Balinese Kshatriya is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Kshatriya Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

community that exists on the island of

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. During the second half of the sixth century, Bali had a strong Kshatriya ruling

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

. The rulers were mostly indigenous Balinese with some

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n blood. These clans mostly belonged to the Nāgavanshi dynasty.Kamus agama Hindu By I Wayan Musna p.32 However, in due time, these indigenous Kshatriyas became extinct and were replaced by the Javanese Kshatriyas who immigrated to Bali. Most of the Kshatriyas now living in Bali are claimed to be the descendants of King Dewa Agung, who immigrated to Bali from

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. However, there are also a few other Kshatriya clans who were elevated to the

status from the Vaishya varna. Altogether, Kshatriyas constitute around 4% of the total Balinese Hindu population. Dewa Agung is believed to have crossed over to Bali from Java many centuries ago, along with his half-brother Arya Damar and six other Kshatriyas. However, only Dewa Agung retained his Kshatriya status, as the descendants of the other seven were degraded to the status of Vaishya. Most of the Kshatriyas belonging to the Dewa Agung clan are located in Badong, Tabanan, Mengui, and Karangasem. However, in Badong, there is another Kshatriya clan named Gusti Pam'chuttan, who are descended from the

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

Ngurah Sakti Pamecutan. Kshatriyas are also found in Klungkung, Bangli, and Gianyar. The Kshatriya clan which lived in Buleleng has now shifted their location to Badung. Other Kshatriya clans who live in Bali, such as ''Desak, Pradeva, and Pungakan'', are of questionable origin. The word Kshatriya, which is of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

origin, is pronounced as ''Satria'' in the Balinese language.

References

{{reflist Hinduism in Bali Kshatriya communities