Early Balinese kingdoms

Overview

The Warmadewa dynasty ruled Bali from the early 10th century; the term "dynasty" here denotes rulers sharing a common titular element rather than strict hereditary descent. Bali's historical (as opposed to prehistoric) period began around the 8th century, evidenced by Buddhist votive clay tablets (stupikas) in Gianyar resembling Central Javanese Sailendra style. The likely political-religious center lay in present-day Gianyar (with Bedulu/Bedahulu prominent in the Warmadewa period).

History

Sri Kesari Warmadewa is the first Balinese king named in a written inscription. His andesite Blanjong pillar, erected in the harbor of Belanjong in southern Sanur, is dated Śaka 836 = 4 February 914 CE (per Damais's conversion). It is remarkably bilingual — Sanskrit in Nagari/Pranagari script and Old Balinese in Kawi script — and records military victories (a jaya-stambha, victory pillar) against enemies at Gurun and Suwal; it contains the earliest reference to the "island of Bali" (Vāli-dvīpa) and the palace Siṁhadvāla, and styles Kesari as samasta-samanta-adhipatiḥ ("universal sovereign"). The scholar George Coedès observed that these inscriptions reveal "an Indo-Balinese society that was independent of Java, used a dialect peculiar to the island, and practiced Buddhism and Sivaism at the same time."

The dynasty ran through Sang Ratu Ugrasena, Tabanendra, Indrajayasingha (c. 962), Janasadhu (c. 975), and then Udayana Warmadewa ("Udayana the Great," late 10th–early 11th c.), the last ruler to use the Warmadewa title (Abang Pura Batur inscription, dated 6 April 1011). Udayana married the East Javanese princess Mahendradatta (Gunapriya Dharmapatni, 961–1011), daughter of King Sri Makutawangsawardhana and sister of Dharmawangsa of Medang; the couple co-ruled and issued joint inscriptions, binding Bali to the Javanese Isyana line. Their sons were Airlangga (the future hero-king of Java), Marakata Pangkaja (King of Bali c. 1022–1049), and Anak Wungsu (r. 1049–1077). Religion mixed Mahayana Buddhism and Shaivism (Goa Gajah, the rock-cut royal tombs of Gunung Kawi at Tampaksiring), and Chinese kepeng cash coins circulated. Later Warmadewa-era kings included Jayasakti (1146–1150) and Jayapangus (1178–1181), the latter's marriage to a Chinese princess immortalized in the Barong Landung figures.

Decline and legacy

Bali reappeared in Javanese sources when Kertanegara of Singhasari invaded in 1284; the Nagarakretagama records that its queen was brought captive before the king. After Singhasari's fall (1292), Bali regained independence — until 1343, when Majapahit forces led by Gajah Mada (with the Palembang regent Arya Damar) defeated the Balinese king at Bedulu after seven months of fighting, per the Babad Arya Tabanan. Majapahit distributed authority among Arya Damar's brothers; Arya Kenceng became the ancestor of the Tabanan and Badung royal houses. Bali then became a Majapahit vassal, its seat established at Samprangan and later Gelgel. Udayana University in Denpasar (est. 1962) preserves King Udayana's name.