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A Guide to Bali History

Bali is a beautiful island that is in harmony with nature. It is also known worldwide for having a unique colorful spiritual culture. Inherent in the fascinating culture are its many rituals and practices which originated thousands of years ago, and till today they have survived. Such is the endurance of Balinese culture, which in turn reflects on the deep faith and resilience of the Balinese people.
Bali’s history remained vague for the first few centuries, though many Hindu artifacts have been found, which lead back to the first century, indicating a tie with that religion.  Though it is strongly held that the first primary religion of Bali, discovered as far back as 500 AD, was Buddhism.  Additionally, Yi-Tsing, a Chinese scholar who visited Bali in the year 670 AD stated that he had visited this place and seen Buddhism there.
• 1019-1042
Hindu influence
Hindu Java began to spread its influence into Bali during the reign of King Airlangga, from 1019 to 1042. At the age of 16.

• 1284-1292
After Airlangga’s death, Bali retained its semi-independent status until Kertanagara became king of the Singasari dynasty in Java two centuries later. Kertanagara conquered Bali in 1284, but his power lasted only eight years until he was murdered and his kingdom collapsed.

• 1343
In 1343 Gajah Mada, the legendary chief minister of the Majapahit dynasty, defeated the Pejeng king Dalem Bedaulu and brought Bali back under Javanese influence.

• Late 14th Century-16th Century
Here the ‘capital’ moved to Gelgel, near modern-day Semarapura (once known as Klungkung), around the late 14th century, and for the next two centuries this was the base for the ‘king of Bali’, the Dewa Agung.The Majapahit kingdom collapsed into disputing sultanates. As the Majapahit kingdom fell apart, many of its intelligentsia moved to Bali, including the priest Nirartha, who is credit¬ed with introducing many of the complexities of Balinese religion to the island. Artists, dancers, musicians and actors also fled to Bali at this time, and the island experienced an explosion of cultural activities. The final great exodus to Bali took place in 1478.

• 1597
European Contact
The first Europeans to set foot in Bali were Dutch seafarers in 1597. When they returned to Indonesia in later years, they were interested in profit, not culture, and barely gave Bali a second glance.

• 1846–1949 Period
Fight Against the Dutch
In 1846 the Dutch used Balinese salvage claims over shipwrecks as the pretext to land military forces in northern Bali. In 1894 the Dutch chose to support the Sasaks of Lombok in a rebellion against their Balinese rajah.
That era constituted with the period of fighting against the Dutch in Bali. Those years were marked by the out break of various wars in Bali. When the Dutch won all the battles and the Klungkung kingdom fell down into their hands, this meant that Bali as a whole was under the foreign influence.

• 1906
On 20 September 1906, the Dutch mounted a naval bombardment of Denpasar and then commenced their final assault. The three rajahs of Badung (southern Bali) realised that they were outnumbered and outgunned, and that defeat was inevit¬able. Surrender and exile.Bali was now under Dutch control and became part of the Dutch East Indies. Dutch rule over Bali was short-lived, however, as Indonesia fell to the Japanese in WWII.

The sense of Indonesian nationalism began to grow after the World War I, with the young generation declaring the national language in 1928, known as Bahasa Indonesia. During the height of World War II the Japanese arrived, expelling the Dutch and ruled the country for about 3.5 years, which ended later in 1945 when Indonesia declared independent led by its very first president, Sukarno. Yet the new-born nation was only recognized by the international community as an independent country in 1949.

• Modern Bali
The tourism boom started in the early 1970s and has brought many changes. It has helped pay for improvements in roads, telecommunications, education and health. Though tourism has had some marked adverse environmental and social effects, Bali’s unique culture has proved to be remarkably resilient.

Bali, like most places, has also been affected by global politics. The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack was the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia, killing 202 people with a further 209 people injured.
The island’s vital tourist industry was dealt a severe blow. It had mostly recovered by 2005 when in October of that year , a series of terrorist suicide bomb attacks that occurred. The bombs exploded at two sites in Jimbaran and Kuta, both in south Bali. Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.

The Bali government tourism office says the number of visitors dropped following the October bombings.  Normally, 5,000 to 6,000 tourists visit the island each day.  Now it is only about 2,000.  It is a big blow for a community that relies heavily on tourism.  Bali was just recovering from the 2002 bombings, with a record-breaking number of tourists in 2004. 
The tourism industry in Bali is making every effort to ensure safety.  Security checks and extra officers are now standard operating procedure at malls and hotels.  The tourists are slowly coming back to Bali .Inbound tourism to Bali is rebounding strongly, with a record-high 472,000 foreign visitors for the first four months of 2007.Australians, who make up more than 15 percent of the total foreign tourist arrivals in Bali, are flocking to one of their favorite destinations.