Jembrana Regency

Jembrana Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Jembrana; Balinese: ᬓᬪᬹᬧᬢᬾᬦ᭄ᬚᭂᬫ᭄ᬩ᭄ᬭᬡ, Kabupatén Jĕmbŕ‌‌ana) is a regency (kabupaten) in the southwest of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 841.8 km² and had a population of 329,353 in 2024. It is bordered by Tabanan Regency to its east, Buleleng Regency to its east and north, and the Bali Strait to its west and the Indian Ocean to its south. Its regency seat is the town of Negara.

Based on archaeological evidence, it can be interpreted that settlements in Jembrana have existed since 6000 years ago. From a semiotic perspective, the origin of the name of a place or area refers to the names of fauna and flora. The emergence of the name Jembrana comes from the wilderness area (Jimbar-Wana) inhabited by the snake king (Naga-Raja). The mythological nature of the naming of places has become a tradition through stories passed down from generation to generation among the population.

Based on folklore and oral traditions (folklore) that emerged, inspiring the builders of traditional power institutions (kings and kingdoms) The King and his followers, namely the people from the Balinese Hindu ethnic group and from non-Balinese ethnic groups who are Muslim, have built a palace as a center of government named Puri Gede Jembrana in the early 17th century by I Gusti Made Yasa (ruler of Brangbang). The first king who ruled in the palace (Puri) Gede Agung Jembrana was I Gusti Ngurah Jembrana. In addition to the palace, the people were also given followers (wadwa), royal clothing equipped with heirlooms in the form of spears and tulup. Likewise, the heirloom keris named "Ki Tatas" to increase the authority of the kingdom. It is recorded that there were three kings who ruled in the center of government, namely in Puri Agung Jembrana.

Since the power of the kingdom was held by King Jembrana I Gusti Gede Seloka, a new Puri as the center of government was built. The palace that was built was named Puri Agung Negeri in the early 19th century which was later better known as Puri Agung Negara. It is worth noting that the kings who ruled in the Jembrana Kingdom later also centralized their government bureaucracy in Puri Agung Negara. It is also worth noting that there were two periods of government bureaucracy centered in Puri Agung Negara.

The first period was marked by the traditional royal government bureaucracy that lasted until 1855. It is recorded on the government archive document sheets of the Gubernemen that the autonomous Jembrana kingdom was occupied by King Jembrana V (Sri Padoeka Ratoe) I Goesti Poetoe Ngoerah Djembrana (1839–1855). During his reign, a bilateral friendship agreement was signed between the royal government and the Dutch East Indies Colonial government (Gubernemen) on June 30, 1849.

The second period was then replaced by a modern bureaucracy, through regional governance (Regentschap) which was part of the Banyuwangi Residency administrative area. The Regentschap regional government was headed by a native leader (Regent) as an official included in the Modern Colonial Gubernemen bureaucratic structure centered in Batavia. The status of regional government (Regentschap) lasted for 26 years (1856–1882).

During the Jembrana VI Kingdom, I Gusti Ngurah Made Pasekan (1855–1866) experienced two status changes, namely 1855–1862 as King of Jembrana and 1862–1866 as Regent (Regent) the seat of the kingdom was in Puri Pacekan Jembrana. When the reorganization of regional government was implemented based on Staatblad Number 123 of 1882, the administrative areas of Bali and Lombok were given the status of separate administrative areas of Residency. The Residency areas of Bali and Lombok were divided again into two regions (Afdelingen), namely Afdeling Buleleng and Afdeling Jembrana based on Staatblad Number 124 of 1882 with one capital city, Singaraja.

Since then, the names of the capital city began: Singaraja for the Bali and Lombok Residency and its sub-districts in the Buleleng Afdeling, and Negara for the Jembrana Sub-district. The emergence of the names Jembrana and Negara until now, has its own meaning from a historical perspective. The inherited name has been in the pages of history since it was used as the name of the Puri, namely Puri Gede / Agung Jembrana and Puri Agung Negeri Negara. Because Puri is the center of the bureaucracy of the traditional kingdom government, it can be said that Jembrana and Negara are Puri built in the early 18th century and the early 19th century are types of Hindu-style royal cities.