Balija

“ The Balijas bury their dead in a sitting posture. In the Central Provinces they are usually Lingāyats and especially worship Gauri, Siva’s wife. Jangams serve them as priests. They usually eat flesh and drink liquor, but in Chānda it is stated that both these practices are forbidden. In the Central Provinces they are mainly cultivators, but some of them still sell bangles and salt. Several of them are in Government service and occupy a fairly high social position.
In Madras a curious connection exists between the Kāpus and Balijas and the impure Māla caste. ”

“ It is noted in the Bellary Manual that the Balijas " have by common consent obtained a high place in the social system of South India. Some are land-owners, residing on and working their own property with the help of members of inferior castes ; but the majority live by trade." ”

“ They freely eat in the houses of all Linga Balijas, but the latter will not eat with them. They entirely disregard the spiritual authority of the Brāhmans, recognising priests among the Linga Balijas, Jangams, or Pandārams. In the exercise of their trade, they are distinguished from the Kaikōlans in that they sometimes weave in silk, which the Kaikōlans never do. ”

“ Unlike most Hindus, Linga Balijas shave off the whole of the hair of their heads, without leaving the usual lock at the back. They deny metempsychosis, and believe that after death the soul is united with the divine spirit. ”

“ On Bali it is still a title of distinction for man, viz chiefs of high rank, as many of the chiefs have the word prefixed to their names. The word is evidently of Sanscrit origin, but is not to be found in Clough. Mr. Friederich reports in Bat: Trans: Vol. 23 Page 15 that Gusti on Bali is a title of the Waisya caste, who on Bali are the kings of the country. The name is not exacty Indian, at least not clearly so. In India, the third caste — the Waisyas — are of no great note, and it is therefore not to be wondered that they have no particular distinguishing title. ”

“ Whatever, at former periods, may have been the extent and influence of the Hindu religion, Bali is now the only island in the Eastern Seas, in which that religion is still prevailing as the national and established religion of the country. That high spirit of enterprize which burst the bounds of the extensive confines of India, like the dove from the ark, rested its weary wing for a while in Java, till driven from thence it sought a refuge in Bali, where even amongst the rudest and most untutored of savages, it found an asylum. ”

“ Bali was worth all the trouble it took to get there. Not only is it spectacularly beautiful, with its rugged mountains, its misty vales, its crumbling temples, and the glossy green of its rice paddies, but the people are beautiful too. Outside of Den Pasar, where the tourists congregate and create understandable disruptions and where it is considered “rude” for women to go about unclothed above the waist, the Balinese serenely follow their age-old customs, practice the Hindu religion, which is the hard core of their society, and preserve their independence and integrity. ”

“ Save only its western end, which is covered with dense jungle inhabited by tigers and boa-constrictors, Bali is a vast garden, ablaze with the most gorgeous flowers that you can imagine and criss-crossed by a net-work of hard, white roads which alternately wind through huge cocoanut plantations or skirt interminable paddy fields. From the coast the ground rises steadily to a ridge formed by a central range of mountains, which culminate in the imposing, cloud-wreathed Peak of Bali, two miles high. ”

“ See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, p. 166.
588 Balli is not properly a city of Java, but the island of Bali, located about 1–1/2 miles east of Java. The name in Javanese and Malay signifies “to return.” Its area is about 1685 square geographical miles, and it is lofty and mountainous. Its numerous rivers are navigable for native vessels only, and as far as the reach of the tide; and its mountain lakes ensure a constant water supply. The people live in villages of from five hundred to three thousand inhabitants, surrounded by walls built of clay, without stone or brick. ”

“ The crowd of people, men and women, sitting round the central figure, join in the BALI DAYONG, which recurs as the refrain at the end of each verse, intoning in loud deep voices. It seems clear from the use of the words BALI DAYONG that the whole is addressed to some superior power; for no human DAYONG, and indeed no human being, is addressed or spoken of with the title BALI. And it would perhaps be more correct, therefore, to describe the address as a supplication rather than an incantation, and the whole operation as a religious rite rather than a magical procedure. ”

“ The Balinese seem to be a sturdy and industrious people; they have a free and independent appearance, very different from that of their somewhat grovelling neighbours, the Javanese. The roads are picturesquely lined with shady trees, and a very pleasant feature of them is the number of little mouse-coloured ponies, which carry panniers on a high-peaked saddle and are the coolies of Bali; most of them have an elaborate leather harness and many carry a large number of little bells, which make a pretty music along the roads. ”

“ The bodies of deceased persons are invariably burnt, and the wives and concubines of the higher classes perform the sacrifice of Satia. A few days previous to my landing on Bali, nineteen young women, the wives and concubines of the younger rajah, who was lately put to death, sacrificed themselves in this manner.
The written language of Bali differs but little from that of Java; but the character has a more ancient form. The Kawi is the sacred language, and understood or pretended to be understood by the Bramins. ”

“ Or, should you weary of so dolce far niente an existence, you can sail across to Java with the opium-runners in their fragile prahaus, or climb a two-mile-high volcano, or in the jungles at the western extremity of the island stalk the clouded tiger. And you can wear pajamas all day long without apologizing. Everything considered, Bali offers more inducements than any place I know to the tired business man or the absconding bank cashier. ”

“ In the island of Bali “all the attention paid to the sick has its root solely in the excessive superstition of these islanders, which leads them to impute every unpleasantness in life, every adversity to the influence of evil spirits or of men who are in some way in league with them. The belief in witches and wizards is everywhere great in the Indies, but perhaps nowhere is it so universal and so strong as in Bali.”267 In Java, we are told, it is not merely great shady trees that are believed to be the abode of spirits. ”

“ The high mountains on Bali contain a number of lakes or tarns, which supply many streams, and the natives are thus enabled to irrigate their land so completely, that about twenty thousand tons of rice are annually exported to other parts of the archipelago, after a population of nearly three-quarters of a million is supplied. In 1861 Java had only a population of three hundred and twenty-five to a square mile, while Bali was supposed to have nearly five hundred, and it is probably the most densely populated island in these seas at the present time. ”

“ At the end of the eighteenth century there were still Hindus in Java, and to-day the ancient religion lingers in Bali, a small island off the south-eastern coast. In Bali, therefore, it is natural that we should find the fullest remains of such parts of [230] the Kavi literature as are most closely identified with that of Continental India. Only fragments of the two great Indian epics, the Mahabharata, or "Great War of the Sons of King Bharata," and the Ramayana, or "Adventures of Rama," are found in Java; but in Bali Kavi versions of both appear. ”

“ Upon the third day the lineal head of the tribe goes out and sows his seed, after which all the rest may do so.496
The people of Bali, an island to the east of Java, have periodical expulsions of devils upon a great scale. Generally the time chosen for the expulsion is the day of the “dark moon” in the ninth month. When the demons have been long unmolested the country is said to be “warm,” and the priest issues orders to expel them by force, lest the whole of Bali should be rendered uninhabitable. On the day appointed the people of the village or district assemble at the principal temple. ”

“ But no superstition appears to me more extravagant, than what is practised at Balia, an Island in the Indian Sea, to the eastward of Java, where every man has his separate God, which he fixes upon just as his caprice dictates, either the trunk of a tree, a stone, or a brute, and many of them change their Gods every day, for they are allowed this liberty, and often worship for the day the first thing they meet going out of their houses in a morning. ”

“ We can see from the account we now obtain of Bali, that the name of the common ancestor of the tribes under review was not the creation of a fancy of the Aryans. It has been stated in the previous section, that those who proceeded to Southern India from Bengal, and its neighbourhood, had Nāga for their totem, and we have now seen that Bali is still worshipped in the Southern Presidency. ”

“ When you first arrive in Bali you swear that they are the prettiest brown-skinned [148] women in the world. But after you have been here a year or so you get so tired of everything connected with the tropics that you don't give the best of them a second glance. For my part, give me a plain, wholesome-looking Dutch girl with a lusty figure and corn-colored hair and cheeks like apples in preference to all the cafe-au-lait beauties in Bali."
"Au revoir," I called, as I signaled to the driver and the car leaped forward. "If I listen to you any longer I shall have no illusions left." ”

“ The men of Bali are a fine, strong, dignified, rather haughty race, fit mates in physique for their women. They are considerably taller than any other Malays whom I saw and possess less Mongoloid and Negroid characteristics, these being subdued by some strong primeval alien strain which is undoubtedly Caucasian. Though now peaceable enough, every Balinese man carries in his sash a kris—the long, curly-bladed knife which is the national weapon of Malaysia. ”

“ But Balin was bruised sore with the fall of his horse, for he was weary of travel. And Balan was the first that rose on foot and drew his sword, and went toward Balin, and he arose and went against him, but Balan smote Balin first, and he put up his shield, and smote him through the shield and cleft his helm. Then Balin smote him again with that unhappy sword, and well nigh had felled his brother Balan, and so they fought there together till their breaths failed. Then Balin looked up to the castle, and saw the towers stand full of ladies. ”

“ Bali, the island next to Java on the East, where the Hindu religion found refuge, and continued to be observed after the fall of majaphahit on Java, and the consequent introduction of Mohammedanism. A sort of Hinduism still exists on Bali. ”

“ Mr. Friederich considers that the word Bali is of the same origin as Bantam, which see- and fancies that Bali was a sort of holy land of the Panditas, devoted to religious purposes and offerings, which in short the word implies. Bāléyan, C. 469 fit or proper for sacrifice. The word in its origin is no doubt the same as the Sunda word Balai-which see.
Bali, the after-birth, the placenta.
Balibat, a word heard in the names of some ancient divinities. The Badui have a divinity called Dalam Balibat Jaya. Bali- see voce. Bata, C. 455 descent, going down, descent from a height. ”

“ The population on Dutch territory in the whole residency in the year 1905 was 523,535. Bali belongs physically to Java; the climate and soil are the same and it has mountains of proportionate height. There are several lakes of great depth and streams well fitted for the purposes of irrigation, of which full advantage is taken by the natives. The geological formation includes (like that of Java) three regions—the central volcanic, the southern peninsula of Tertiary limestone, and alluvial plains between the older formations. ”

“ Unlike the South Sea islanders, who are rapidly dying out as the result of diseases introduced by Europeans, the population of Bali—which is one of the most densely peopled regions in the world, with 325 inhabitants to the square mile—is rapidly increasing, having more than doubled in the last fifteen years. ”

“ The natives of Bali, though of the same stock as the Javanese, and resembling them in general appearance, exceed them in stature and muscular power, as well as in activity and enterprise. They are skilful agriculturists and artisans, especially in textile fabrics and the manufacture of arms. Though native rule is tyrannical and arbitrary, especially in the principalities of Badung and Tabanan, trade and industry could not flourish if insecurity of persons and property existed to any great extent. The natives have also a remedy against the aggression of their rulers in their own hands ”

“ They might be extensively cultivated by the natives, if encouragement was given them; and a sufficient supply obtained for all the markets of Europe and America.
The Island of Bali, lying east of Java, from which it is separated by a narrow strait, has recently been subjected by the Dutch. Some difficulty growing out of the commerce with the people, is the alleged cause. It is an island of great importance to Holland, and would seriously injure her commerce with Java, should any other European nation take it under its protection, or plant a colony there. ”