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 (now Indonesia).
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 (a Lisbon-instigated decolonisation process) in 1975, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia. However, the invasion was not recognised as legal by the United Nations (UN), 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.
In 1613, the Dutch took control of the western part of the island.
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. by Caetano de Melo e Castro, the Viceroy of Goa, ending the autonomy of the Dominican missions.
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. This shift was accompanied by renewed relations between Portugal and more Eastern kingdoms, and control in Maubara became again contested. 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. 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.
Early twentieth century
thumb|upright=1.3|1914 Portuguese map of Portuguese Timor and Dili.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a faltering home economy prompted the Portuguese to extract greater wealth from its colonies, resulting in increased resistance to Portuguese rule in Portuguese Timor.
World War II
thumb|upright|Memorial to chief Evaristo de Sá Benevides.
Although Portugal was neutral during World War II, in December 1941, Portuguese Timor was occupied by a small British, Australian and Dutch force, to preempt a Japanese invasion. However, the Japanese did invade in the Battle of Timor in February 1942. Under Japanese occupation, the borders of the Dutch and Portuguese were ignored with Timor island being made a single Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) administration zone.
Under Japanese rule, there were changes to the administrative structures that created larger districts (the former kingdoms) and a reduced number of suco.]]
Following World War II, the Portuguese promptly returned to reclaim their colony, while Dutch Timor became part of Indonesia as Indonesian Timor, when it secured its independence in 1949.
Keen to maintain its colonies under the ideology of Lusotropicalism, Portugal formally declared Timor as an Overseas province. A small increase in education, infrastructure, and health development was coupled with increased repression. The international pressure for decolonisation and unrest in Portuguese Africa had little impact internally in Portuguese Timor, where identities remained linked to local kingdoms.
To rebuild the economy, colonial administrators forced local chiefs to supply labourers which further damaged the agricultural sector. The role of the Catholic Church in Portuguese Timor grew following the Portuguese government handing over the education of the Timorese to the Church in 1941. In post-war Portuguese Timor, primary and secondary school education levels significantly increased, albeit on a very low base.
Although illiteracy in 1973 was estimated at 93 percent of the population, the small educated elite of Portuguese Timorese produced by the Church in the 1960s and 1970s became the independence leaders during the Indonesian occupation. It was formed by members of the existing National Action Party and plantation owners. Fretilin, formed by trade unionists and anti-colonialists, and later declared itself "the only legitimate representative of the people". A third party, APODETI, emerged advocating Portuguese Timor's integration with Indonesia expressing concerns that an independent East Timor would be economically weak and vulnerable. Other minor political parties emerged as well: the monarchist Association of Timorese Heroes, a small party advocating union with Australia, and the Timorese Labour Party.