The village, near the coast four kilometers south of the regency capital Semarapura, contains some structures of cultural interest and is known for its pottery and handwoven ceremonial songket cloth.
According to these texts, the conquest of Bali by the Hindu Javanese kingdom of Majapahit was followed by the installation of a vassal dynasty in Samprangan in the present-day regency Gianyar, close to the old royal centre Bedulu.
After his death, his son Dalem Bekung led a troubled reign marked by two serious rebellions by court aristocrats (traditionally dated in 1558 and 1578) and a severe military defeat against the Javanese kingdom of Pasuruan.
[5] Dutch and Portuguese sources confirm the existence of a powerful kingdom in the 16th and 17th centuries, to which the neighbouring areas Lombok, West Sumbawa, and Balambangan stood in a tributary or loosely subordinate relation.
At the side of the king (dalem) stood senior ministers belonging to the Agung and Ler families, and a hereditary line of Brahmana preceptors.
Subsequent relations between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the kings of Gelgel were usually good, although attempts at concrete political cooperation were mostly unsuccessful.
By the early 17th century it was linked to the economic networks of the Southeast Asian Archipelago through traders from the Pasisir area on Java's north coast.
These traders exchanged pepper from the western part of the archipelago for cotton cloth produced on Bali, which was then brought to eastern Indonesia and the Philippines.
After this event, a scion of the old royal line called Dewa Agung Jambe established himself as the new upper ruler, with his seat in Klungkung (Semarapura).
The rulers (Dewa Agung) of Klungkung continued to hold the position as paramount kings, but the island was split up into several minor kingdoms (Karangasem, Sukawati, Buleleng, Tabanan, Badung, etc.).