Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai (30 January 1917 – 20 November 1946) was an Indonesian National Hero who commanded Indonesian forces in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...

against the Dutch during the Indonesian War of Independence. He was killed in the Battle of Margarana.Mutiara Sumber Widya (publisher) (1999) p89

Early life

Ngurah Rai was born in Carangsari,

Badung Regency Badung is a regency of Bali, Indonesia. Its regency seat is in the upland town of Mangupura. It covers districts to the west of the provincial capital of Denpasar, and it has a land area of 418.52 km2. The regency had a population of 548 ...

on 30 January 1917. He studied at a Dutch elementary school named HIS Denpasar, then went to MULO junior high school in

Malang Malang (; ) is a landlocked city in the Indonesian province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most populous city in the province, with a population of 820,043 at the 2010 Census and ...

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and ...

. He then received Dutch military training at the Military Cadet School in

Gianyar Gianyar Regency is a regency (''kabupaten'') in the Indonesian province and island of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 368.0 km2 and had a population of 469,777 at the 2010 Census, and 515,344 at the 2020 Census, making it the second most ...

, Bali and

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a ''bupati''. Magelang city covers an area of 18. ...

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakart ...

. After graduating, he joined the Dutch-sponsored military as a second lieutenant in Bali. After that he studied at Corps ''Opleiding Voor Reserve Officieren'' (CORO),

and ''pendidikan artileri,''

Military career

After the

Indonesian Declaration of Independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of t ...

he established the People's Security Army, the forerunner of the

military of Indonesia The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

, for the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up ...

. He then left for the republican capital,

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

to receive orders before returning to Bali to oppose the approximately 2,000 Dutch troops who had landed on 2 and 3 March 1946. Ngurah Rai found that the republican forces were divided and he worked hard to reunite them. He then organized the first attack against the headquarters of the Dutch force at Tabanan. The Dutch then attempted to locate Ngurah Rai's base and offered negotiations, which he refused. On 20 November 1946, the Dutch launched a large attack on Marga with the assistance of troops from

Lombok Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is ...

and supported by aircraft. Lieutenant Colonel Ngurah Rai ordered a Puputan, or fight to the last man. He died along with all of his troops. The battle is now known as the Battle of Margarana. However, because Ngurah Rai's entire force was wiped out, including the military leadership, the Dutch forces were subsequently unopposed and were able to regain control of Bali. This may not have been possible had Ngurah Rai adopted a guerrilla strategy.

Burial and national hero status

Ngurah Rai was buried in Marga. On 9 August 1975, he was made a national hero via Presidential Decision No. 063/TK/TH 1975.

Ngurah Rai International Airport I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional I Gusti Ngurah Rai) , is the main airport in Bali, located 13 km south of Denpasar. Ngurah Rai is the second busiest airport in Indonesia after Soekarno–Hatta I ...

is named for him and he appears on the IDR 50,000 note.

Notes

References

* * Mutiara Sumber Widya (publisher) (1999) ''Album Pahlawan Bangsa (Album of National Heroes)'', Jakarta (Indonesian) * * Sudarmanto, Y.B. (1996) ''Jejak-Jejak Pahlawan dari Sultan Agung hingga Syekh Yusuf (The Footsteps of Heroes from Sultan Agung to Syekh Yusuf''), Penerbit Grasindo, Jakarta (Indonesian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, I Gusti Ngurah National Heroes of Indonesia Balinese people Indonesian Hindus History of Bali 1917 births 1946 deaths People from Badung Regency Indonesian military personnel