Lombok: History

Pre-20th-Century History

The earliest recorded society on Lombok was the relatively small kingdom of the Sasak. The Sasak people were agriculturalists and animists who practised ancestor and spirit worship. The original Sasak are believed to have come overland from northwestern India or Myanmar (Burma) in waves of migration that predated most Indonesian ethnic groups. Only a few archaeological relics remain from the old animist kingdoms, but animism has left its mark on the culture, although the majority of Sasak people today are Muslim. Not much is known about Lombok before the 17th century, at which time it was split into numerous, frequently squabbling states, each presided over by a Sasak 'prince' - a disunity exploited by the neighbouring Balinese. Balinese princes ruled Lombok from the mid-18th century until the 1890s, when the Dutch sided with the Sasaks and defeated the Balinese in bloody battles. Under Dutch rule, the eastern islands of Indonesia were grouped together as the Lesser Sunda Islands, administered from Singaraja, Bali. Taxes resulted in the impoverishment of the majority of peasants and the creation of a new stratum of Chinese middlemen.

Modern History

When Soekarno proclaimed Indonesian independence on 17 August 1945, the Lesser Sunda Islands were formed into the single province of Nusa Tenggara, which means 'Islands of the Southeast'. This proved far too unwieldy to govern and in 1958 the province was divided into three separate regions - Bali, Nusa Tenggara Barat (West Nusa Tenggara) and Nusa Tenggara Timur (East Nusa Tenggara). In the wake of the attempted coup and Soekarno's downfall in 1965, Lombok experienced mass killings of communists, sympathisers and ethnic Chinese, as did Bali and other parts of Indonesia. Under President Soeharto's 'New Order', Lombok enjoyed stability and some growth, until crop failures led to famine in 1966 and to severe food shortages in 1973. Many moved away from Lombok under the transmigrasi (transmigration) programme. Tourist development started around 1980, when Lombok attracted attention as an 'unspoilt' alternative to Bali. While low budget bungalows proliferated at places like the Gili islands and Lombok's south coast, big businesses from outside Lombok became interested and speculation on beachfront land became epidemic. Lombok's tourism planning was dominated by the national government in Jakarta, and many traditional landholders were displaced as outside business interests moved in.

The political turmoil, economic crisis and civil unrest that beset Indonesia in the late 1990s did not spare Lombok. Students in Mataram and Praya staged protests over the general economic situation as early as 1997, and the local economy was hit hard by the general downturn in Indonesian tourism.

Recent History

The riots of 17 January 2000 were a surprise and a shock to most local people. A public community meeting in Mataram was roused to burn churches and ransack Christians' houses and businesses. Evidence suggests that this apparently spontaneous incident was actually well planned by groups from outside Lombok. Anti-Christian propaganda had been circulated before the meeting, there were planted provocateurs in the crowd and the rioters were directed to a well-identified series of targets. A high proportion of Lombok's Christians are ethnic Chinese, and though the violence was consistently described as anti-Christian, many observers consider that an anti-Chinese element was at least a contributory factor. The effect on the tourist industry was immediate. The incident caused grave damage to Lombok's reputation and economy, and despite efforts to promote the island as a safe destination, the bombings of 2002 and 2005 in neighbouring Bali only compounded the negative perceptions. Senggigi, the island's main resort, has suffered particularly badly, as tour operators have cancelled bookings; however, the Gili islands have remained popular with independent travellers.

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