A Puputan Tale: "The Story of a Pregnant Woman"

Abstract

On September 20, 1906, Dutch armed forces launched their final offensive against the remaining independent kingdoms of South Bali. The Balinese rulers, together with hundreds of their followers—men, women, and children—walked directly into Dutch fire and fell in a hail of bullets. This ceremonial ritual of death is known as puputan, or “ending.” In this article, Helen Creese introduces and translates the narrative of a female puputan survivor and witness. The story, reframed by one of the narrator’s descendants, was published in the Bali Post in 1977.