Balinese puri in historical perspective : the role of Puri Satria and Puri Pamacutan in social and political changes in Badung, South Bali, 1906-1950

Abstract

Balinese puris are the residences of the traditional ruling elite of Bali, the ksatria. The puris provided the rajas and the lesser political leaders in Bali until the challenge to Satria hegemony posed by Dutch colonialism. In Badung (South Bali), Dutch ascendancy was marked by the massacre known as the puputan Badung, in 1906, which wiped out most of the royal families of puri Denpasar and puri Pamacutan. After the puputan, puri Denpasar and Pamacutan were replaced by puri Satria and puri Kanginan-Pamacutan respectively. Very few studies have been made of the Balinese puris in Badung, after the fall of puri Denpasar and Pamacutan so that the people of Badung themselves do not clearly understand the political role of these puris. This thesis is an attempt to study the rivalry between the resurgent puri Satria and its main local antagonist, puri Pamacutan. The latter co-operated with the Dutch colonial authority, while the survivors of the Badung massacre rebuilt puri Satria as a centre of opposition to the Dutch. The time frame (1906-1950) for this research reflects a period of turmoil and change in Bali, from the Dutch invasion (of South Bali), to the Japanese occupation, through the struggle for independence and the incorporation of Bali into the East Indonesian State to the eventual union with the Republic of Indonesia. The major topic of interest will be the strongly contrasting roles played by the traditional leadership of the two puris in the maintenance of political hegemony through the first half of the twentieth century