The History of Bali

According to the people, Bali Island is called a holy island, because according to its history, the journey of a holy hermit from Mount Raung, in East Java, is told. In the 17th century in his hermitage he received a revelation to move to the island of Dawa, an island which has a long meaning and indeed this island has a long area. For the purpose of the island, Rsi Markendeya asked 800 of his followers to accompany him to the island of Dawa or this long island.

The journey to Dawa Island was indeed not smooth, there were too many obstacles, they started their journey and arrived in the West of this island, but on the way, approximately three-quarters of Rsi Markendeya's followers died because along the way, the cause was that some of them ate wild animals such as tigers. and the big snake in the forest, because of the bad things that happened they decided to return to the roaring mountain. Rsi Markandeya again asked for guidance, because of this failure.

After he received instructions, and new followers, he returned to the island of Dawa. Rsi Markandeya and his followers performed a ritual to plant panca dhatu consisting of 5 types of metals to repel reinforcements at the foot of the majestic mountain which is now known as Besakih, which is now the largest temple in Bali and a source of religious ceremonial activities. It was in this place that he began to teach about religious life, residents began to worship Ida Sang Hyang Widi every 3 times a day using bebali which contained or offerings containing three elements, namely the elements of water, fire and fragrant flowers, hence the word bebali, the history of the Balinese name. taken. This is the history of Bali according to Balinese people.

But according to some historians also express opinions or opinions about ancient Bali in different versions, they say that the history of Bali, originated from Bali, was inhabited by the Austronesian people around 2000 BC who immigrated, the culture and language of the Balinese people were closely related to the people. -the archipelago of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Osenia. In historical records, stone tools dating from ancient Bali were found near the village of Cekik in the west of the island of Bali.

Ancient Balinese culture from the ancient Balinese era itself was heavily influenced by Indian and Chinese culture, especially Hindu influence. The name Bali Dwipa is also pinned on the island of Bali, as found in a number of inscriptions, one of which is the Blanjong inscription written by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 914 AD which mentions "walidwipa" so the history of the Balinese name can be found on an inscription.

The history of ancient Bali also records that the island of Bali was also controlled by the Dutch colonialists, namely in 1597, Cornelis De Houtman from the Dutch colonialists arrived in Bali with the formation of the Dutch East India Company in 1602, a place established for colonial control and two and a half centuries then when control from the Dutch was extended throughout Indonesia, Dutch political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the north coast of the island of Bali, when Bali which consisted of a number of kingdoms could easily be pitted against one another, this Dutch politics of fighting against one another able to divide so as not to believe in one another and this was used by the Dutch to strengthen their control.

The Dutch also carried out attacks against the Balinese who resisted, to maintain a sense of patriotism in a number of places, one of which was the famous puputan Margarana in Tabanan led by I Gusti Ngurah Rai. Many fell as heroes, and in that place a monument was built called the Margarana monument. The monument is to commemorate the services of heroes and at the same time as a place of worship. In the next period of history about Bali is the Japanese occupation period from 1942-1945.