Expansion and Internalization of Modes of Warfare in Pre-colonial Balisought the friendship of the Company.^56 A late and unrelated attempt on
Balambangan was undertaken by the northern kingdom of Buleleng in
1814, during the British interregnum in Java, but was resolutely halted
by sepoy troops.^57
Karangasem expansion towards the east took place through most
of the eighteenth century. After the disappearance of the Selaparang
Kingdom in East Lombok about 1748, Balinese war bands began to
traverse the Alas Strait to Sumbawa in the 1750s. One of the reasons
for the raids was apparently revenge on Sumbawan help to Sasak rebels,
but there were also explicit plans to subjugate territory. The sultanate in
West Sumbawa (Sumbawa Proper) had few resources to spend, and the
west coast of the island consisted of largely autonomous domains (Alas,
Taliwang, Setelok, Seran). The Balinese incursion was a rash step since
the Sultan of Sumbawa had a contract with the VOC, albeit of a rather
tenuous nature. The warfare on Sumbawa was at its height in 1763–66
and consisted of plundering and sieges that did not achieve lasting re-
sults. The Balinese and Sasak war chiefs under Karangasem attempted
to win ground by shifting alliances, which included both Sumbawans
and the Dutch. This is an intricate story that cannot be recounted here.
However, it falls into the line of improvised and flexible strategy that
marks earlier Karangasem penetration in East Bali and Lombok. It also
bears witness of growing dissent within the Karangasem ranks. Some
war chiefs of Sasak or mixed ethnicity offered to switch sides to the
VOC and even expel the might of Karangasem from Lombok. Certain
Company officials eagerly endorsed this as part of the strategy to keep
the British away from these islands.^58 Immediately after the Sumbawan
adventure, in 1766, a Dutch report alleged that there were advanced
plans for a Karangasem invasion of Balambangan in the near future, and
even hinted at possibilities of British assistance to the Balinese, although
this is not really substantiated by British documents. This added to the
apprehension of the Company.^59 Since VOC power was on the wane
- NA, VOC 3277, Report from Semarang to Batavia, 1769, fols. 53–56.
- C. Lekkerkerker, “Bali 1800–1814”, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 82
(1926): 337–38. - Bijvanck, “Onze Betrekkingen tot Lombok”, 149–57
- NA, VOC 3186, Secret letters from Semarang to Batavia, 1766, fols. 394, 447. Thus
the Karangasem designs on Blambangan occurred right after its abortive campaign