How Bali lost Lombok, and the role of the Dutch in the destruction of the rich Balinese culture.

(picture: birdeye Bali)

About 4,600 square kilometers in area, Lombok is a volcanic island with mountain ranges in the north and south. In consequence of this topography, Lombok's population, since time immemorial, has been concentrated in the valley in the center of the island, which runs from west to east.

Lombok's indigenous people are the Sasaks, a Malay subgroup that has been under the influence of Islam since the sixteenth century. Islam penetrated the island unevenly, so by the nineteenth century, some of the Sasaks professed an orthodox version of the faith, whereas others, especially in West Lombok, practiced a form of Islam infused with animistic beliefs and rituals. Apart from the Sasaks, Lombok has long had minorities of Balinese and Buginese.

The Balinese in particular have played an important role in the island's history. Having settled in West Lombok in the early seventeenth century, the Balinese community remained politically fragmented until well into the nineteenth century, divided as it was into a number of descent-groups that were frequently at war with each other. In 1839, however, these con­flicts came to an end when one of the descent-groups, the Mataram group, asserted its power over all its rivals, whereupon it brought the en­tire island, including its majority Sasak popula­tion, under its dominion.

Around the same time, Lombok entered into the network of  interna­tional trade as an exporter of  rice, most of which was marketed in China via Singapore. The wealth derived from this export trade in rice, much of which came to benefit Lombok's Balinese rulers, allowed for the emergence of a magnificent Balinese court culture. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, many temples and several palaces were constructed in Mataram and Cakranegara, and in the vicinity of  these urban centers, a number of  pleasure gardens were laid out, such as those at Nar­mada. Singasari, and Gunungsari. At the Bali­nese court, the arts flourished, many being in­extricably interwoven with the Bali-Hindu religion, a religion the Lombok Balinese ob­served more strictly even than their brethren in Bali across the strait. In the 1890s, however, this "golden"^. period in the island's history was brought to a violent end in consequence of the combined effects of internal Sasak rebellion and external Dutch aggression.

In 1891, the Sasaks of E. Lombok raised the banner of Islam and rose in rebellion against their Balinese overlord, meanwhile, in faraway Batavia (Jakarta), the Dutch colonial government saw in Lombok's internal strife an opportunity to incorporate the island easily into the Netherlands (Dutch) East Indies.After some initial hesitation about which side to support, Batavia decided to back the Sasak insurgents and began to use its naval power to disrupt Lombok's communications with Singapore, thereby preventing the importation by the Balinese rulers of firearms and other war materials. This pressure, however, failed to bring the Lombok Balinese to heel, whereupon the Dutch, in July 1804, decided to send a military expedition to force the issue.

Although the Lombok Balinese made no attempt to oppose the landing of the expeditionary forces when they came to realize, in August 1894, that the Dutch would be satisfied with nothing less than complete sovereignty, some of their leaders decided to resort to armed resistance. In a surprise nocturnal offensive upon the Dutch army encampments, the Balinese inflicted a heavy and unprecedented defeat on the expeditionary forces, killing or wounding more than 500 soldiers, sailors, and coolies. But though they had achieved a great victory, the attack upon the Dutch expeditionary forces was the beginning of the end for the Lombok Balinese. In subsequent weeks, the Dutch made good their losses, brought in reinforcements in men and material, and began a systematic artillery bombardment of the Balinese strongholds of Cakranegara and Mataram. By November 1894, the last pockets of resistance were crushed. Mataram and Cakranegara lay in ruins, thousands had perished, and the Balinese state, with its vibrant court culture, had ceased to exist.

Following its conquest, Lombok was integrated into the Netherlands (Dutch) East Indies. Administratively, the island came to be linked with Bali, and economically, the colonial government concentrated on promoting rice cultivation, which was very successful. During the colonial period (1894-1942), numerous large and small irrigation works were constructed, rice production increased by leaps and bounds, and the surplus available for export rose steadily. However, colonial Lombok had ceased to be an autonomous participant in international trade. That is, its rice exports no longer went to China via Singapore but were largely used to make good rice deficits in other parts of the Netherlands (Dutch) East Indies.

(extract from: Southeast Asia: a historical encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East ..., Volume 3 by Keat Gin Ooi p.790- see http://books.google.be/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA790&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false )