Editing Portuguese Timor (section)

===Establishment of Dili as capital of Portuguese Timor===
[[File:Bandeira Dili 1952-1975.svg|thumb|Flag and coat of arms of Portuguese Dili (1952–1975). The inscription reads: "That Which the Sun Sees First Upon Rising".]]
Continuing struggles led to the killing of Portuguese Governor {{ill|Dionísio Gonçalves Rebelo Galvão|de}} in Lifau in 1766.<ref name="Damaledo2018ch2"/> Shortly after, Portuguese administration shifted East, when Governor [[António José Teles de Meneses]] moved to the Kingdom of Motael due to the Topasse threat.<ref name="Kammen2015ch2"/>{{rp|47–48}} This 1769 founding of the city of [[Dili]] was the first effective European occupation in the east of the island.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lusotopie.sciencespobordeaux.fr/carneiroSousa.rtf|title=The Portuguese Colonization and the Problem of East Timorese Nationalism|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123193421/http://www.lusotopie.sciencespobordeaux.fr/carneiroSousa.rtf|archive-date=23 November 2006}}</ref> This shift was accompanied by renewed relations between Portugal and more Eastern kingdoms, and control in Maubara became again contested.<ref name="Kammen2015ch2"/>{{rp|47–49}}

The sandalwood trade proved highly profitable, although Portugal was unable to establish a desired monopoly. Instead, the harvesting and trade of sandalwood was uncontrolled. The lack of Portuguese authority outside of Dili left harvesting under the control of local rulers, and no cooperation was sought by Portugal from these local rulers. There was also little cooperation from the local population, many of whom believed sandalwood trees were home to spirits. Nonetheless, the wood became so important to the colony that it could be used to pay taxes. The lack of control meant that sandalwood forests were not maintained, and as they disappeared throughout the 18th century the sandalwood trade declined. Imports at Macau become mixed in with sandalwood from other export markets, such as [[Hawaii]], [[Fiji]], and the [[Marquesas Islands]]. {{ill|António de Mendonça Côrte-Real|de}}, Governor from 1807 to 1810, blamed a failure to harvest on local conflicts and the seizure of trading ships by the English.<ref name="Villiers1994"/>{{rp|87–90}}

The [[Napoleonic Wars]] in the early 1800s saw Dutch and Portuguese influence weaken again, as Portugal saw its shipping interrupted and Dutch territories in the area were occupied by the [[British Empire|British]] forces. However, local authorities for both continued to contest control on Timor. This period saw Dutch claims to Maubara win out. When the Dutch regained control of their territories in 1816, [[cash crop]]s such as [[coffee]] and [[tea]] were spread, including to Maubara, where coffee grew well. Direct control however remained limited to non-existent.<ref name="Kammen2015ch2"/>{{rp|49–53}}

A fire in Dili destroyed the existing records of the colony in 1799. New instructions were issued by the Viceroy in Goa on 5 April 1811, to deal with the "decadent and abandoned state of the island of Timor". In 1815, a new Governor, {{ill|José Pinto Alcoforado de Azevedo e Sousa|de}}, began to promote the cultivation of [[coffee]], and to a lesser extent [[sugar cane]] and [[cotton]].<ref name="Villiers1994"/>{{rp|89–91, 93}}