Babad Dalem is a historical account from Bali,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, which exists in a large number of versions of varying length. The title may be translated as "Chronicle of Kings", although the Balinese

babad Javanese literature has a very large historical component. In all sorts of texts, such as laudatory poems, chronicles, and travelogues, writers have interpreted the how and why of certain circumstances. These texts are important for the knowl ...

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

does not quite accord to

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-style chronicles. There are dated manuscripts from the early 19th century onwards, and the original version was very likely written in the course of the 18th century. The author was probably a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

tied to the

Klungkung Palace The Klungkung Palace, officially Puri Agung Semarapura, is a historical building complex situated in Semarapura, the capital of the Klungkung Regency ( kabupaten) on Bali, Indonesia. The palace ( puri) was erected at the end of the 17th century, ...

, the most prestigious of the nine pre-colonial royal seats of Bali. The text is a blend of myth,

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, and traces the history of Balinese

kingship King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

back to the Javanese roots in the age of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Majapahit empire (1293-c. 1527). The forces of

Gajah Mada Gajah Mada (c. 1290 – c. 1364), also known as JirnnodharaMunandar, 2010: 77 was, according to Old Javanese manuscripts, poems, and inscriptions, a powerful military leader and '' Mahapatih'' (the approximate equivalent of a modern Prime ...

, the chief minister (

patih Vicegerent is the official administrative deputy of a ruler or head of state: ''vice'' (Latin for "in place of") and ''gerere'' (Latin for "to carry on, conduct"). In Oxford colleges, a vicegerent is often someone appointed by the Master of a c ...

) of Majapahit, invade Bali and subjugate the island (an event dated in 1343 in the Javanese poem Nagarakrtagama). A Javanese nobleman called Sri Aji Kresna Kepakisan, the grandson of a Brahmin, is installed as the vassal ruler of Bali, with his residence in Samprangan in the

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 ...

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. In the next generation the seat of the raja is moved to Gelgel in the

Klungkung Klungkung Regency is the smallest regency (''kabupaten'') on Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 315 km2 and had a population at the 2010 Census of 170,543 which increased to 206,925 at the Census of 2020. The administrative centre for the reg ...

regency, where a strong kingdom takes shape. The collapse of Majapahit on Java later on leaves Gelgel as the heir of the classical Javanese

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

. The account follows the fortunes of the Gelgel kingdom until its fall, historically dated in 1686. A continuation of the Babad Dalem, sometimes called Babad Ksatria, follows the history of Klungkung, the successor kingdom of Gelgel. It was authored in the second half of the 19th century, with a later version including a brief account of the fall of Klungkung in 1908. The great value of the Babad Dalem as a source of Balinese cultural values and perceptions of kingship is generally recognized by the scholars. Its value as a source of past events on Bali is controversial. The older versions contain few calendrical dates, and the babad genre seems more concerned with origins than with the exact

chronology Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , ''-logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. I ...

of events. Comparisons with external (in particular

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and Javanese) historical materials suggest that important aspects of the history of Gelgel have been left out or altered in the Babad Dalem.Helen Creese, 'Balinese babad as historical sources; A reinterpretation of the fall of Gelgel', ''Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde'' 147 1991, pp. 236-60; Hans Hägerdal, 'Bali in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries; Suggestions for a Chronology of the Gelgel Period', ''Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde'' 151 1995, pp. 101-24..

References

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Further reading