JAKARTA -- In 1906, Cokorda Made Agung, the king of Badung, in southern Bali, led several hundred men and women from the palace in Denpasar to face the guns of Dutch-commanded colonial troops. Knowing that defeat was inevitable, they donned white clothes, decked themselves out in their finest jewelry, and took up kris daggers and spears for the final act. The king descended from a palanquin bearing him and signaled to a priest, who plunged a kris into the king's breast.

This was the start of the puputan, a ritual suicide-cum-last stand. The rest of the crowd -- women and children included -- then charged the guns, ignoring calls for surrender, and were mowed down. Survivors killed the wounded before charging again. Some women mockingly threw coins and jewelry at the soldiers in a final act of defiance. It is estimated that more than 1,000 Balinese were killed. The Dutch forces lost four men.