Buleleng Regency

For the district see Buleleng, Bali

Buleleng is a regency (kabupaten) of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 1,365.88 km² and population of 577,644 (1999). Its regency seat is Singaraja.

Buleleng was founded as a kingdom by Gusti Panji Sakti, who ruled c. 1660-c. 1700. He is commemorated as a heroic ancestor-figure who expanded the power of Buleleng to Blambangan on East Java. The kingdom was weakened during his successors, and fell under the suzerainty of the neighbouring Karangasem kingdom in the second half of the 18th century. It was headed by an autonomous branch of the Karangasem Dynasty in 1806-1849.

The Dutch attacked Buleleng in 1846, 1848 and 1849, and defeated it on the last occasion. Buleleng was incorporated in the Dutch colonial system and lost its autonomy in 1882. In 1929 a descendant of Gusti Panji Sakti, the renowned scholar Gusti Putu Jelantik, was appointed regent by the Dutch. He died in 1944, during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. His son, a well-known novelist, Anak Agung Nyoman Panji Tisna. In 1947, Anak Agung Pandji Tisna surrendered the throne to his younger brother, Anak Agung Ngurah Ketut Djelantik, known as Meester Djelantik, until 1950. In 1949-50 Buleleng, like the rest of Bali, was incorporated in the unitary republic of Indonesia.