Selaparang under Balinese and Dutch rule : a history of Lombok 1870-1940

Abstract

This dissertation is an inter-disciplinary study of the island Lombok and its transformation from one of the more powerful of the precolonial Indonesian states to a forgotten region in a large colonial empire. The study begins with an evaluation of Balinese rule in the last decades of the nineteenth century. It continues by posing the questions why the indigenous Sasak people rose in rebellion, why the Dutch colonialists decided to annex the island, why the Balinese rulers opted for armed resistance, why the Sasak revolt continued during the first years of Dutch rule and why the material conditions of the great majority of Lombok's population declined as the colonial period progressed. The study concludes with an analysis of peasant resistance in the colonial period. This dissertation shows that both Balinese and Dutch rule was based upon superior military force and examines some of the effects of Balinese and Dutch political power on the socio-economic relations among the Sasak people. These effects include the growing individualisation of land tenure, the increase in the concentration of land-ownership and the growth in the numbers of sharecroppers and landless peasants. Notwithstanding the complexity of the setting, what emerges most clearly Is that throughout the period tinder consideration the Sasak peasants have been the great historical losers. Conquered by the Balinese, betrayed by their own aristocratic leaders, and once again conquered by the Dutch, they continued to be the victims of on-going and increasing oppression and exploitation. Show more