Portuguese Timor
Portuguese Timor was a Portuguese colony on the territory of present-day Timor-Leste from 1702 until 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies
The first Europeans to arrive in the region were the Portuguese in 1515. Dominican friars established a presence on the island in 1556, and the territory was declared a Portuguese colony in 1702. Following the beginning of the Carnation Revolution in 1975, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia. However, the invasion was not recognised as legal by the United Nations, which continued to regard Portugal as the legal Administering Power of East Timor. The independence of East Timor was finally achieved in 2002 following a UN-administered transition period.
History
Early Europeans
Prior to the arrival of European colonial powers, the island of Timor was part of the trading networks that stretched between India and China and incorporating Maritime Southeast Asia. The island's large stands of fragrant sandalwood were its main commodity. It was sandalwood that attracted European explorers to the island in the early sixteenth century, and early European presence was limited to trade. The first European powers to arrive in the area were the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century followed by the Dutch in the late sixteenth century. Both came in search of the fabled Spice Islands of Maluku. In 1515, the Portuguese first landed near modern Pante Macassar. Dutch and Portuguese sources relate that the island was divided into two collections of kingdoms. Around sixteen kingdoms were grouped into in the west, while in the east around fifty kingdoms were part of Belos.In 1556 a group of Dominican friars established the village of Lifau. Trade was controlled by Portuguese settlements on other Lesser Sunda Islands. The first Portuguese settlement in the area was set up on the nearby island of Solor in the 1560s. Due to the lack of direct Portuguese control in the area, with limited support from both Malacca and Goa, the sandalwood trade fell under the control of the Dominican missionaries. These exports were crucial for the prosperity of Macau. Despite the early presence of Dominican missionaries, the missionaries struggled to convert the native inhabitants. Even after the local rulers declared themselves as Christians, adoption of Christianity by the masses was not widespread, and conversions were mostly superficial. As late as 1941, Christians were still few in number.
In 1613, the Dutch took control of the western part of the island. Over the following three centuries, the Dutch would come to dominate the Indonesian archipelago with the exception of the eastern half of Timor, which would become Portuguese Timor. In 1605 Ambon and Tidore passed to Dutch control, and the following year Ternate was ceded to Spain. Solor was also lost in 1613, leading the Portuguese capital to move to Flores. In 1621 the Banda Islands fell to the Dutch, before Malacca fell in 1641, and Solor shortly afterwards in 1646. The fall of Solor led the Portuguese capital to be moved to Kupang on Timor's west, before that was lost again to the Dutch in 1652. Only then did the Portuguese move to Lifau in what is now East Timor's Oecusse exclave. The Portuguese had engaged with Lifau recently, having sent forces in 1641 to aid the Queen of Lifau/Ambeno.
The Portuguese introduced maize as a food crop and coffee as an export crop. Timorese systems of tax and labour control were preserved, through which taxes were paid through their labour and a portion of the coffee and sandalwood crop. The Portuguese introduced mercenaries into Timorese communities and Timorese chiefs hired Portuguese soldiers for wars against neighbouring tribes. With the use of the Portuguese musket, Timorese men became deer hunters and suppliers of deer horn and hide for export.
The Portuguese introduced Catholicism to Portuguese Timor, as well as the Latin writing system, the printing press, and formal schooling. Two groups of people were introduced to East Timor: Portuguese men, and Topasses. The Portuguese language was introduced into church and state business, and Portuguese Asians used Malay in addition to Portuguese. Under colonial policy, Portuguese citizenship was available to men who assimilated the Portuguese language, literacy, and religion; by 1970, 1,200 East Timorese, largely drawn from the aristocracy, Dili residents, or larger towns, had obtained Portuguese citizenship. By the end of the colonial administration in 1974, 30 percent of Timorese were practising Catholics while the majority continued to worship spirits of the land and sky.
Establishment of Portuguese Timor
In 1702, António Coelho Guerreiro was appointed Governor and Captain General of the islands of Timor and Solor and other regions in the South by Caetano de Melo e Castro, the Viceroy of Goa, ending the autonomy of the Dominican missions. He was sent to Lifau, which became the capital of all Portuguese dependencies in the Lesser Sunda Islands. Portuguese control over the territory was tenuous, particularly in the mountainous interior. Dominican friars, the occasional Dutch raid, and the Timorese themselves, competed with Portuguese merchants. Other disruptions came from the local Topasses, restive vassal kingdoms, and the south Sulawesi-based Gowa and Talloq sultanates. The control of colonial administrators was largely restricted to the Dili area, and they had to rely on traditional tribal chieftains for control and influence. Direct European presence was limited to a handful of individuals, and only one or two ships made the trip between Lifau and Macau each year. This weakness allowed the Dutch East India Company to establish influence in the area despite Portugal's claims.In 1716 the Viceroy of Macau, César de meneses, banned the sale of Timorese sandalwood to non-Portuguese areas, creating tension with the Topasses. In 1718 governor was excommunicated by bishop, leading the governor to flee, the bishop to take over. This buildup of tension following more direct rule led to the leaders of some local kingdoms meeting in the kingdom of Camenassa on the southern coast, coming to an agreement to throw off Portuguese authority. A renewal of this rebellion in 1725 led to a campaign by Portuguese forces and allies from the north coast. The rebellion included 15 kingdoms, including Oecusse and Ermera. This culminated in the October 1726 Battle of Cailaco, in which the Portuguese laid siege to a Timorese stronghold for six weeks. The Portuguese destroyed the fort, although they did not entirely suppress the revolt until 1728.
In 1732 the Kingdom of Maubara asked the VOC for protection, although it is unclear if an agreement was reached, and the kingdom continued to pay tribute to Portugal. In 1755 the Dutch began a concerted effort to increase their influence in Solor and Timor, and in June 1756 nobles from 77 polities signed contracts with the VOC representative in Kupang, including Maubara. A permanent fort, Fort Maubara, established with VOC support, created friction with the Portuguese. Portuguese allies in the east of the island attacked Maubara at Portuguese behest in 1760, but were repulsed with aid from the VOC.
A power struggle in Lifau at this time involving Portuguese officials and Topasse leaders also saw attempted interference by the VOC representative in Kupang, who travelled to Lifau but was killed there. The new VOC Governor shifted focus back to the western parts of Timor.
Establishment of Dili as capital of Portuguese Timor
Continuing struggles led to the killing of Portuguese Governor in Lifau in 1766. Shortly after, Portuguese administration shifted East, when Governor António José Teles de Meneses moved to the Kingdom of Motael due to the Topasse threat. This 1769 founding of the city of Dili was the first effective European occupation in the east of the island. This shift was accompanied by renewed relations between Portugal and more Eastern kingdoms, and control in Maubara became again contested.The sandalwood trade proved highly profitable, although Portugal was unable to establish a desired monopoly. Instead, the harvesting and trade of sandalwood was uncontrolled. The lack of Portuguese authority outside of Dili left harvesting under the control of local rulers, and no cooperation was sought by Portugal from these local rulers. There was also little cooperation from the local population, many of whom believed sandalwood trees were home to spirits. Nonetheless, the wood became so important to the colony that it could be used to pay taxes. The lack of control meant that sandalwood forests were not maintained, and as they disappeared throughout the 18th century the sandalwood trade declined. Imports at Macau become mixed in with sandalwood from other export markets, such as Hawaii, Fiji, and the Marquesas Islands., Governor from 1807 to 1810, blamed a failure to harvest on local conflicts and the seizure of trading ships by the English.
The Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s saw Dutch and Portuguese influence weaken again, as Portugal saw its shipping interrupted and Dutch territories in the area were occupied by the British forces. However, local authorities for both continued to contest control on Timor. This period saw Dutch claims to Maubara win out. When the Dutch regained control of their territories in 1816, cash crops such as coffee and tea were spread, including to Maubara, where coffee grew well. Direct control however remained limited to non-existent.
A fire in Dili destroyed the existing records of the colony in 1799. New instructions were issued by the Viceroy in Goa on 5 April 1811, to deal with the "decadent and abandoned state of the island of Timor". In 1815, a new Governor,, began to promote the cultivation of coffee, and to a lesser extent sugar cane and cotton.
Detachment of Portuguese Timor from Portuguese India
In 1844 Timor, along with Macau, become administratively separated from Goa. In 1866 Timor was placed under the control of Macau, and officially divided into 11 districts. Effective control however remained with local rulers throughout this period, and development remained limited to Dili. Coffee production continued to expand, becoming especially prominent in the north coast near Dili, such as in Liquiçá, Motael, and Hatulia.Conflicts with the Dutch continued throughout this period, entwined with shifting loyalties of local rulers. This led to three treaties being signed to define the border, in 1851, 1854, and 1859. Through these, Portugal ceded its remaining territory and claims on Flores and the Solor islands, while the Netherlands ceded Maubara and Citrana to Portugal, and dropped its claim on Atauro. The 1851 treaty which included these territorial arrangements was initiated by Portuguese Governor, who sought negotiations with officials in Kupang and Batavia shortly after his arrival to Timor in 1851. This was done without consulting authorities in Portugal, who upon hearing about the deal thought it too favourable to the Dutch. Lisbon revoked Timor's autonomy, and Lopes de Lima fled to Batavia rather than return to Portugal. The 1854 border treaty was rejected by the Dutch House of Representatives, who felt it did not protect religious liberty. The final 1859 Treaty of Lisbon stood in place until 1913, when the Portuguese and Dutch formally agreed to split the island between them. The definitive border was established by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 1914 and ratified in 1916; it remains the international boundary between East Timor and Indonesia.
The 1859 border treaty was not implemented all at once, with local transfers out of sync with the official ratification in August 1860. Rebellions against Portuguese rule broke out to the east and west of Dili in 1861. This revolt saw forces from Laclo and Ulmera lay siege to Dili. The Portuguese sought assistance from other kingdoms, and managed to suppress the revolt. Further military battles occurred over succeeding years, until 1888 when the thirteen kingdoms of the island's east swore fealty to Portugal. This did not however secure Portuguese control over the whole territory, as kingdoms in other areas remained effectively autonomous.
Coffee soon became the territory's primary export, to the point where some sandalwood forest recovered. There was a small renaissance in the sandalwood trade in the 1850s, including wood smuggled across the border in order to obtain valuable Dutch currency. This collapsed in the 1860s, as new sources elsewhere depressed prices. Then Governor shifted the focus of exports to coffee. Efforts began to regrow sandalwood forests at the same time, a four decade process. However, success was hindered by insufficient knowledge of the trees' biology, which require other tree species to obtain nutrients.
For the Portuguese, their colony of Portuguese Timor remained little more than a neglected trading post until the late nineteenth century. Investment in infrastructure, health, and education was minimal. Sandalwood remained the main export crop with coffee exports becoming significant in the mid-nineteenth century. In places where Portuguese rule was asserted, it tended to be brutal and exploitative.
José Celestino da Silva became Governor in 1894 and sought to establish "full and effective control" in the colony in line with international norms arising from the Berlin Conference. The autonomy and persistent rebellions of many kingdoms was viewed as an embarrassment, a view influenced by rebellions in Africa and the humiliation of the 1890 British Ultimatum. While at first proposing to sell the colony due to its underdevelopment, da Silva quickly shifted towards reforms, and sought complete autonomy from Macau. The first military campaign in 1895 headed west to Obulo and Marobo. Those rebelling held off this force with the support of their allies, leading to 6,000 reinforcements being sent in April. After quashing the revolt in Obulo, the commander marched the troops further without permission from Dili, and his forces were defeated and he was killed. This killing increased the desire of Portugal to properly control the territory, and to da Silva began further brutal campaigns alongside local allies. Some kingdoms were completely wiped out, with leaders and populations either dead or displaced to Dutch-controlled territory.
Da Silva's campaign continued west to east, assisted by local allies. A new administrative structure was imposed in some areas alongside direct taxation of residents, bypassing traditional rulers. New restrictions were placed on the Hakka Chinese, with greater government control over economic activities and taxes. Basic infrastructure such as roads were created, as well as some funding for schools, although it remained very limited. In the north, land was prepared for coffee cultivation. Such land was often directly seized or purchased under duress, with land rights often going to Portuguese. Locals were required to work on these plantations. Traditional cultural practices were discouraged, as was identification with specific local kingdoms, both of which weakened traditional rulers. In 1897 Timor was separated from Macau. The military campaigns meant that Portugal had established effective control even of the island's interior.
Portuguese authorities created an administrative structure based on the existing kingdoms, while also creating a new level of administration under them, the suco. This new level was created around villages, or groups of villages linked by kinship. These new administrative boundaries thus reflected family ties, and strengthened family power as villages gained administrative power. This created a permanent shift of powers from the level of the kingdom to that of the villages. Da reduced the power of local kings, and even eliminated smaller and more disloyal kingdoms. Implementation of the head tax required a census, and depended on the loyalty of the local leaders who would be responsible for collection. He also sought to impose a head tax which collected tax from each household, necessitating a census of the territory to count these households. The head tax was imposed by Silva's successor, Eduardo Augusto Marques, once the census was complete. The needs of the census meant power at this time also flowed to leaders of aldeias, a smaller unit that sucos whose leaders were responsible for some tax collection and were given formal military ranks.