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Kingdom of Karangasem

A Hindu maritime kingdom founded in the mid-17th century in eastern Bali. Karangasem was unusual in projecting power overseas: from 1692 it conquered and ruled western, then most of, Lombok, holding the island until the Dutch broke Balinese rule there in 1894. Karangasem itself came under Dutch control by 1908.

Lombok branch conquered by the Dutch in 1894; the Bali kingdom passed under Dutch control by 1908, ending as a self-governing landschap.

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Borders over time

The atlas holds 2 border frames for Kingdom of Karangasem — the shape you scrub through changes in 1650 · 1800.

Further reading

• The Spell of Power: A History of Balinese Politics, 1650-1940 Henk Schulte Nordholt · 1996

  Covers Karangasem's rise and its overseas rule of Lombok (Open Library /works/OL2814540W).

• Visible and Invisible Realms: Power, Magic, and Colonial Conquest in Bali Margaret J. Wiener · 1995

  Balinese kingdoms and the Dutch conquest context (Open Library /works/OL3494345W).

Sources

• Wikipedia, 'Kingdom of Karangasem' (intro fetched via API) + Wikidata Q19745978
• Wouter Cool (trans. E. J. Taylor), 'With the Dutch in the East: An Outline of the Military Operations in Lombock, 1894' (Luzac, 1897), ch. 'Our early connection with Bali and Lombock': 'in the register of 1679 we hear for the first time of "the Balinese of Lombock" ... The first serious struggle of the Balinese in Lombock was in 1692.'
• Cool 1897: 'the prince Gusti Wayan Taga, who reigned over Lombock from 1741 to 1775 under the supreme authority of Bali ... There remains no doubt about the fact that since the middle of last century the Balinese have ruled Lombock and their influence has been paramount.'
• John Crawfurd, 'A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands & Adjacent Countries' (1856), s.v. LOMBOC, p. 224: 'At the beginning of the present century, Lomboc, which had been divided into four native principalities, was subdued by the princes of Karang-asam, in Bali ... Although no longer subject to the state that effected the conquest, the Sasaks are still ruled by a prince of the family of Karang-asam'