the incentives to regain political unity.
The political division on Bali was to be permanent and nine domains were
formed in the period up to c. 1800. These were Klungkung, Buleleng,
Badung, Sukawati/Gianyar, Tabanan, Tamanbali/Bangli, Mengwi,
Karangasem, and Jembrana.^43 They were all governed by Ksatria^44 clans
that claimed descent from the Gelgel kings or their ministers and tried
to emulate old Javanese-Balinese models of kingship. The status of the
kingdoms was unstable; one domain might be attacked and subjugated
by a neighbour, later to regain its autonomy or be taken over by a third
domain. The almost perennial state of warfare generated extensive slav-
ing. Substantial numbers of slaves were exported outside Bali even before
1651 but humans now became a major trading commodity, not least
bolstering commercial relations between Bali and the Dutch possessions
on Java. An increasing number of slaves lived and worked in the Javanese
coastal towns in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, being used for
household duties and various other tasks.^45 It is estimated that a thou-
- David Henley, Jealousy and Justice: The Indigenous Roots of Colonial Rule in Northern
Sulawesi (Amsterdam: VU Uitgeverij, 2002). - Sukawati waned as an autonomous realm towards the end of the eighteenth
century and was replaced by Gianyar; in a similar way, Tamanbali was replaced by
Bangli around 1800. - Some of them were later counted as Wesia, cf. Bloemen Waanders, “Aanteekeningen
Omtrent de Zeden en Gebruiken der Balinezen, Inzonderheid die van Boeleleng”,
107. - Luc Nagtegaal, Riding the Dutch Tiger: The Dutch East Indies Company and the
Northeast Coast of Java, 1680–1743 (Leiden: KITLV Press, 1996): 95.