Bali Travel News

To the outside world, as to later Balinese writers, the period following Gelgel’s Golden Age was one of chaos — in which fractious kings ruled from courts scattered about the island. This was not necessarily so in contemporary Balinese terms, where the new states must have represented a more dynamic way of conducting the affairs of state and external trade. Bali became famous on the international scene at this time as a source of slaves, savage fighters, beautiful women and skilled craftsmen.

According to traditional accounts, the fate and status of present-day Balinese families was also largely determined at this time. Kingdoms rose and fell with alarming rapidity, clans split and were demoted or even enslaved, aspiring princes waged war and organized lavish ceremonies. Such human dramas were punctuated by a series of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, epidemics and volcanic eruptions.

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Most Balinese trace their ancestry back to a group of courtiers clustering about the great King Baturenggong, a descendant of Kapakisan, who is seen to have presided over a Balinese “Golden Age” in the 16th century. Balinese accounts describe him as: “A king of great authority, a true lion of a man, who was wise in protecting his subjects and attending to their needs, and an outstanding warrior of great mystical power, always victorious in war.” European records do not mention him by name, but attest to the wealth and influence of a Balinese kingdom which at this time had a more centralized and unified system of government than was the case in subsequent centuries.

Of equal if not greater importance in the collective Balinese memory of this era is the super-priest Nirartha. He is remembere& for his great spiritual powers — a man who could stop floods, control the energies of sexuality through meditation, and write beautiful poetry to move mens’ souls. In the genealogies it was he who founded the main line of Balinese high priests — those whose worship is directed to Siwa, Lord of the Gods. His name is associated with many of Bali’s greatest temples, and a corpus of literature produced by himself and his followers.

In Balinese eyes, the descendants of King Baturenggong and Nirartha presided over a period of decline, even though Baturenggong’s son, Seganing, upheld some of his father’s greatness and, after the texts, fathered the ancestors of Bali’s key royal lines. Balinese sources tell of the destruction of Gelgel by a rebellious chief minister, Gusti Agung Maruti, who was distinguished by possessing a tail and an overweaning thirst for power. After his defeat by princes who established themselves in the north and south of the island, new independent kingdoms arose from the ashes of Gelgel. The Gelgel dynasty itself survived, albeit in a much reduced state, as the kingdom of Klungkung — maintaining some of its moral and symbolic authority over the rest of the island, but having direct control of only its immediate area.