Early Dutch Incursions

In 1602 the Dutch East Indies Trading Company (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie) was formed. Its goal was the unlimited exploitation of the East Indies. At first Bali offered little of commercial value and for more than 250 years after its discovery the island was more or less left alone while the Company concentrated its efforts on capturing control of to cash crops and spice trade of Java and the Moluccas. Bali did not grow cloves or nutmeg--spices needed by the Europeans to make their meats more palatable--so the island had little to exploit. Its imports were gold, rubies, and opium; its exports were thousands of highly prized male and female slaves sold to Java between 1620 and 1830. In the 19th century, this commodity caused Bali to become an increasingly important stop on the commercial map of the archipelago. But the massive eruption of Gunung Tambora on Sumbawa brought with it devastation on Bali and the forced curtailment of the slave trade. The rajas of south Bali, finding their wealth and power drying up, turned to rice exports, coconut oil, dried meat, pigs, hides, tobacco, and coffee. This new mercantile orientation attracted traders, including the English.

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in Bali we must point out a very important distinction which the Balinese make between two clearly separate groups of ancestors. The first of these groups consists of the dead who are riot yet completely purified. This group is in turn subdivided in pirata, those riot yet cremated, and pitara, those already cremated. The former are still completely impure; the latter have been purified, but are still considered as distinct, individual souls. The second group consists of the completely purified ancestors who are considered as divine.
No contact is sought with the pirata, the dead who have not yet been cremated. Oil the contrary they are dangerous, Offerings must however be made for the redemption of their souls.

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