History of Bali

The years between 2500 to 1500 BC were years of mass migration into Southeast Asia. These prehistoric travelers, or immigrants, migrated along the river valleys and along the coastline. They would settle in places where they could fish, grow rice, and establish communities, focusing on river basins and on plains of Java and Bali. …prehistoric culture was of considerable development and, as far as theatre is concerned, its most important elements were: the cultivation of rice, the practice of animism, possession of a common fund of myths, and bronze manufacture (Brandon 1967: 9).

The cultivation of rice led to the communities having periods of leisure a couple of times a year. And, this period of leisure led to the development of theatre as entertainment. Leisure time is an essential precondition for the creation of theatre of any degree of sophistication. A performer must have leisure time in which to develop his artistic skill and an audience must have leisure to attend a performance (Brandon 1967: 9).

The harvesting of the rice also gave way to festivals celebrating it. To this day Southeast Asia performs dances, songs, and special plays honoring the rice spirit for the bountiful harvest. Which in turn leads to animism, which was the common religion of the prehistoric immigrants? Animists believe that spirits reside in everything from the grain of rice to a river. They also believe when one person acts selflessly for the good of others that the act becomes a magic ritual. Shadow figures used in Javanese wayang kulit dramas were developed out of this belief, and used to make contact with ancestors of the tribe. Spirits are often thanked by the Thai people with theatrical performances, it is not even necessary for a human audience to attend (Brandon 1967:11). These performances were crude, however, involving rudimentary movements that non-performers can learn easily.
Theatre became more sophisticated in these communities when Indian culture spread to Southeast Asia. What is interesting to note is that Indian culture didn’t spread through hostile takeover. Traders, missionaries, and scholars slowly brought it to Southeast Asia. Indian culture and knowledge was respected, as they had made achievements in art, mathematics, science, and, they were literate.

Animism also helped the spread of Indian culture. Because the animist believe that everything is spirited and that man could accumulate the spiritual power of other things and people for his own use and protection, it followed that the king, as ruler of the state, was expected to amass more spiritual power than anyone else (Brandon 1967:14). Theatre throughout Java, Bali, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos was affected for all time when Indian culture was assimilated.

Hinduism, practiced by Brahmans, provided religious basis for theatrical performances, where a king is considered a living god, usually a reincarnation of Shiva or Vishnu, who were Hindu gods. Adoration and devotion to the god-king were shown with dances, music, and acting. This belief in a god-king fit in well with animism, as both believed heavily in ancestor worship, animism and Hinduism combined to support the development of theatre art (Brandon 1967:18).

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata provided dramatic material in the Indian influenced courts of Southeast Asia. The Ramayana tells of the birth and education of Rama, a prince and the seventh incarnation of the god Vishnu, and recounts his winning of the hand of Sita in marriage. Displaced as rightful heir to his father's throne, Rama goes into exile, accompanied by Sita and by his brother Lakshmana. Sita is carried off by the demon king Ravana. With the aid of the monkey general Hanuman and an army of monkeys and bears, Rama, after a long search, slays Ravana and rescues Sita. Rama regains his throne and rules wisely. In the probable addition, Sita is accused in rumors of adultery during her captivity. Although innocent, she bears Rama's twin sons in exile, sheltered by the hermit Valmiki, said to be the author of the poem. After many years Rama and Sita are reunited.Java and Bali let the Mahabharata provide dramatic themes for early court theatre.

The Mahabharata, more complicated and four times lengthier than the Ramayana, provided the basis for hundreds of plays. The central theme of the Mahabharata is the contest between two noble families, the Pandavas and their blood relatives the Kauravas, for possession of a kingdom in northern India. The most important segment of the poem is the Bhagavad-Ghita, a dialogue between Krishna, the eighth incarnation of the god Vishnu, and the Pandava hero Arjuna on the meaning of life. It has influenced devout Hindu believers for centuries.

The Mahabharata was composed beginning about 300 BC and received numerous additions until about AD 300. It is divided into 18 books containing altogether about 200,000 lines of verse interspersed with short prose passages. The Harivansha, one of several late appendixes to the poem, discusses at length the life and genealogy of Krishna.

The rulers of Southeast Asia used these plays to their advantage.The plays dramatized the belief that a king’s power is absolute power, and his subjects are to serve and obey him. Just as the mystery plays of the Middle Ages dramatized the life of Christ and so taught illiterate peoples of Europe to believe in Christianity, the Hindu epics showed the lives of the Indian gods and of their descendants and so taught the people of Southeast Asia to believe in Hinduism (Brandon 1967: 18). Southeast Asia’s mainland let the Ramayana provide not only the basis for dramatic material, but also for dances.

Then, in 1000 AD, Sanskrit Drama stopped being performed, and its original style was lost, much like the tragedies of the Greeks. India would contribute to Southeast Asian theatre no more. India’s influences had been swallowed and digested by Southeast Asian Theatre. Although miniscule compared to India’s contributions, Chinese performing arts entered Southeast Asia by 1287.
Throughout Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia one sees Chinese musical instruments (Brandon 1967: 28).

Chinese opera had great influences on the opera of Vietnam.
The Vietnamese directly adapted Chinese operas to suit Vietnamese culture, adding Vietnamese melodies and language, but keeping Chinese models and heavy use of make-up.

Also during this period Islamic culture was introduced into Southeast Asia.
Islamic culture believes that most theatre is blasphemous, and in Indonesia and Malaya, where they settled, theatre was suppressed. They replaced Hindu based theatre with Islamic based theatre, …popular theatre troupes avidly dramatized Islamic stories, as much because they were exciting tales as because they were Islamic in content (Brandon 1967: 33).

In the next three hundred years, the Spanish, English, and Americans came to Southeast Asia bringing not only missionaries, merchants, and armed forces, but their Western cultural influence as well. The impact of the West was felt on the theatre of every country of Southeast Asia (Brandon 1967: 35). Colonial governments of the West drastically cut funding for local kings and princes, who in turn found it impossible to finance court theatre.With court theatre diminishing, Southeast Asia developed theatre troupes, which would perform in public. These troupes found an audience willing to pay for theatre. Western drama, however, found very little acceptance. Even today, Western motion pictures have more influence in Southeast Asia than its theatre.

And then, Islam conquered Java:The Javanese Singasari dynasty conquered Bali in 1284, but when it collapsed shortly afterwards.

Bali regained its autonomy and the Pejeng dynasty, centred near modern-day Ubud, rose to great power. The Pejeng king was defeated by the great Majapahit dynasty in 1343 and Bali was brought back under Javanese influence.

As Islam took hold in Java in the 15th century, the Majapahit kingdom collapsed and many of its intelligentsia moved to Bali. They included key priests who were credited with introducing many of the complexities of Balinese religion. Javanese artists, dancers and musicians also sought sanctuary in Bali, and the island experienced an explosion of cultural activity.

The first Europeans to set foot on Bali were Dutch seamen in 1597.
Setting a tradition that has prevailed to the present day, they fell in love with the island and, when the ship's captain prepared to set sail, several of his crew refused to come with him. By the early 1600s the Dutch had established trade treaties with Javanese princes and had wrestled control of the spice trade from the Portuguese.

They were, however, more interested in profit than culture and hardly gave Bali a second glance.

In the early 18th century, as local rule in Bali began to fracture, the Dutch began muscling in using the tried and tested divide-and-rule policy.

They used Balinese salvage claims over shipwrecks as a pretext to land military forces in northern Bali in 1846. Teaming up with the Sasaks of Lombok to defeat the rajahs of Bali proved a bad tactic when the Sasaks changed their minds and slaughtered the Dutch. This incensed the Dutch so much that they invaded Bali with a heavy military force and severed Bali's control of its smaller neighbour. With the north under Dutch control and ties with Lombok severed, the south of Bali was not going to remain autonomous for long. In 1904, another salvage dispute resulted in Dutch warships appearing off Sanur.

It took Dutch troops five days to reach the outskirts of Denpasar.
Surrounded by superior forces, Balinese royalty and religious leaders decided to take the honourable path of a suicidal puputan - a fight to the death - rather than surrender. First the palaces were burnt, then - dressed in their finest jewellery and waving golden daggers - the rajah led the royalty and priests out to face the Dutch and their modern weapons.

The Dutch begged the Balinese to surrender, but their pleas went unheard and wave after wave of Balinese nobility marched forward to their death. In all, nearly 4000 Balinese died.

As other local kingdoms capitulated or were defeated, the entire island came under Dutch control and became a part of the Dutch East Indies.
There was little development of exploitative plantation economy on Bali, and common people noticed very little difference between rule by the Dutch and rule by the rajahs.

Despite the long prelude to colonisation, Dutch rule over Bali was short-lived; Indonesia soon fell to the Japanese in WWII.

At the end of WWII, the Indonesian leader Sukarno proclaimed independence, but it took 4 more years to persuade the Dutch that they were not going to get their colony back.
In a virtual repeat of the puputan nearly half a century earlier, a Balinese resistance group was wiped out in the Battle of Marga in 1946.
In 1949, the Dutch finally recognised Indonesia's independence.
In 1965, an attempted coup blamed on communists led to Sukarno's downfall.

General Suharto suppressed the coup and emerged as a major political figure.

The Communist Party was outlawed and a wave of anti-communist reprisals followed.

On Bali, local communists were perceived as a threat to traditional values and the caste system because of their calls for land reform and an end to social repression. Religious traditionalists took advantage of the post-coup hysteria and led a witch hunt against communist sympathisers. Mobs rounded up suspected communists and clubbed them to death. The Chinese community was particular victimised before the army stepped in and restored order, but no-one on Bali was untouched by the killings. An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people were killed, at a time when the island's population only totalled 2 million.

Suharto established himself as president, and under his government Indonesia looked to the West for alliances and investments.
On Bali, economic growth and dramatic improvements in infrastructure were achieved by hugely expanding the tourist industry.
This also resulted in the displacement of local populations and disruption of many traditional communities.

Many Balinese feel the tourist industry is dominated by Javanese interests and that locals have too little control over its growth.