Mads Johansen Lange, nicknamed the King of Bali (18 September 1807 in Rudkøbing, Denmark13 May 1856 in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia), was a Danish trader, entrepreneur, peace maker on Bali, knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and recipient of the Danish gold medal of achievement. He was the son of Lorents Lange Pedersen and Maren Lange, a merchant and a merchant's daughter, respectively.
Lange travelled to the Dutch East Indies at an early age and settled on the island of Bali. Here he built a thriving commercial enterprise, exporting rice, spices and beef, and importing weapons and textiles. He maintained good relations with the local Rajas and mediated between them and the Dutch colonists with great success.
Lange died 48 years old, possibly because of poisoning. His business had been in decline by then, and even the joint efforts of his brother and nephew could not change this. The remains of the business were sold to a Chinese merchant. He had three children with two Balinese women (the Raja of Tabanan's daughter and a Chinese woman). His daughter Cecilia married into Johore royalty and bore a son, Ibrahim, who became the Sultan of Johor. Lange is buried in Kotta (now 'Kuta').
Early life
Childhood Mads Lange was born in Rudkøbing on 18 September 1807, as the second son of Lorents Lange and Maren Hansen. He had one sister and ten brothers, three of whom were children from an earlier marriage of his mother. The youngest brother died when he was six years old. Little else is known about Mads' childhood.
Ancestors His father, Lorents Lange Pedersen, was the son of master builder Peder Frandsen Knudsøn and Johanne Margrethe Lorentzdatter Lange. He was the only one of his nine brothers and sisters to take his mother's surname, Lange, as his baptismal name. Although the idea was for it to be a middle name, in practice it became his surname, meaning his mother's surname lived on through him. Lorents was the only boy among the three children who survived into adulthood. In later life Lorents was a member of the Langeland militia. He had an indirect role in the Napoleonic Wars: Spanish soldiers were billeted in his house from 1812 to 1813. He received 4florins a month for this, but it meant his family home was now occupied by about fifteen people. This was surely a contributing factor in his decision to buy a new house on the Østergade, No.1214, in 1816. In 1822 Lorents started a transport company with a mail coach and two horses, not uncommon for a merchant in those days. His cousin was master of the ferry services, which probably benefited the small company enormously. Lorents died in 1828.
Lange's mother, Maren Hansen, had married Mads Andresen in 1799. With him she had three sons. Mads Andresen died in 1805, and later that year Maren married Lorents Lange. She had inherited a tavern and a shop, which Lorents ran even though he had been trained to be a master builder. After Lorents' death she married Mads Hansen.
Career at sea Lange started his career at sea at fourteen years of age. Three years later, in 1824, he worked aboard the ship North, where he met Captain John Burd. They sailed together for many years, including to the Danish trading post Tranquebar in India. In 1833 they returned to Denmark, and Mads seized this opportunity to visit his parents' home. He remained in Denmark for some time and was counted in the 1834 census.
In the meantime, Burd sold the ship North in Hamburg. A little while later he and Lange bought the ship South, which they steered towards India and China. Burd was the captain and Lange the first mate. With them traveled Lange's three brothers: Hans, Carl Emil, and Hans Henrik, 20, 18, and 14 years old, respectively. None of the four brothers would ever return to Denmark.
Settlement in the East
Lombok In 1835 Mads decided to settle on the island of Lombok, east of Bali and Java, because here there was a lively commercial traffic. The island contained two princely states, Karangasem Lombok and Mataram. The first was the largest, and it was the Raja from this state who allowed Lange to trade from the port city of Tanjungkarang, in exchange for a yearly fee. It was here that Lange created his first flourishing commercial enterprise. He exported coffee, rice, spices and green tobacco, importing textiles and weapons that could easily be sold to the local warring tribes.
In 1839 fights erupted ever more frequently between the princely states. Combined with increased Dutch efforts to colonize the island, this forced Mads to leave Lombok. When the Raja who had supported him was defeated, Mads had to flee to Bali head-over-heels in his schooner Venus.
Bali
Lange now had to start over on Bali. He settled on the south coast of the island, near the town of Kotta. The town was situated on a narrow peninsula, which made it possible to load goods on the east and the west side. This came in very handy during the monsoon season, when winds abruptly changed direction.
Four factors helped Lange settle on Bali successfully. First was his long history of trading with Bali. This meant he knew the possibilities this island had to offer. Second were his good relations with the Balinese Rajas. Raja Kassiman of Badung had even invited him to settle on the island. This meant he enjoyed protection and could obtain cheap labour, but probably also that he possessed a monopoly on trade on the island. The third factor was that the local population on Bali was suffering from an economic depression, after a war with Java that had made the export of slaves impossible. The fourth factor was a shortage of rice in Asia. Bali was well situated to reap the benefits of this shortage because the island population was well skilled in rice farming, and because the climate was such that it allowed for up to three harvests a year.
Lange built his factorij at Kotta and steadily expanded it with residential units and warehouses. The Dutch nobleman and politician Wolter Robert, Baron van Hoevell visited Bali and Mads Lange, and gave a description of the factorij:
Lange was in good standing with the Balinese, and within a few years he had built a flourishing company with about fifteen ships, plying lively trade among ports in the East Indies, the West Indies, and Europe. His brothers helped him out in the factorij, and sometimes sailed on the ships when trading missions were difficult or demanding. Pirates and bad weather conditions often made these journeys dangerous. Two of Lange's brothers, Hans Henrik and Carl Emil, died during these kinds of journeys, the latter dying in plain sight of Mads when the rowboat he was in capsized.
Lange's career as a merchant blossomed during the 1840s. Halfway through that period his fleet of ships was capable of transporting between 800 and 1500 tons of freight. Many of the ships were newly built, probably in Singapore, a city Mads often visited. Coconut oil was sold in Singapore in great quantities, yielding profits of 200 to 300%. Because of this, Mads had an oil mill imported entire from Europe. This was an expensive operation, but the costs were recuperated within a few years. Rice kept being announced for low prices in the newspapers of Singapore, Australia and China.
From 1841 to 1843 Lange had an intimate relationship with his second cousin Malana von Munk, who was a distant relative of Christian IX of Denmark. While the relationship was strong and there are writings describing Lange's infatuation with von Munk, she had to return to Denmark for personal reasons, bringing the two-year relationship to an end.
Predominantly French ships sailed to Kotta to load trading goods, especially cattle, ponies, pigs and poultry. Often the Balinese would come to the beaches with far more livestock than the ships could carry. Lange took advantage of the situation. He bought the livestock that remained, especially the cattle, since beef was a popular food. He functioned as a beach butcher, where a man could have his cows butchered quickly. Dried beef, known as "ding-ding", was shipped to Dutch troops on Java.
During those days, Lange's factorij had trading interests of a million guilders in trade with Java specifically. His success was primarily due to his ability to create personal ties, especially with the local Rajas. The Dutch, who were also trying to set up trade on Bali, were less successful, and in May 1844 they named Lange their agent on the island, with the right to fly the Dutch flag. Now Mads was not just working for himself, but also for the Dutch authorities who profited from his cooperation.
Peace broker In the last half of the 1840s, the Dutch again tried to gain control over Bali and its Rajas. In July 1846 they sent a military force to the island, the First Dutch Expedition to Bali. Their goal was the northern city of Buleleng. After an ultimatum to surrender unconditionally was rejected, the Dutch landed on the island on 28June and attacked the city. It was conquered and burned. The next day the Dutch troops marched for the residency of Singaraja, where this city was taken without much resistance as most Balinese were moving inland to the fort of Djagaraga. During the attack, the Dutch received support from their fleet, whose commander would not allow the troops to move too far inland. Lange offered to go to the Rajas of Buleleng and Karangasem for negotiations. These were successful and on 9July the peace accords came into effect. The Rajas would pay a small amount of damages, and the Dutch would maintain a small occupation force on the island until the matter could be settled.
When the Rajas did not comply with all the agreements of the treaty of 1846, the Dutch sent a larger expedition to Bali in 1848, the Second Dutch Expedition to Bali. Lange was able to keep the states of Tabanan and Badung neutral, but the rest of the Balinese forces assembled at Djagaraga, the same place they had sought refuge in 1846. During the preparations for their campaign, the Dutch blockaded the coast of Bali, wreaking havoc on trade. Djagaraga lay deep inland, so the attack had to go through without the help of the fleet. At first all went well, but the Dutch were stopped when they met Gusti Djilantiek, who had dug in with 600 riflemen. When it became clear that the Dutch supply was badly organized, because there were not enough coolies to carry everything, the Dutch could no longer resist Balinese attacks from the villages and were forced to retreat.
The Dutch defeat resonated through the Dutch East Indies and the government felt compelled to re-establish authority in order to prevent revolts in other parts of the archipelago. A new force twice the size of the previous one was sent in 1849, the Third Dutch Expedition to Bali. This time, the army brought along 200 coolies to carry supplies and the wounded. On 1April 1849 the fleet reached Buleleng and on 4April general-major Andreas Victor Michiels set up his headquarters in the abandoned palace of Singaraja. Emissaries of the Rajas of Buleleng and Karangasem were sent to the general, but he refused to talk to anyone but the Rajas themselves. He urged them to hurry up, or they would lose their territories. The meeting took place on 7April. The Balinese arrived at the palace with a force of 12,000 men, after the Dutch had allowed them to take as many guards as the Rajas deemed necessary. Fighting did not occur, since the Rajas accepted all demands of the Dutch, including the immediate demolition of the fortifications at Djagaraga.