Klungkung is the original name of the capital of the Gelgel Regency, which changed its name in 1992 to Semarapura in tribute to the Semarapura "Palace of the God of Love." Klungkung was considered to be the highest and most important of all the regencies from the 17th century until the regency finally ceded to the Dutch in 1908. The royal family was directly descended from the emperors of the Majaphit. In 1710, Dewa Agung Jambe I, the regent of Klungkung, built Taman Gili, the royal palace. By the end of the 18th century Kerta Gosa, the so-called Halls of Justice, often referred to somewhat ambitiously as Bali's Sistine Chapel, was erected in the middle of an artificial lake. Though the Dutch made use of the Court, in 1908 they destroyed most of the rest of the palace after their bloody victory against Dewa Agung Jambe II. The fight on April 18, 1908, proceeded until the death of the last of the combatants, which included women and children. The king and many of his followers chose puputan (mass suicide) rather than face defeat and disgrace. The end of the battle marked the fall of the last of the Balinese kingdoms. A monument opposite Taman Gili commemorates this last stand.
