Larantuka

Larantuka
Larantuka
Coordinates	8 ° 21 ′  S , 122 ° 59 ′  E Coordinates: 8 ° 21 ′  S , 122 ° 59 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Indonesia
Geographical unit	Nusa Tenggara
province	Nusa Tenggara Timur
Kabupaten	East Flores

The port city of Larantuka ( spelled Larantuca in Portuguese and Larantoeka in Dutch ) is located at the eastern end of the island of Flores and belongs to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara . Larantuka is the capital of the East Flores administrative district .

Larantuka was strongly influenced by colonial Portugal . The population is predominantly Roman Catholic .

history

In 1599 Portuguese merchants left Solor and settled in Larantuka. The merchants had fallen out with the Dominicans in Solor because they did not want to be involved in the Christianization there, which was also carried out on Flores. The Dominicans founded a school in Larantuka and by 1599 eight churches had already been built on Flores. When Solor was occupied by the Dutch in 1613 , several thousand Portuguese, mestizo and locals also moved to Larantuka. Likewise the seven Dominican priests of Solor. In May 1620 an attack by the Dutchman Crijin van Raenburch failed . Another attempt at conquest in 1621.

Larantuka initially served as a stopover for the spice trade and the sandalwood trade from Timor . It later became the Portuguese trading center of the Lesser Sunda Islands . One advantage of Flores was that sulfur was found here and in Larantuka saltpeter , components of black powder for firearms. It also grew on Flores Gamuti , a strong natural fiber that could be used for ship ropes .

Two more waves of immigration brought a further boom. When the Dutch conquered Malacca in 1641 , many Portuguese flocked to Larantuka; the population grew many times over. To accommodate the new residents, the cities of Wureh and Konga were re-established near Larantuka . When the Dutch attacked Makassar in 1660 , the majority of the Portuguese came to Larantuka, which was also destroyed by a Dutch fleet of 26 ships.

Locals, Portuguese soldiers and adventurers, traders from Macau, Dutch deserters , Chinese smugglers and a mixed population all came together here. Portuguese had offspring with native women, but always made sure that their Portuguese ancestry was established. This new population group was called Topasses by the locals , but called themselves Larantuqueiros , i.e. residents of Larantuka. The Dutch called them Zwarte Portugeesen ( black Portuguese ).

The Larantuqueiros had developed into their own, relatively loose, but powerful state, whose influence extended beyond the settlements. The core cell was formed by the "Dreierbund" Larantuka, Wureh and Konga. In theory they were subordinate to Portugal, but in practice this state structure was independent. There were no Portuguese officials and no taxes were paid. Letters from the government in Lisbon were ignored. In Larantuka there was a bloody power struggle for years between the da Costa and da Hornay families , who eventually shared power.

The Larantuqueiros made the original people of Flores their "allies". The conquest of the individual peoples was always the same: the most respected Raja was converted to Catholicism through military pressure . He had to swear an oath of allegiance to the King of Portugal and was then given the title Dom (Lord). The Raja could continue to rule his people autonomously, but auxiliary troops had to be provided during wars.

Since the Larantuqueiros ruled, they introduced Portuguese as the official language to differentiate themselves from the locals. They used Malay as their trade language , which was understood on the surrounding islands.

In order to bring the sandalwood trade completely under their control, the Larantuqueiros settled in Lifau on Timor in 1640 . From there they advanced to the sandalwood deposits in the interior of the island. Strong troops forced negotiations with the local Liurais (small kings). In return for the delivery of muskets, control over most of the sandalwood production was obtained and prices could be set. When the white Portuguese wanted to influence Timor on behalf of the King of Portugal, they were besieged by the Larantuqeueiros and had to relocate the capital of the colony to Dili in 1769 . Shortly afterwards the sandalwood trade lost its attractiveness and the Larantuqueiros switched to agriculture. Little was left of the formerly profitable foreign trade.

In 1851 the Portuguese governor José Joaquim Lopes de Lima sold Larantuka and other areas on the Lesser Sunda Islands, which were under Portuguese sovereignty, to the Netherlands for 200,000 florins without authorization from Lisbon. Lisbon did not recognize the sale and had Lopes arrested. He died on the way back to Europe. From 1854 the agreements were renegotiated. The secretary of the Portuguese delegation, Afonso de Castro, reports that it was above all the expected substantial compensation that led the Portuguese to finally renounce Larantuka against the will of the government, public opinion and the press. However, de Castro questioned the legality of these Dutch claims, since the treaty of 1851 was never ratified and the Dutch occupation of Larantuka was thus invalid. Castro described Larantuka as a "miserable little village" that was no longer making any profits. The old fortress was just a ruin; the crew consisted of only six to twelve local soldiers with six cannons with a Portuguese officer. The tariff income of 50 rupees per year was not even enough to pay the soldiers. The local ruler has even made common cause with Buginese pirates. There was even an assessment that if Lopes de Lima had not sold Larantuka, the property would have had to be given up. And Portugal's military and political opportunities to take possession of Larantuka again were questionable in view of the Dutch dominance in the region. The Lisbon Treaty , which confirmed the sale, was ratified in 1859. The Dutch sent a commanding officer and an administrative officer to reside in a small fort, but they were rather reserved towards the population. As early as 1869, the crew was withdrawn for economic reasons. The official affiliation to the Netherlands remained. From 1872 the Dutch left "internal affairs" to the local rulers, who were thus able to continue unhindered slave trade and piracy and raids other places. Only when the dwarf states like Larantuka got too much out of control did the Dutch intervene. Up until the 20th century there were revolts against the Netherlands on Flores. The Catholic Raja of Larantuka did not abdicate until 1905.

Formally, the Larantuqueiros were Catholics, but control of the faith had passed to lay organizations, which gave faith its own direction. In Larantuka, the most powerful was La Confraria da Rainha do Rosário ( Konfreira ), the brotherhood of the Queen of the Rosary, which has existed since the end of the 17th century until today. In the Dutch-Portuguese treaty, the Catholic population was assured the freedom to practice their religion. Because of this, the Calvinism common among the Dutch was not spread in Larantuka . Instead, from 1862 onwards, Dutch Jesuits got involved in colonial work. In Larantuka they built the first parish building and reintroduced the orthodox form of faith. For example, you were now only allowed to be married to one woman. The missionaries also built schools and provided medical care for the population.

With Indonesia's independence, the Larantuqueiros were able to regain influence. Having a higher level of education than other locals made it easy for them to get into top positions. The new official language Indonesian was not a problem for them either, as it is very similar to Malay.

Holy week

There are several processions at Easter. The week before Easter is traditionally referred to as Semana Sancta ( Holy Week ).

The Good Friday procession is the most elaborate. A cross with a statue of Christ is carried on a sedan chair. The procession goes through the city and stops at eight points. These eight points represent the eight clans that host the procession. The procession ends at the Reinha Rosari church . There Jesus is taken from the cross and placed in the lap of the Virgin Mary. Then all participants escort the statue of Jesus into the church, where a mass is celebrated that lasts all night.

Trivia

Larantuka inspired the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren to write her novel Pippi in Taka-Tuka-Land .

literature

• Ronald Daus: The Invention of Colonialism . Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag, 1983, ISBN 3-87294-202-6 .
• Stefan Dietrich: Colonialism and Mission on Flores (approx. 1900-1942) . Hohenschäftlarn: Klaus Renner Verlag, 1989, ISBN 3-87673-130-5 .

Web links

• Map of Flores

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} History of Timor ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 824 kB) - Technical University of Lisbon