Dutch intervention in Bali ( 1906 ) The Dutch intervention in Bali in 1906 was a Dutch military intervention in Bali , which destroyed the southern Bali kingdom of Badung and Tabanan , and weakened the kingdom of Klungkung . It was the sixth Dutch military intervention in Bali . Context . The Netherlands had already conquered northern Bali by the middle of the 19th century , integrating the kingdoms of Jembrana , Buleleng and Karangasem into the Dutch East Indies , but the southern kingdoms of Tabanan , Badung and Klungkung had managed to remain independent . Various disputes took place between the Dutch and the southern kingdoms , and it was expected that the Dutch would intervene militarily once a pretext presented itself . There were recurrent disputes between the Dutch and Balinese kings regarding the right to plunder ships that foundered off the reefs surrounding Bali . According to Balinese tradition called " tawan karang " , the Balinese king traditionally considered such wrecks as their property , while the Dutch insisted they were not . On 27 May 1904 , a Chinese schooner named " Sri Kumala " struck the reef near Sanur , and was plundered by the Balinese . Upon request for compensation by the Dutch , the kings of Badung refused to pay anything , supported by the king of Tabanan and the king of Klungkung . The ruler of Tabanan had also caused Dutch discontent by authorizing in 1904 the practice of " suttee " ( ritual self - sacrifice of relatives upon the death of a ruler , also called " wesatia " ) despite a Dutch formal request to abandon it . In June 1906 , the Dutch started a blockade of the southern coasts and sent various ultimata . Intervention . On September 14 , 1906 , a substantial force of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army , named the " Sixth Military Expedition " , landed at the northern part of Sanur beach . It was under the command of Major General M . B . Rost van Tonningen . Badung soldiers made some attacks on the bivouacs of the Dutch at Sanur on September 15 , and there was some resistance again at Intaran village . Kesiman . Overall , the force managed to move inland without much resistance , and arrived in the city of Kesiman on 20 September 1906 . There , the local king , a vassal of the king of Badung , had already been killed by his own priest , as he had refused to lead an armed resistance against the Dutch , the palace was in flames and the city was deserted . Denpasar . The force marched to Denpasar , Bali , as if in a dress parade . They approached the royal palace , noting smoke rising from the " puri " and hearing a wild beating of drums coming from within the palace walls . Upon their reaching the palace , a silent procession emerged , led by the " Raja " being borne by four bearers on a palanquin . The Raja dressed in traditional white cremation garments , wore magnificent jewelry , and was armed with a ceremonial kris . The other people in the procession consisted of the Raja ' s officials , guards , priests , wives , children and retainers , all of whom were similarly attired . They had received the rites of death , were dressed in white , and had had their ritual kris blessed . When the procession was a hundred paces from the Dutch force , they halted and the Raji stepped down from the palanquin and signaled a priest who plunged his dagger into the Raja ' s breast . The rest of the procession began killing themselves and others , in a rite known as " Puputan " ( " Fight to the death " ) . Women mockingly threw jewelry and gold coins at the troops . A ' stray gunshot ' and an ' attack by lance and spear ' prompted the Dutch to open fire with rifles and artillery . As more people emerged from the palace , the mounds of corpses rose higher and higher . The whole procession numbered hundreds , and is said to have been over 1 , 000 people in all . It was mown down by Dutch gunfire . Alternative accounts describe that the Dutch first opened fire on the Balinese mass moving outside of the palace gate , only equipped with traditional krises , spears and shields , and that survivors killed themselves , or had themselves killed by their followers according to the dictates of the " puputan " . The soldiers stripped the corpses of the valuables and sacked the ruins of the burned palace . The palace of Denpasar was razed to the ground . The same afternoon , similar events occurred in the nearby palace of Pemecutan , where the co - ruler Gusti Gede Ngurah resided . The Dutch let the nobility at Pemecutan kill themselves , and proceeded with the looting . The massacre is being remembered locally as the " Badung Puputan " and is glorified as an example of resistance to foreign aggression . A huge bronze monument was elevated on the central square of Denpasar , where the royal palace used to stand , glorifying Balinese resistance in the Puputan . Tabanan . The Dutch force continued to the kingdom of Tabanan , where the king Gusti Ngurah Agung and his son fled , then surrendered to the Dutch , and attempted to negotiate a settlement to become a regency of the Dutch . The Dutch only offered them exile to nearby Madura or Lombok , and they preferred to kill themselves ( puputan ) in prison two days later . Their palace was plundered and razed by the Dutch . Klungkung . The Dutch also moved troops to Klungkung and considered an attack on king Dewa Agung , the nominal ruler of all Bali , but eventually refrained from it as Dewa Agung refrained from military action against the Dutch and agreed to sign agreements to destroy his fortifications , deliver his firearms and renounce import and export taxes . A strong pretext for the Dutch to attack Klunkung would appear later , and materialize in the 1908 Dutch intervention in Bali , which would put a final end to autochthonous rule in Bali . Aftermath . In the short term , the 1906 Dutch invasion in Bali , and its sequel in 1908 , sealed the Dutch control of the island . The Dutch invasion however was followed closely by media coverage , and reports of the sanguinary conquest of the southern part of the island filtered to the West . The disproportion between the offense and harshness of the punitive actions was pointed out . The image of the Netherlands as a benevolent and responsible colonial power was seriously affected as a consequence . The Netherlands , also under criticism for their policies in Java , Sumatra and the eastern island , decided to make amends , and announced the establishment of an " Ethical policy " . As a consequence , the Dutch in Bali turned students and protectors of Balinese culture and endeavored to preserve it in addition to their initial modernization role . Efforts were made at preserving Bali culture and at making it a " living museum " of classical culture , and in 1914 , Bali was opened to tourism . The very harshness of the 1906 and 1908 military invasions thus paradoxically triggered an international uproar which contributed to the preservation of Bali ' s culture , to make the island one of the most popular tourist destinations today . In Fiction . Vicki Baum ' s 1937 historical novel " Love and Death in Bali " ( " Liebe und Tod auf Bali " ) tells of a family caught up in the 1906 events . The book was written after Baum ' s visit to Bali 1935 , when she became close friends with Walter Spies , a German painter who lived on the island for many years and who provided her with much information on these events - at the time still well within living memory .