Badung Kingdom

Kerajaan Badung Regno di Badung

The Badung Kingdom (Balinese: ᬓᬾᬭᬚᬦ᭄ᬩᬤᬸᬂ, Krájan Badung) was one part of Kingdomship of Bali in the southern part of Bali Island. The center of government of the Badung Kingdom was at Puri Agung Denpasar until finally the Dutch troops defeated the Badung Kingdom through the Puputan Badung War in 1906 and Badung became colony of Dutch Empire in the Dutch East Indies as part of the Bali and Lombok Residency.

The Dutch East Indies restored this kingdom in 1929, and made Badung a self-sufficiency region in 1938. After the independence of Republic of Indonesia, the territory of the Badung Kingdom had the status of Badung Level II Region and Denpasar Level II Region within the government of Bali Province.



Establishment of the Badung Kingdom
In the year 1343, Majapahit came to power in Bali and was centered in Samprangan with its ruler, Dalem Sri Aji Kresna Kepakisan, who had a crown prince named I Dewa Anom Pemayun, which later, due to an incident, was renamed Sira Arya Benculuk Tegeh Kori by Dalem. According to folklore, Sira Arya Benculuk Tegeh Kori made a long journey to Ulun Danu Batur Temple and asked Ida Betari Ulun Danu Batur to be given "panugrahan" (blessing/wisdom) so that he would later become someone of authority and be respected by the people. its people. Sira Arya Benculuk Tegeh Kori's prayer was answered by Ida Betari Batur, and asked Sira Arya Benculuk Tegeh Kori to leave to the southwest (Gumi Badeng) precisely in Tonjaya, an area occupied by Ki Bendesa with his brothers Ki Pasek Kabayan, Ki Ngukuhin, and Ki Tangkas. On the initiative of Ki Bendesa and his brothers, it was decided through deliberation that Sira Arya Benculuk Tegeh Kori was appointed ruler of the area.

At the end of the 18th century AD, the power of Puri Ksatriya fell to Kyayi Ngurah Made, as recipient of the throne from Kyayi Ngurah Jambe Ksatriya. Because Puri Ksatriya has been damaged due to the war for power. During his reign, Kyayi Ngurah Made ordered the construction of a new castle located in Tetaman Den-Pasar. > ('den-pasar' in Balinese means "north of the market"), which is to the south of the ruins of Puri Ksatriya. In 1788, Puri Agung Denpasar was officially used as the center of government for the Badung Kingdom and Kyayi Ngurah Made as King of Badung I used the title "I Gusti Ngurah Made Pemecutan", considering that he was a descendant of the Pemecutan Dynasty (1788 -1813).

Conquest of Badung by the Dutch


In 1826, The Netherlands was permitted by King I Gusti Made Ngurah to establish his station in Kuta, in return for this cooperation the king received a very beautiful gift. A Danish trader named Mads Johansen Lange who came to Bali at the age of 18 played a role as a mediator between the Dutch East Indies Government and Badung and other kingdoms in Bali. From then on, Mads Lange, who was born in 1806, was able to improve good relations with the kings in Bali. In 1856 Mads Lange was sick and asked to retire and decided to return to Denmark, but unfortunately he died when the ship he was on was leaving, and he was finally buried in Kuta.

In 1904, a Dutch-flagged merchant ship belonging to a Chinese from Banjarmasin named "Sri Komala" ran aground on Sanur Beach. The ship owner and the Dutch East Indies government accused the local community of stripping, destroying and seizing the contents of the ship and sued the kings of Badung for all the damage in the amount of 3,000 dollars silver and punish those who damaged the ship. The king's rejection of the accusations and payment of compensation, caused the Dutch East Indies government to prepare military expedition to Bali on 20 September 1906. Three infantry battalions and 2 artillery battalions immediately landed and attacked the Badung Kingdom.

After attacking Badung, the Dutch invaded the city of Denpasar. The Dutch reached the city gate without encountering significant resistance, but suddenly they were greeted by a group of people dressed all in white, ready to carry out "war puputan" (fighting to death until the last drop of blood). Led by King I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung and the priests, bodyguards, relatives, men and women decorated themselves with gemstones and dressed in battle clothes went out into the middle of the battlefield. This was done because in Hinduism the goal of a warrior is to die on the battlefield so that his soul can go straight to heaven. Surrendering and dying in exile is the most humiliating thing. It was reported that before the puputan occurred, the crown prince of I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung named I Gusti Alit Ngurah, who was already 10 years old, was first rushed by several special soldiers of the royal guard, accompanied by his mother and several close family members of the castle, to the western area, precisely at Seminyak Village, Kuta. On January 17 1907, I Gusti Alit Ngurah was captured and became a prisoner of war, and exiled to Mataram, Lombok, by the Dutch East Indies government.

After experiencing exile for approximately ten years, on 1 October 1917, at the urging of community leaders in Lombok such as I Gusti Putu Griya and Ida Pedanda Ketut Kelingan, as well as the pressure of the people of Badung, I Gusti Alit Ngurah was finally returned by the Dutch East Indies government to Denpasar, apart from that because security in Bali was relatively safe and there were no signs of a rebellion.

Dutch Occupation Period
In 1929, after the reconstruction of Puri Agung Denpasar which was destroyed during puputan, I Gusti Alit Ngurah was appointed by the Dutch Indies as Regent of Badung with the title Cokorda Alit Ngurah. The Dutch East Indies government began to implement a new system of government, namely Zelfbestuur (swapraja] government ) in order to make it easier to regulate such a large colonial area on July 1 1938, and this system was implemented simultaneously throughout the entire region of Bali which was divided into 8 landschapen, namely Buleleng, Jembrana, Tabanan, Badung, Gianyar, Bangli, Klungkung and Karangasem. At each landschapen a regional head is appointed with the title Zelbestuurder (King).

The election of regional heads is still predominantly based on the descendants of the king or from the previous king's family. In connection with this, for Zelbestuur Badung power is held by I Gusti Alit Ngurah from Puri Agung Denpasar with the title Cokorda Alit Ngurah. His inauguration and appointment (abhiseka) was carried out simultaneously with 8 other kings at Besakih Temple, Karangasem on June 30 1938. This inauguration and appointment was carried out by Resident L.J.J. Caron. The rulers of the self-swapraja (Zelfbestuur) were members of the federation of kings which called Paruman Agung.

Japanese Occupation Period
After several battles, the Japan army landed on Sanur Beach on 18 and February 19 1942. From the direction of Sanur, the Japanese army entered the city of Denpasar without experiencing any resistance. Then, from Denpasar, Japan controlled all of Bali. First of all, what laid the foundations of Japanese power in Bali were the Japanese Army troops (Rikugun). Then, when the situation stabilized, control of the government was handed over to the civil government. When the Japanese entered Bali, Paruman Agung or the council of Balinese kings was changed to Sutyo Renmei.

Period of Indonesian Independence
In 1945 after the surrender of the Japan and the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, Bali became part of the Government of State of East Indonesia. The State of East Indonesia was dissolved and all of its territory was merged into the Republic of Indonesia on August 17 1950. The self-swapraja (kingdom) government in Bali was changed to the Council of Kings with its seat in Denpasar and chaired by a king. In October 1950, the Badung Swapraja government took the form of the Badung Government Council which was chaired by the chairman of the Daily Government Council which was held by the Head of Swapraja (Raja) and assisted by members of the Daily Government Council.

Based on Law no. 69 of 1958 starting from December 1 1958, the autonomous regions in Bali were changed to Level II Regions at the level of regency, including Badung. Denpasar became the capital of the regional government of Badung Regency, then based on the Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs Number Des.52/2/36-136 dated 23 June 1960, Denpasar was also designated as the capital of Bali Province which was originally domiciled in Singaraja.

Then based on Government Regulation Number 20 of 1978, Denpasar officially became an administrative city, and in line with the ability and potential of its region in implementing regional autonomy, on January 15 1992, based on Law Number 1 of 1992, and Denpasar's status was upgraded to municipality, which was then inaugurated by the Minister of Home Affairs on February 27 1992.

List of Badung Kings

 * I Gusti Ngurah Made Pemecutan (1788–1813)
 * I Gusti Ngurah Jambe Pemecutan (1813–1817)
 * I Gusti Made Ngurah Pemecutan (1817–1829)
 * I Gusti Gede Ngurah Pemecutan (1829–1848)
 * I Gusti Alit Ngurah Pemecutan (1848–1902)
 * I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung (1902–1906)
 * Ida Cokorda Alit Ngurah (1929–1965)
 * Ida Cokorda Ngurah Agung (1965–1998)
 * Ida Cokorda Ngurah Jambe Pemecutan (2005–2023)
 * Ida Pengelingsir Agung Putra Jambe Pemecutan (2023–present)