Osing (ethnic group)
The Osing are an ethnic community who see themselves as descendants of the Blambangan, the last Hindu Majapahit princes who refused to convert to Islam in the 16th century and fled to East Java , Bali and Lombok .
Today around 500,000 Osing members still live scattered across Indonesia . Its center is the city of Banyuwangi in East Java. They speak a Javanese dialect that has influences from the Balinese language .
Religion and culture
Today about 75 percent of the Osing are Muslims, most of them belong to the Abangan and, like the Balinese, have a culture strongly influenced by Hinduism .
It is not uncommon in Banyuwangi to see Hindu temples and mosques next to each other. Through Dutch missionary work at the beginning of the 20th century, around 40,000 Osing became Catholic or Protestant Christians today. Many have also incorporated Hindu or Muslim beliefs into their religion.
