puputan

Puputan is a Balinese term referring to a suicidal mass combat charge against an overwhelming enemy force. The word "puputan" literally translates to "ending" or "finished." It describes a fight to the death, where the participants would rather die than surrender or flee.

This desperate act was most famously employed by Balinese kingdoms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as they faced Dutch colonial expansion. The Dutch military was technologically superior, and facing inevitable defeat, Balinese rulers, royal families, and their retainers would often engage in puputan. They would emerge from their palaces dressed in white, armed with kris daggers, and charge into the Dutch ranks, knowing they would be annihilated. The intent was to inflict as many casualties as possible and die with honor, rather than submit to foreign rule.

The most well-known examples of puputan occurred in Denpasar in 1906 and in Klungkung in 1908. These events shocked the world and contributed to a more nuanced colonial policy in the Dutch East Indies, though the conquest of Bali was ultimately completed. Puputan is remembered as a symbol of Balinese resistance and a tragic testament to their fierce pride and determination to maintain their independence and cultural identity. It remains a significant historical and cultural event in Bali.