Expansion and Internalization of Modes of Warfare in Pre-colonial BaliBalinese immigrants of the second generation, thus around 1700, cre-
ated a system of canals that could support an intensive rice-producing
society. Especially interesting is that migration streams went in both
directions.^50 Numbers of Muslim Sasaks were forcibly brought over to
Karangasem and settled in villages around the court of the raja where
they had a protective function.^51 Extant tradition suggests that this took
place in the first half of the eighteenth century. There were therefore
integrative aspects in the process of conquest, and this is underlined by
a certain ethnic flexibility.
Despite the Balinese caste system and formal Muslim restrictions,
intermarriage seems to have taken place among the highest aristocracies
(although it was covered up in later historiography). Sasaks of princely
blood occasionally served as military commanders and even referred to
themselves as “Balinese” in their communication with the Dutch.^52 The
obvious religious differences between Balinese and Sasaks were prob-
ably less important than pre-Islamic concepts of power and kingship.
At the same time, there were clearly disruptive effects of the conquest.
Taxation was heavily felt from the start, and rebellions were common.^53
Islamic sentiment was used by rebels who applied for help from such
diverse places as Banten, Makassar and Sumbawa. Local traditions speak
of demographic disruption with abandonment of villages and reset-
tlement.^54 Still, Karangasem rule on Lombok managed to last for more
than two centuries, and was only abrogated by the full military power of
the colonial state in 1894.
Halted expansion and subsequent contractionThe second phase of expansion lasted less than a century. The contain-
ment of Balinese activity was due to the dispositions of the VOC. Since
the inception of Balinese–Dutch contacts in 1597, political relations
were usually good. The Company had a vital interest in acquiring slaves
- Pambencangah Dane Poleng, Coll. V.E. Korn, Or. 435: 285, KITLV Archive.
- Anak Agung Gde Putra Agung, Peralihan sistem birokrasi dari tradisional ke kolonial
(Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2001): 104–05 - Bijvanck, “Onze Betrekkingen tot Lombok”, 137.
- NA, VOC 1783, Letter from the King of Banten to Batavia, 1710, fols. 137–38;
Hägerdal, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects, 124–25. - Hägerdal, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects, 119–21.