Portuguese Timor was the eastern half of the island of Timor (plus the Oé-Cusse enclave and Ataúro), ruled by Portugal from first contact at Lifau around 1515 until 1975, when decolonisation collapsed into civil war and Indonesia invaded on 7 December. For most of those four and a half centuries Portuguese control was thin: traders, missionaries and mixed-race “Topasses” mattered more than governors, and real colonial administration across the territory only arrived around 1900.
This guide covers the colonial period in detail. For the full timeline, from the first settlers to independence in 2002, see the history of Timor-Leste.
Quick answers
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| c. 1515 | First Portuguese contact, at Lifau (Oé-Cusse), in search of sandalwood |
| 1560s | Dominican friars set up a mission and, in 1566, a fort on Solor |
| 1702 | First governor appointed by Portugal takes office at Lifau |
| 1769 | Capital moves from Lifau to Dili |
| 1844 | Timor placed under the government of Macau |
| 1859 | Treaty of Lisbon divides Timor between Portugal and the Netherlands |
| 15 October 1896 | Timor separated from Macau as an autonomous district |
| 1912 | Manufahi rebellion of Dom Boaventura crushed |
| 25 June 1914 | Arbitral award fixes the last disputed stretch of the border |
| 1942–1945 | Japanese occupation |
| 25 April 1974 | Carnation Revolution in Lisbon opens the way to decolonisation |
| 28 November 1975 | FRETILIN proclaims independence |
| 7 December 1975 | Indonesia invades |
Sandalwood and first contact (c. 1515)
Timor was known to Asian traders long before Europeans arrived, above all for its white sandalwood, prized in China as incense. The Portuguese reached the region after taking Malacca in 1511, and the first recorded Portuguese visits to Timor to load sandalwood date from around 1515–1516. The traditional landing place is Lifau, on the north coast of today’s Oé-Cusse; the Government of Timor-Leste marked 500 years of contact with Portugal there in 2015 and inaugurated the Lifau monument.
For the first five decades, the Portuguese presence was seasonal: merchant-adventurers came for the sandalwood trade and left again.
Dominicans, Solor and the Topasses (1560s–1700s)
A lasting presence came with the Church. Dominican friars began missions in the islands from the 1550s and settled on the small island of Solor, north of Timor, in 1562, where they built a fort in 1566 to protect Christian villages and the sandalwood trade. With no royal authority on the spot, the Dominicans ran much of the civil administration and defence of these communities themselves.
Around Solor grew a Catholic, Portuguese-speaking, mixed-race community that the Dutch East India Company (VOC) called the Topasses, also known as the “Black Portuguese”. Pushed by the Dutch, they moved from Solor to Larantuka on Flores and then onto Timor, first near Kupang and later around Lifau. Two Topass families, the Hornay and the da Costa, dominated: their leaders held the title of captain-major, controlled the sandalwood trade and accepted the authority of Portuguese governors only when it suited them. In 1697 Domingos da Costa expelled a governor sent from Goa.
The Dutch drove the Portuguese from Kupang in the mid-17th century. In 1749 a large Topass army led by Gaspar da Costa was defeated by the VOC and its allies at Penfui, near Kupang, opening the west of the island to Dutch influence.
Lifau, the first capital (1702–1769)
Portugal formally established a colonial government at Lifau in 1702, when António Coelho Guerreiro took office as the first governor appointed by the Crown, at that time under the viceroy in Goa. Governors ruled indirectly, giving military ranks to local kings (liurais) in return for their loyalty, a system that lasted into the 20th century.
Lifau was never secure. Topass leaders and rebellious kingdoms besieged it repeatedly, and resistance grew after a tribute in kind, the finta, was imposed around 1710. In 1769 Governor António José Teles de Meneses abandoned Lifau and moved the seat of government east to Dili, which has been the capital ever since. Lifau stayed Portuguese, which is why Oé-Cusse is still part of Timor-Leste. See where Timor-Leste is.
Dili, Macau and the 19th century (1769–1896)
From Dili, Portuguese control long reached little beyond the north coast. Administratively, Timor moved between Goa and Macau: it was governed from Goa between 1836 and 1844, then placed under the jurisdiction of Macau, and for much of the second half of the century it was a dependency of Macau. A decree of 15 October 1896 separated it from Macau as the Autonomous District of Timor, under Governor José Celestino da Silva; in 1909 it became the Province of Timor.
As sandalwood ran out, Portugal turned to cash crops. Around 1859 Governor Castro introduced the forced cultivation of coffee, which provoked a revolt in 1861, and Celestino da Silva extended forced labour, especially for road building, in the 1890s and 1900s.
Borders with the Dutch (1859–1914)
The present border between Timor-Leste and Indonesia is the colonial line drawn by Portugal and the Netherlands:
- 1859, Treaty of Lisbon: set a frontier across the island, leaving a Dutch enclave (Maucatar) in Portuguese territory and a Portuguese enclave (Oé-Cusse with Ambeno) in Dutch territory.
- 1893, Lisbon convention: both sides agreed to fix the boundary and remove the enclaves.
- 1904, Hague convention (1 October 1904): Maucatar went to Portugal and Noimuti to the Netherlands; Oé-Cusse-Ambeno stayed Portuguese.
- 1914, arbitral award: the Permanent Court of Arbitration fixed the disputed eastern limit of Oé-Cusse on 25 June 1914.
Liurais and the Manufahi rebellion (1895–1912)
Heavy taxes and forced labour fuelled a series of revolts led by liurais. Celestino da Silva answered with military campaigns from 1895 and set up a network of military-administrative districts across the territory. The largest and last rebellion was led by Dom Boaventura, liurai of Manufahi (Same), whose father Dom Duarte had fought the Portuguese in the 1890s. When a head tax replaced the finta in 1908, Dom Boaventura rose in 1911. Portugal raised an army of some 12,000 Timorese auxiliaries, brought in troops from Mozambique and crushed the revolt in 1912. According to the CAVR, up to 25,000 people may have died. Afterwards Portugal ruled more directly through the villages (sucos), reducing the power of the liurais.
The 20th century and the Second World War (1912–1945)
Portuguese Timor remained the most remote and least funded of Portugal’s colonies: in 1929 there were only about 200 Portuguese civilians and 300 soldiers. In the Second World War, Portugal was neutral, but Australian, British and Dutch troops landed in Dili on 17 December 1941 and Japan invaded on 19 February 1942. Between 40,000 and 60,000 Timorese died during the occupation, which ended in 1945. Read the full story in Timor in the Second World War.
After the war: an overseas province (1945–1974)
Portugal returned after 1945 and rebuilt Dili, including the colonnaded Government Palace on the waterfront, built in the 1950s. In 1951 Portugal renamed its colonies “overseas provinces”, and in 1960 the United Nations listed Portuguese Timor as a Non-Self-Governing Territory, recognising its people’s right to self-determination. Education and development stayed very limited, and a rebellion in Viqueque in 1959 was put down.
Carnation Revolution and decolonisation (1974–1975)
On 25 April 1974, the Armed Forces Movement overthrew the dictatorship in Lisbon in the Carnation Revolution, opening the way for decolonisation.
The political parties
Three main parties formed within weeks:
- UDT (Timorese Democratic Union), founded on 11 May 1974: conservative; it wanted independence through a gradual process.
- ASDT (Timorese Social Democratic Association), founded on 20 May 1974, renamed FRETILIN (Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor) on 11 September 1974: called for immediate independence.
- APODETI (Timorese Popular Democratic Association), founded on 27 May 1974: favoured integration with Indonesia.
In July 1975 Portugal’s Law 7/75 set out a timetable for decolonisation, under Mário Lemos Pires, the last governor.
The civil war (August–September 1975)
On 11 August 1975, UDT launched an armed movement in Dili. FRETILIN, backed by most Timorese soldiers in the Portuguese army, struck back on 20 August, and fighting spread across the country. Unable to control events, the Portuguese administration withdrew to the island of Ataúro on the night of 26 August 1975. By September FRETILIN had won, and thousands of UDT supporters had fled into Indonesian West Timor. From October, Indonesian forces attacked border towns, including Balibó.
Proclamation and invasion (November–December 1975)
On 28 November 1975, FRETILIN proclaimed the independence of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste in front of the Portuguese government building in Dili, lowering the Portuguese flag and raising the new national flag. The next day, UDT, APODETI and two smaller parties signed the “Balibo Declaration” calling for integration with Indonesia. Portugal recognised neither declaration and still considered itself the administering power. On 7 December 1975, Indonesia launched a full-scale invasion of Dili, beginning an occupation that lasted until 1999. The story continues in the history of Timor-Leste.
The Portuguese legacy today
- Language: under Section 13 of the Constitution, Portuguese and Tetum are the official languages, and Tetum has absorbed many Portuguese words.
- Religion: the Catholic Church, brought by Portuguese missionaries, is the faith of most Timorese.
- Names and places: the country’s own name uses the Portuguese word Leste (east), many Timorese have Portuguese family names, and Dili keeps Portuguese street and place names such as Avenida de Portugal and Largo de Lecidere. See East Timor or Timor-Leste?.
- Buildings: forts, churches, markets and pousadas survive in Dili, Baucau, Balibó, Maubara and Lifau. See Portuguese heritage in Timor-Leste.
Frequently asked questions
When did Portugal colonise Timor?
Portuguese traders first reached Timor around 1515, at Lifau in Oé-Cusse, but formal colonial government began only in 1702, when the first governor took office at Lifau. Effective control of the whole territory came after the military campaigns of 1895–1912.
Why did the Portuguese capital move from Lifau to Dili?
Lifau was under constant pressure from Topass leaders and rebel kingdoms. In 1769 Governor António José Teles de Meneses abandoned it and moved the government east to Dili.
Who were the Topasses?
A Catholic, Portuguese-speaking, mixed-race community, also called the “Black Portuguese”, that grew around the Portuguese fort on Solor and later settled on Flores and Timor. Led by the Hornay and da Costa families, they controlled the sandalwood trade and often defied Portuguese governors.
Was Timor ruled from Macau?
For part of its history, yes. Timor was placed under Macau’s government in 1844 and was a dependency of Macau for much of the 19th century, until a decree of 15 October 1896 made it an autonomous district reporting to Lisbon.
Why does Timor-Leste speak Portuguese?
Because Portugal ruled the territory for about 460 years, until 1975. When independence was restored, the 2002 Constitution made Portuguese an official language alongside Tetum.
When did Portuguese rule end?
In practice in August 1975, when the Portuguese administration withdrew to Ataúro during the civil war. FRETILIN proclaimed independence on 28 November 1975, and Indonesia invaded on 7 December 1975. Portugal remained the administering power in the eyes of the United Nations until the 1999 referendum.
Sources
- CAVR, Chega! Final Report, Part 3: The History of the Conflict (2005, PDF): Lifau, 1702 and 1769, liurais and the finta, coffee, Manufahi rebellion, Second World War, overseas provinces, UN listing, political parties, civil war, proclamation and invasion
- Lisete Lumen Pereira, “Memórias de vida de timorenses em Macau”, Revista de Cultura no. 18 (2006), Instituto Cultural de Macau (PDF, Portuguese): sandalwood visits from 1516, Dominicans and the Solor fort, Topasses, Goa and Macau administration, 1896 decree, 1909 Province of Timor
- José Augusto Vilas Boas Tavares, “A Governação de Timor no Século XVIII. Lifau 1702-1769”, Academia de Marinha (2018, PDF, Portuguese): 1515–1562 merchant phase, Dominicans on Solor (1562), the da Costa Topass leaders, Penfui (1749), the move to Dili under Teles de Meneses
- Leonard Y. Andaya, “The ‘informal Portuguese empire’ and the Topasses in the Solor archipelago and Timor in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 41(3), 2010: the Topasses as “black Portuguese” and the Hornay captain-majors
- Government of Timor-Leste: 500 years of interaction with Portugal and inauguration of the Lifau Monument (27 November 2015, PDF, Portuguese)
- Permanent Court of Arbitration, Boundaries in the Island of Timor (Netherlands v. Portugal), award of 25 June 1914 (English translation): the 1859, 1893 and 1904 agreements and the 1914 award
- HPIP, Heritage of Portuguese Influence (Gulbenkian Foundation): Administrative Offices (Palácio das Repartições), Dili: built in the 1950s after the Second World War
- Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (English, PDF): Section 13 (official languages), proclamation of 28 November 1975