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

three groups continued to struggle for control, at various times forming alliances witheach other or with the indigenous liurai.In 1702 the first official governor of Portuguese Timor was appointed in Lifau. Thegovernor entered into and formalised alliances with the surrounding liurai byrecognising their right to rule their own people, and bringing them under colonialauthority by bestowing military rank (Davidson, 1994: 61). This practice of militarilyrecognising traditional rulers was very effective in cementing colonial rule andcontinued well into the 20 th century (Boxer, 1960: 353). This is partly reflective ofTimorese culture being a warrior culture, and partly reflective of practical politics, asindigenous rulers who also had access to Portuguese forces were in a better positionto subdue local rebellions. In 1769, the Portuguese moved their centre to Dili inresponse to military aggression by the Topasses, who allied with local liurai. Lifauwas then captured by the Dutch (Davidson, 1994: 60, Capell, 1944: 193, Boxer,1947).Rather than colonisation by direct conquest, the Portuguese strengthened theirpresence within Portuguese Timor through indirect rule. As the Portuguese forces didnot have sufficient numbers to conquer all of the liurai across Timor directly, many ofthe conflicts with rebellious liurai were actually waged by other liurai who weresympathetic to, and benefited from, the Portuguese colonial support (Davidson, 1994:61, Dunn, 1983: 54). This also applied with the ongoing contests for power betweenthe Portuguese, the Dutch and the Topasses, and alliances regularly shifted betweenthese three groups and the liurai (Hägerdal, 2009: 53-59). As such, the impact of thecolonisers during this period is best described as ongoing power struggles betweenfour elite groups: the Dutch, Topasses, Portuguese, and the indigenous elites, theliurai (Davidson, 1994: 276). Just as the liurai had regularly waged war on each otherfor land and tributary subjects, the newcomers also sought to expand their influenceacross the island through conflict and alliances.During this time, there was no administrative control exercised by the Dutch or thePortuguese beyond their immediate territories, and the liurai continued to engage witheach other and rule their respective territories via lisan. While the alliances that wereentered into were reported by the colonisers as gaining 'vassals' for the kingdoms back83