The first people to arrive at Bali were the Austronesians who came to the islands around 2000 years before Christ. Historians are of the opinion they came from the region that is today known as Taiwan . Stone tools from those early times have been found close to the Cekik village in the western part of the island.
The Hindus (majority of the people who inhabit the island now) came around 100 BC. From then onwards, several rajas (kings) have ruled Bali and they have fought a number of battles with many invaders who came from Java. The kings of Bali on the other hand have waged a war with the Lombok 's in the east. The rajas of Bali established an irrigation system to grow crop, particularly for rice cultivation. Perhaps the most famous Hindu empire was that of the Majapahit's and when it declined, there was a huge exodus of musicians, priests, artists and intellectuals from the island.
The first people from outside the region were the Dutch when the explorer Cornelis de Houtman landed in 1597. The Dutch invaders finally colonized the island and dethroned the Hindu rajas. But the entire island was not captured till 1908. The people living in the island at that time were extremely courageous and proud and so many preferred to walk straight into the cannons while the gun was firing when it became clear to them that there was no way they could prevent the Dutch from capturing the island.
This was known as ‘puputan' and this act of the Dutch was criticized at the time by the international community. Pressed into a corner the Dutch allowed the people of Bali to peruse their own culture and this policy was known as ‘Baliseering'. Bali finally became a part of Indonesia in 1948 after a failed coup by the communists which led to a lot of violence and bloodshed.
