Warring Societies of Pre-colonial Southeast Asianothing came out of the Lombok plans in the end, but the affair demon-
strates the limits of a rather loosely-structured Indonesian micro-state
with long lines of communication. It was not possible to keep a close
check on the satellites, or ensure their loyalty. While elite troops with
muskets are mentioned in Karangasem,^60 they were probably too few for
continuous supervision of outlying dependencies, and there were few
good harbours in East Bali, hence limited shipping capabilities. Apart
from a brief intervention in West Sumbawa in 1789, which was halted
by the efforts of the Dompu Sultanate in East Sumbawa, the Balinese
henceforth kept away from Sumbawa.^61
Unlike Mengwi, Karangasem was able to hold on to its established
possessions. However, this was accomplished through a shift of gravity
that in turn became a source of internal conflict. Towards the end of
the eighteenth century the senior raja of Karangasem moved his seat to
Singhasari in West Lombok. His relations to his younger brother and
co-ruler, who remained on Bali, were hostile. A relation from 1805 men-
tions Lombok as being divided between five Balinese and two minor
Sasak domains, with the east coast coming under the lord of Mataram, a
close relative of the main raja.^62 In the following year, a son of the main
Lombok raja forced his way to the throne of Karangasem on Bali. Issues
of surveillance thus favoured a move of the political centre west of the
Lombok Strait across the water, to the sizeable Balinese community
on Lombok. The following three decades witnessed an intense state of
rivalry between factions within the Karangasem complex.^63
There are at least three dimensions of this. First, the remaining Sasak
domains of Sakra and Praya were eliminated by the troops of Balinese
rajas in 1826 and 1843, respectively. Scattered European reports of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries mention deep Sasak animosity
towards the Balinese, for religious and political reasons. These remarks
clearly over-simplify the complex Balinese–Sasak relations but indi-
cate that Balinese governance had still not integrated Sasak political
in Sumbawa, suggesting a swift shift in allocating resourses, and thus a degree of
strategical planning.- Bijvanck, “Onze Betrekkingen tot Lombok”, 330.
- Hägerdal, Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects, 157.
- Lekkerkerker, “Bali 1800–1814”, 334–36.
- Vickers, “The Desiring Prince”, 337