Bali, Kingdom of

The Kingdom of Bali is a series of Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms that at one time rule some parts of the volcanic island of Bali, in Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia.

With a history of native Balinese kingship spanning from the early tenth to early twentieth centuries, Balinese kingdoms demonstrate sophisticated Balinese court culture where native elements of spirit and ancestral reverence combined with Hindu influences–adopted from India through ancient Java intermediation–flourished, enriched and shaped the Balinese culture.

Because of its proximity and close cultural relations with the neighboring Java island during the Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist period, the history of the Bali Kingdom is often intertwined and heavily influenced by its Javanese counterparts, from Medang c. ninth century to Majapahit empire in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries.

The culture, language, arts and architecture of the island is influenced by Java.

Javanese influences and presences grow even stronger prompted with the fall of Majapahit empire in the late fifteenth century.

After the empire falls to its Muslim vassal of Demak Sultanate, a number of Hindu Majapahit courtiers, nobles, priests and artisans, find refuge on the island of Bali.

As a result Bali becomes what historian Ramesh Chandra Majumdar describes as the last stronghold of Indo-Javanese culture and civilization.

The Balinese Kingdom in subsequent centuries expands its influence to neighboring islands.

The Balinese Kingdom of Gelgel, for example, extends its influences to the Blambangan kingdom at the eastern tip of Java, the neighboring island of Lombok, and as far as the western part of Sumbawa island, while that of Karangasem establishes its rule on western Lombok in a later period.

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