History Balikoe

It is believed that Bali's first inhabitants came from China at the beginning of the Iron Age, around 3000 BC. Some Buddhist inscriptions date from the 9th century AD, but it was only in the 11th century that the Hindu influence, omnipresent in Java, made its mark on the island. Under the reign of King Airlangga, cultural exchanges between the two islands were developed. In the 13th century, the son of king Kertanegara founded the Majapahit dynasty which flourished for three centuries. At the end of this time, chased by the arrival of Islam, the Javanese aristocracy, its nobles, priests, artists and artisans fled to Bali. During this era, the island enjoyed an intense period of cultural development, the main traits of which are to be found today in the caste system, the rituals and certain artistic styles.

The first Dutch seamen landed in Bali in 1597. The settlement and colonization process, which actually only started in 1800, was marked by troubled times and climaxed with the "Puputan" or collective suicide of the 14th of September 1906, when 4000 Balinese killed themselves rather than capitulate.

The Japanese occupation, from 1942 to 1945, hindered the Dutch sovereignty. 0n the 17th of August 1945, Sukarno, the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, proclaimed independence. In Bali, at the battle of Marga in 1946 the Dutch, who did not recognize the declaration of independence, faced a group of 94 soldiers led by Lt. Col. I Gusti Ngurah Rai, who refused to surrender. The Bali international airport is named after him. In 1949, the Dutch finally withdrew. Taken from http://www.balinesia.com/