Portuguese Timor

Portuguese Timor
Timor Português
Colony of the Portuguese Empire
1702–1975
Flag Coat of arms
Portuguese Timor with 1869-established boundaries.
Capital		Lifau (1702–69) Dili (1769–1975)
Languages		Tetum, Portuguese, Malay
Government		Colony
Head of state
•	Monarch 1515–21	Manuel I (first)
•	1908–10	Manuel II (last)
•	President 1910–11	Teófilo Braga (first)
•	1974–75	Francisco da Costa Gomes (last)
Governor
•	1702–05	António Coelho Guerreiro (first)
•	1974–75	Mário Lemos Pires (last)
History
•	Colonisation	1702
•	Invasion by Indonesia	7 December 1975
•	Independence of East Timor	20 May 2002
Currency		Timorese pataca (PTP) Timorese escudo (PTE)
Preceded by Succeeded by Pre-colonial Timor East Timor Timor Timur
Today part of		East Timor

Portuguese Timor was the name of East Timor when it was under Portuguese control between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies.

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 a Lisbon-instigated decolonisation process in 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor that same year. However, the invasion and subsequent annexation were not recognised by Portugal and other countries, so Portuguese Timor existed officially up until independence in 2002.

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. 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, Portuguese first landed near modern Pante Macassar. Portuguese merchants exported sandalwood from the island, until the tree nearly became extinct. In 1556 a group of Dominican friars established the village of Lifau.

In 1613, the Dutch take control of the Western part of the island. Over the following three centuries, the Dutch would come to dominate the Indonesian archipelago with the exception of the eastern half of Timor, which would become Portuguese Timor. 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 Timor communities and Timor 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.