Introduction
On May 14 1700, an unusual flurry of activity took place in the fishing village of Palaba, far south on Lombok's east coast. Two groups of people prepared to meet, each with its own intentions and expectations regarding the outcome. Neither of these groups were indigenous to this fertile island; they spoke different languages and prayed to different gods, but otherwise they were not unlike each other. For sure, they had one thing in common: their quest for wealth and power at the expense of the natives of the island. On one side were grouped a few hundred Makassarese, the people who in their better days formed the core of the glorious maritime kingdom of Gowa, better known as Makassar. From its core area in South Sulawesi, Makassar had in days long gone by sent its fleets of padewakang ships to distant lands, also giving protection to Lombok. That this now lay far back in time was due to the triumph of the doctrine of Mammon, thirty three years ago, in the form of the Dutch East Indies Company. Their maritime realm de-stroyed and their trade curtailed, the brave seafarers of Makassar found themselves in search of new means to assemble wealth. And so, due to a complicated web of circumstances, this group of seaborne rovers had erected their camp in Palaba. These were battle-hardened men who had gone through much suffer-ing; hard-hearted fellows who had let others suffer more. Their leader was a 59-years old nobleman called Karaeng Jarannika Abdul Gafar, with a stormy background as a military commander and a lawless pirate. The latter pursuit did not necessarily make him a villain in the eyes of his con-temporaries, as piracy could be seen as a pretty honorable job. At his side was a sly old fox called Karaeng Pamolikang, a prince of the blood who had fought for the last decades in various local conflicts on the islands. As a white-blooded prince - in South Sulawesi nobles were not blue-blooded-he had been able to secure a princess as his bride, a cousin of the local Lombok raja and therefore no mean trumpcard. In spite of their probable ragged appearance, the group included several men of high birth, closely related to the king of Gowa. On this day the 14th of May, they were having a lively discussion about an invitation submitted by the other group encamped at Palaba, men from the island of Bali. Their leader was a Ksatria, a member of the aristocratic warrior caste. Of no less high birth than the Makassarese nobles, he was included as the offspring of ancient dynasts of Hindu Java, but his place of birth lay closer than that. The bulk of the Balinese assembled on this day came from Karangasem, a mountainous micro-state in easternmost Bali that had risen to prominence a few decades earlier. Less than a decade before, the Gusti or lord of Karangasem had led his followers, armed with lances, krises and blowpipes, through the forests separating western Lombok from the eastern part of the island. With fire and sword he had established his might as far as the shores of the Allas Strait, from where one could gaze at the mountainous contours of Sumbawa. All this may not have overly concerned the Makassarese. What they did care about was the invitation to a feast with tournament that the Balinese were to arrange, and where the brave-hearts from Sulawesi were to be the honored guests. As victims of an adverse fate they had been cast ashore in this foreign land, seeking the help and comfort of the Balinese. But was it wise to accept? Karaeng Bontokeke, the son of Jarannika, beseeched his father not to go, and Pamolikang, who may have received inside informa-tion from his wife, agreed not to go.
About The Book
Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Lombok and Bali in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries discusses a fascinating historical episode, the establishing of Balinese Hindu rule over the predominantly Muslim population of Lombok, concentrating on the years 1700-1748. Materials covering this period are re-examined and further interesting information provided as to what happened at the time, seen in a regional context, including ethnic and religious relationships, besides the cultural basis for legitimacy of leadership. The broader aspect of how a Hindu minority was able to rule a Muslim majority is of special interest, also in respect of its outcome. Deteriorating ethnic relationships in one part of the island led to a rebellion in 1891, thus paving the way for Dutch colonial conquest in 1894: the disruption caused by the arrival of the Dutch East Indian Company in the area in the late 1600s having played a role in setting the stage of the events here described. Another example of Hindu rulers governing a mainly Muslim population can be found in Kashmir.
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