List of governors of Portuguese Timor

2: 3 ^?Governor's flag

List of governors of Portuguese Timor

The governor not only administered the Portuguese possessions on Timor , but also, until they were lost, those on the other Lesser Sunda Islands , such as Solor and Flores .

Historical background

Portuguese sphere of influence on the Lesser Sunda Islands in the 16th and 17th centuries

Initially, the captains ( Capitão ) of the individual expeditions were the highest authority in the region. In 1665 the Portuguese commander Simão Luis was appointed the first general captain ( Capitão-Mor ) of Solor and Timor . After his death in the same year, he was succeeded by António da Hornay , a captain of the Topasse , with which he was practically equated with the leadership within the Topasse and commander in chief of the black Portuguese , the Catholic mestizo population . The Topasse family clans of the Hornays and the Costas became the real rulers in the colony. The Portuguese took advantage of the rivalry between the two clans. The Portuguese viceroy in Goa had sent the same letter to António da Hornay and Mateus da Costa in 1666, with which he declared them to be his representatives, provided that they were in power. At the time, this was with António, but Mateus did not accept this and relied on an earlier appointment.

From 1695, the viceroy in Goa tried to regain direct control of the region and, with António de Mesquita Pimentel, sent a governor who, like his successor André Coelho Vieira , was unable to assert himself. This only succeeded António Coelho Guerreiro in 1702, who is listed as the first governor in many lists because he was the first governor (compulsorily) to reside in Timor and his two predecessors had failed to build a functioning power structure. In the following decades, however, the power struggle between the governor and the Capitão-mor continued. At times, Topasse, such as Domingos da Costa or outsiders, such as Manuel de Santo António, took over the post of governor. It was only when the seat of government of the colony was relocated from Lifau to Dili in 1769 that the Portuguese governors were finally able to secure their position on Timor. In 1787 Pedro da Hornay recognized the sovereignty of Portugal.

From 1822, the governor's posts were only filled with military personnel. In addition to military power, the governor also had powers in the civil area, although these were not clearly defined and thus enabled arbitrariness. The separation of the military and civil administration, which was introduced in 1834, was repealed in 1835. A decree of December 1, 1869 stipulated that the governor should be an active officer who had previously worked in the administrative service. The term of office was set for a maximum of five years, but most governors stayed only two years, and many not even a year. On the one hand, the post was not very prestigious as long as Timor was officially subordinate to either Goa or Macau , on the other hand, many Europeans had health problems. At that time Dili was considered to be infected with malaria . In addition, there were frequent new awards that went hand in hand with the numerous changes of government in Portugal.

Hints

The dates for the term of office generally refer to the time between taking office in the colony and leaving at the end of the service. In the literature one always finds contradicting dates, since the appointment of governors, given the long travel time to Timor, took place well before taking office on site, which is not always taken into account in the literature.

in office : persons who ran the administration without having been appointed governor.
Conselho Governativo : Governing Council. In cases in which the governor died or was no longer available for other reasons, local dignitaries temporarily took over government in a council.
gi (Governador internio): interim governor.
eg (encarregado do governo): in charge of the government
† : died in office

List of captains and captains general

Captains (Capitão)
1571 -?	Aires Saldanha
1575 or 1576	Duarte da Costa
1587-1590	Antonio Viegas
1591–?	Gaspar da Silva
1595-1600	Antonio Andria
1601-1603	Jerónimo Correia da Silva
March 23, 1605	Salvador Correira da Costa
1613	Manuel Álvares
1618–?	Antonio de Sá
?	Gonçalo de Proença
1632	Francisco Pereira da Cunha
1632-1634	Estacio Pereira
1634-1642	Francisco Fernandes
1642–?	Antonio Carneiro de Sequeira
1646–?	João Calaça Tenreiro
1647-1649	Antonio de Sao Jacinto
1651-1652	Francisco Caneiro de Sequeira
1652-1665	Simão Luis
Captains General (Capitão-Mor)
1665 †	Simão Luis died before the official inauguration.
1666-1669	António da Hornay 1st term
1669-1670	Fernão Martins da Ponte
1671–1673 †	Mateus da Costa
1673	Manuel da Costa Viera interim
1673–1693 †	António da Hornay 2nd term
1693-1694	Father António de Madre de Deus
1694-1696	Francisco da Hornay
1697–1722 (?) †	Domingos da Costa 1714 - 1718 governor
1722-1730	Francisco da Hornay II
1730-1734	João Cave
1734–1749 †	Gaspar da Costa
1749 / 51-1757	João da Hornay
1757-1777	Francisco da Hornay III. and Domingos da Costa II (until 1772)
1782-1796	Pedro da Hornay