Contexts - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 449

In the following centuries, control of Bali was won by the Javanese and then wrested back
by Balinese rulers. By 1300 Bali was being ruled domestically, by King Bedaulu , based in
the Pejeng district east of Ubud.
Little is known of Lombok's ancient history, although it is known that the kingdom of
Selaparang controlled an area in the east of the island for a period.
The Majapahit
One of the most significant dates in Balinese history is 1343 AD, when the island was col-
onized by Gajah Mada , prime minister of the powerful Hindu Majapahit kingdom of East
Java. Establishing a court initially at Samprangan in eastern Bali and later moving to Gelgel,
he introduced a caste system and Balinese who did not accept this established their own vil-
lages. Their descendants, known as the Bali Aga or Bali Mula, the “original Balinese”, still
adhere to ancient traditions and live in separate villages, such as Tenganan near Candidasa
and Trunyan on the shores of Danau Batur.
Throughout the fifteenth century, Islam gained influence on Java and when the Majapahit
fell in 1515, many of its Hindu followers - priests, craftsmen, soldiers, nobles and artists -
fled to Bali, flooding the island with Javanese cultural ideas and reaffirming Hindu prac-
tices.
It is unclear why Islam did not spread to Bali, especially as it moved further east to Lombok,
Sulawesi and Maluku. It could be that Islam spread along trade routes: with poor harbours
and few resources, Bali was largely bypassed (although there are small Muslim communities
on the island).
An ancient text detailing the history of the Majapahit dynasty lists Lombok as part of its
empire, and the villages in the Sembalun valley on the eastern flanks of Gunung Rinjani con-
sider themselves directly descended from the Majapahit dynasty, claiming the brother of a
Majapahit raja is buried in the valley.
Bali's Golden Age
During the reign of Batu Renggong , who became king, or dewa agung (literally “great god”)
in 1550 the Gelgel kingdom ruled an empire from Blambangan in Java in the west to Sum-
bawa in the east. This period coincided with a cultural renaissance in Bali and, as a result, is
often referred to as the Golden Age . The Javanese Hindu priest Nirartha achieved a great
following on Bali at this time.
Eventually, the glory faded and other kingdoms within Bali rose to prominence, most not-
ably Gianyar under Dewa Manggis Kuning in the seventeenth century.