Last weeek I read a book which is entitled “ The Last Gentleman of War” which gives accounts on daring actions of German cruiser Emden in World War I combined with gallant and honorable conduct of her captain, Karl Friedrich Max von Müller. What impress me much are not the daring actions of the cruisers but the humane and honorable treatments that were given by Captain Müller and his crew to their prisoners of war (PoW). A question arose in my mind “how Balinese treat their PoW?”

I did a hasty research to find some information on how Balinese treat their PoW, my research was not in vain, I found some information in the public library, some good, some bad, but mostly interesting. It surprised that Balinese treat their PoW especially their fellow Balinese in a cruel way. They sold their Balinese PoW to foreign merchants as slaves (before the slave trade was abolished), served as slaves to winning party or assigned to hard labor. However, the fate of European PoW was much better. Here is an account on Balinese treatment on their European PoW given by Gregor Krause in his book Bali 1912.

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The first European visitors to Bali saw much different Bali than nowadays visitors have seen. The first foreign visitors saw Bali as an island of theft and murder, full of menace with ferocious inhabitants, a warlike nation. In the mid-seventeenth century Bali was a dangerous place, wild and untamed, where Europeans loath to go. In the eyes of European writer Bali was a heathen land where barbarities such as widow burning practiced in much vigor.

During the flourishing time of slave trade in seventeenth century, the rebellious nature and great tendency of run amok of Balinese male slave contributed a great deal to form warlike image of Balinese. Jan Troet, one of the prominent slave traders in the archipelago, gave much information on Bali as a place of brutality through his letters of complaints to the VOC rather than any comprehensive account of Bali or Balinese slave. In 1661 Troet sent a complain letter to the company about male Balinese slaves.

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