At the time of Holland’s final conquest of Bali in 1906, the island was administered by autonomous lords and their officials. Each of its nine warring principalities-Klungkung, Karangasem, Mengwi, Badung, Bangli, Tabanan, Gianyar, Buleleng and Jembrana-was separated by sharply demarcated borders and each competed for the loyalty, support, and deference of the population.

In May 1904 the small Chinese steamer Sri Koemala was wrecked and looted off Sanur. The owners held the Dutch government directly responsible. The Dutch, in turn, demanded the raja of Badung pays damages and punish the looters. The raja, with the support of bordering states, refused. The dickering between the Dutch and the raja dragged on for two years, with the deadlock finally used as a pretense for the Dutch to throw a complete naval blockade around southern Bali.

On 15 September 1906, the Dutch anchored a large war fleet off Sanur and landed an expeditionary force of 2,000 men. Opposed on the beach at dawn the next day by Balinese attacking with golden spears, the Dutch started their final advance on Denpasar, trundling their cannons behind them. By 19 September they reached the town’s outskirts. The naval bombardment commenced early the next morning, firing the king’s palace and the houses of the princes.

The royal families of Badung were in a state of frenzy. Hopelessly outgunned but unwilling to face the humiliation of surrender, the raja invited anyone who wished to follow him in a puputan, a “fight to the end.” After ordering everything of value destroyed, the raja, his nobles, generals, ministers, courtiers, retainers, and all his relatives-men, women, and children-dressed in their most splendid ceremonial attire. They then formed a fantastic procession on great gilded palanquins of state and marched down the main avenue of Denpasar to face the Dutch rifles.

Hurriedly, interpreters were sent out by the Dutch to stop them, but they continued. Suddenly the procession stopped. The raja dismounted the palanquin, gave a signal to one of his priests, and was stabbed in the heart. Immediately, the Balinese began killing each other. The Dutch soldiers, startled by a stray shot, fired volley after volley into the crowd. As if in a trance, men and boys and loin-clothed women with loose hair savagely attacked the Dutch, while court ladies contemptuously flung gold coins and jewels at the stunned soldiers.

This fight to the death resulted in 3,600 Balinese dead and the annihilation of the entire royal family. The wives and followers of the king crawled upon his body to die; the heaps of dead became mounds. Some Balinese went among the fallen, killing the wounded with gold ‘kris’ while priests sprinkled holy water on the dead and dying. Another mad rush, led by the 12-year-old brother of the raja, was all mowed down.

The way to the burning palace was now free, over hundreds of mangled, bloodied corpses. The Dutch lost only one sergeant, stabbed to death by a woman. Only one small Balinese boy survived the massacre. Later that day, the army faced another ‘puputan’ led by the raja of Pemecutan. Dutch troops then ranged through the countryside, slaughtering the aristocracy and looting and leveling palaces.

It was not yet over. On 23 September 1906, the Dutch marched on Tabanan, the regency west of Badung. The raja offered to surrender on condition that he is allowed to retain his title and certain rights to his land. The resident, unable to answer until he consulted the colonial government, took him into custody. The following day the raja cut his own throat with a blunt ’sirih’ knife.

Two years later the only remaining independent raja at Klungkung, the Dewa Agung, launched another ‘puputan’, killing himself and his entire family. The rajas of Karangasem and Gianyar to the east, who had formerly pledged their loyalty to the Dutch, were allowed to retain their titles and land. Any remaining royalty who opposed the Dutch were exiled and their properties confiscated.

The Dutch now controlled the entire island, and the glorious Bali-Hindu theater-state, so jealously guarded and preserved for more than a thousand years, came to a bitter end. The ‘puputan’ is commemorated today with a plaque in front of the Bali Museum in Denpasar depicting men, women, and children marching to their deaths.