Local Governance in Timor-Leste - Secretaria de Estado da Arte e ...

eastplates, and used throughout Timor to symbolise how the right to rule wasobtained.However, there is strong evidence that this hierarchical political system headed by theliurai does not represent the 'original' political system of the island of Timor.Linguistic and anthropological studies indicate that prior to Portuguese arrival, Timorhad been subject to various 'waves of invaders' that over time were incorporated intoexisting social structures through conquest and inter-marriage (Capell, 1944: 194-195,Davidson, 1994: 111, Saldanha, 1994: 71). By unravelling oral history, origin mythsand linguistic clues, historians argue that the liurai and datu classes appear to havebeen a later addition to Timorese social structures, whose hierarchical rule waslayered over the indigenous political systems of the descent groups that weremediated via relations within and between uma lulik (Davidson, 1994: 111-113,Capell, 1944: 197). This stratification of Timorese society over time is indicated byvariations on the Tetun terms 'liurai' and 'datu' that are used throughout the languagegroups of Timor, instead of different terms for different language groups, suggestingthat these classes were introduced at a later date (Davidson, 1994: 111-13).There are different theories on when and how the liurai and datu consolidated theirpresence within Timor. Together with the difficulties in unravelling unwritten history,it is likely that these regional variations reflect the unique circumstances of differentclans. Forman (1977: 107-109), for example, argues that the liurai classes for theMakassae language group were descended from the Topass conquerors 24 , and it wasonly through political and military alignments with the Portuguese Government thatthey were able to establish their right to rule. Davidson (1994: 112) by contrast arguesthat the liurai became a force in Timor much earlier, when the ancestors of the Tetuntribes forced the indigenous inhabitants to less fertile parts of the island and throughconquest and intermarriage established their rule. As the control that the liurai hadover their tributary subjects varied significantly from one kingdom to the next, it ispossible that both accounts are true for different parts of Timor.24 Topasses: the ‘Black’ Portuguese, an independent mixed race community that grew up around thePortuguese settlement.79