Editing Portuguese Timor (section)

===Early Europeans===
{{see also|Pre-colonial Timor|The Portuguese in Indonesia|Dutch East India Company}}
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.<ref name="Schwartz198">Schwartz (1994), p. 198</ref> It was sandalwood that attracted European explorers to the island in the early sixteenth century, and early European presence was limited to trade.<ref name=leibosteven>{{citation|last1=Leibo|first1=Steven|title=East and Southeast Asia 2012|place=Lanham, MD|publisher=Stryker Post|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781610488853/page/161 161–165]|year=2012|edition=45|isbn=978-1-6104-8885-3|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781610488853/page/161}}</ref> The first European powers to arrive in the area were the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] in the early sixteenth century followed by the Dutch in the late sixteenth century. Both came in search of the fabled [[Maluku Islands|Spice Islands]] of [[Maluku islands|Maluku]]. In 1515, the Portuguese first landed near modern [[Pante Macassar]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} Dutch and Portuguese sources relate that the island was divided into two collections of kingdoms. Around sixteen kingdoms were grouped into {{ill|Servião|de|Servião}} in the west, while in the east around fifty kingdoms were part of [[Belu (province)|Belos]].<ref name="Kammen2010">{{Cite journal |last=Kammen |first=Douglas |date=2010 |title=Subordinating Timor: Central authority and the origins of communal identities in East Timor |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |volume=166 |issue=2/3 |pages=244–269 |doi=10.1163/22134379-90003618 |jstor=27868578 |issn=0006-2294 |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|246}}

In 1556 a group of [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[Dominican friar|friars]] established the village of [[Lifau]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} Trade was controlled by Portuguese settlements on other [[Lesser Sunda Islands]].<ref name="Lundhal2019">{{cite book |last1=Lundahl |first1=Mats |last2=Sjöholm |first2=Fredrik |title=The Creation of the East Timorese Economy: Volume 1: History of a Colony |date=17 July 2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783030194666 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jkGjDwAAQBAJ |access-date=23 October 2022 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326152238/https://books.google.com/books?id=jkGjDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|267}} The first Portuguese settlement in the area was set up on the nearby island of [[Solor]] in the 1560s.<ref name="Paulino2011">{{cite book |last1=Paulino |first1=Vincente |editor1-last=Jarnagin |editor1-first=Laura |title=Culture and Identity in the Luso-Asian World |date=2011 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=9789814345507 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4A_RzBG4DjIC&pg=PA88 |chapter=Remembering the Portuguese Presence in Timor and its Contribution to the Making of Timor's National and Cultural Identity |access-date=23 October 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009025549/https://books.google.com/books?id=4A_RzBG4DjIC&pg=PA88 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|90}}<ref name="Villiers1994">{{cite journal |last1=Villiers |first1=John |title=The Vanishing Sandalwood of Portuguese Timor |journal=Itinerario |date=July 1994 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=86–96 |doi=10.1017/S0165115300022518 |s2cid=162012899 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/itinerario/article/abs/vanishing-sandalwood-of-portuguese-timor/29971F19F8EDC85DF7D8F866EA3DEA13 |access-date=23 October 2022 |archive-date=23 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023111224/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/itinerario/article/abs/vanishing-sandalwood-of-portuguese-timor/29971F19F8EDC85DF7D8F866EA3DEA13 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|86}} Due to the lack of direct Portuguese control in the area, with limited support from both [[Portuguese Malacca|Malacca]] and [[Portuguese India|Goa]], the sandalwood trade fell under the control of the Dominican missionaries. These exports were crucial for the prosperity of [[Portuguese Macau|Macau]].<ref name="Villiers1994"/>{{rp|86}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rod Nixon |title=Justice and Governance in East Timor Indigenous Approaches and the 'New Subsistence State |date=2013 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=9781136511721 |page=43}}</ref>

In 1613, the Dutch took control of the western part of the island.<ref name="West" /> Over the following three centuries, the Dutch would come to dominate the [[Indonesia|Indonesian archipelago]] with the exception of the eastern half of Timor, which would become Portuguese Timor.<ref name="Schwartz198"/> In 1605 Ambon and Tidore passed to Dutch control, and the following year [[Ternate]] was ceded to Spain (before later coming under Dutch control in 1663).<ref name="Villiers1994"/>{{rp|87}} Solor was also lost in 1613, leading the Portuguese capital to move to [[Flores]].<ref name="Paulino2011"/>{{rp|90}} In 1621 the [[Banda Islands]] fell to the Dutch, before Malacca fell in 1641, and Solor shortly afterwards in 1646.<ref name="Villiers1994"/>{{rp|87}} 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.<ref name="Paulino2011"/>{{rp|90}} The Portuguese had engaged with Lifau recently, having sent forces in 1641 to aid the Queen of Lifau/Ambeno.<ref name="Damaledo2018ch2">{{cite book |last1=Damaledo |first1=Andrey |title=Divided Loyalties: Displacement, belonging and citizenship among East Timorese in West Timor |date=27 September 2018 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=9781760462376 |url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4398/html/cover.xhtml |chapter=Spirit of the crocodile |chapter-url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4398/html/ch02.xhtml |access-date=26 October 2022 |archive-date=26 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026140153/https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4398/html/cover.xhtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Taylor379">Taylor (2003), p. 379.</ref>

The Portuguese introduced [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] to Portuguese Timor, as well as the [[Latin alphabet|Latin writing system]], the [[printing press]], and formal schooling.<ref name="Taylor379"/> 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 language|Malay]] in addition to Portuguese.<ref name="Taylor379"/> 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 [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] while the majority continued to worship spirits of the land and sky.<ref name="Taylor379"/>