Dutch invasion of Bali (1846)

The landing of the Dutch 7th battalion in Bali in 1846.

The Dutch invasion of northern Bali in 1846 is the first of a series of colonial campaigns by the Dutch forces to seize the territories of the island of Bali (as part of present-day Indonesia ). The Dutch used as a pretext for the invasion the Balinese claims for property that was discovered as a result of shipwrecks near the island, which was appropriated by the Balinese, which was unacceptable under the norms of Western law ^[1] . In addition, in 1841 and 1843, the Dutch imposed unequal treaties on the rulers of the northern Balinese kingdoms, which the latter, however, did not want to follow.

Dutch warships approached Bulelen on June 26, 1846. The flotilla consisted of 2 frigates, 4 steamers, 12 schooners, 40 small ships, 1700 soldiers, including 400 Europeans (the 7th and three companies of the 14th battalion, artillery battery, sapper company and so on), and 230 guns ^[2] . The expedition was led by Vice Admiral Engelbertus Batavus van den Bosch and Lt. Col. Gerardus Bakker. The Balinese reinforced the port, which is why the frigates bombed it. After landing on the island on June 28, Dutch troops captured and destroyed the royal palace in Singaraja.

The Balinese agreed to recognize the previously concluded treaties, as well as the deployment of a small Dutch garrison on the island. After the bulk of the Dutch troops departed for Java, the local Balinese ruler Jelantik refused to pay the agreed compensation to the Dutch and tried to unite various Balinese forces against them.

The second Dutch military expedition to the island took place in 1848, which was aimed, inter alia, at the forces of Gelantica ^[3] . However, only in 1849, as a result of another invasion, the Dutch managed to take control of the kingdoms of Bulelen and Djembran in northern Bali.