Bali: a nation of warriors

Read in the tourist guide:

the Mengwi kingdom survived until 1891, when it was conquered by the neighbouring kingdoms of Tabanan and Badung.

I didn't think much of it: the history of Bali is a history of warriors, where kingdoms fight with each other and conquer and are conquered. Pretty much like the Middle Ages in Europe.

But history unveiled itself a bit today: we visited the prince (he can no longer be called "king" obviously) of Tabanan, who resides in Kerambitan. A really lovely man, aged 84, witty and sharp.

We visited the public space of his compound, and he called us in, he wanted to chat with us. We accepted the invitation.

After the usual introductory chat, we reached the topic of the fight between his kingdom and the kingdom of Mengwi. He told us why this fight started: the kingdom of Mengwi refused the inhabitants of the kingdom of Tabanan to travel over their land to reach Denpasar. So every person from Tabanan who wanted to go to Denpasar was forced to go by sea, at that time a dangerous enterprise, with small canoes on an often wild sea. He recalled that his (great?)grandfather one day came in trouble on sea, and was rescued by the VOC of the dutch.
Anyway, because of the passage to Denpasar, the war between the kingdoms started, and ended with a defeat of the King of Mengwi and a free passage for all over land to Denpasar!

We felt so privileged to receive that information from the first hand, although some generations after the facts. Until now we haven't experienced the warrior nature of the Balinese, only their soft and gentle and welcoming aspects. I wonder when we'll witness a fight here!
.