Bali History

The island of Bali was first settled around 2,000 BC by people migrating from Taiwan through
Maritime Southeast Asia. Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian and Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, beginning around the 1st century AD as people from those regions began to settle the area.

The first European contact with Bali was by the Dutch in 1597. Dutch colonial control expanded across the Indonesian archipelago in the nineteenth century and their political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island’s south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control. The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults during the first decade of the 20th century. However, they were never able to subdue the population and the Dutch governors had little influence and most local control over the religion and culture remained intact.

Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II during which time a Balinese military
officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese ‘freedom army’. Following Japan’s Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch promptly returned to Indonesia, including Bali, to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out. In 1946, the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly-proclaimed Republic of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarn. Bali was included in the Republic when the Netherlands recognized Indonesian independence on December 29th, 1949.

Bali has since become a major tourist destination as Indonesia has grown and become more integrated into the world. Every year, thousands of tourists come to enjoy the fun and sun that is Bali.

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