Pedro de Melo

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Pedro de Melo († 1738) was a Portuguese military man and from 1728 to 1731 Governor of Portuguese Timor , with the military rank of Colonel ( Coronel ).

The colony had been in the Cailaco Rebellion since 1719 . Several local rulers, the Liurai , rose against the Portuguese colonial rulers. In 1727 a peace was made with some Liurai, but uprisings continued.

In 1729 Melo reached Timor with 50 soldiers from Europe and Macau . In order to explore the further east of Timor and to pacify the coastal region, he traveled via Dili to Manatuto , where he arrived on October 18, 1730. But Melo did not manage to bring the tribes under control. Some Liurai had refused to pay the required tribute, whereupon Melo had four of them arrested. Two died in prison, whereupon rebels tried to free the prisoners. Eventually Melo found himself surrounded by 15,000 warriors in Manatuto. Only after 85 days was he able to break through the siege on January 13, 1731. Although Melo was unable to drive the rebels out of this region, he made alliances with the Liurai of Manatuto and other local rulers. Upon his return, Melo found that Topasse and Timorese were besieging Lifau. The trapped could only survive because they ate roots, leaves and crushed horse bones. In this situation, Melo decided to get all goods and cannons on the ship and set the place on fire. He wanted to move the colonial capital to a safe place. Only the timely arrival of Melo's successor from Macau, Pedro de Rego Barreto da Gama e Castro (1731 to 1734), who arrived with supplies and reinforcements, prevented the Portuguese from giving up Lifau. At least for the following years, because in 1769 the Portuguese were forced to give up Lifau and move the administrative headquarters to Dili. The alliances that Pedro de Melo had made facilitated the relocation of the colonial capital.

literature

  • Boxer, CR: O coronel Pedro de Mello ea sublevacao geral de Timor em 1729–1731 , Macau, Escola Tipografica do Orfanato Salesiano, 1937. (Portuguese)

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Open Library. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012 ; accessed on January 23, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Hans Hägerdal: governor of Portuguese Timor to 1832 ; Sources: Artur Teodoro de Matos: Timor Portugues, 1515–1769 (Lisboa 1974), Affonso de Castro: As possessões portuguezas na Oceania (1867) and Luna de Oliveira: Timor na historia de Portugal (1940s).
  3. ↑ History of Timor, p. 48
  4. ↑ Chronologie de l'histoire du Timor (1512–1945) suivie des événements récents (1975–1999) (French; PDF; 887 kB)
  5. ↑ a b History of Timor, p. 43
  6. ↑ History of Timor, p. 44
predecessor Office successor
Antonio Moniz de Macedo Governor of Portuguese Timor
1728–1731 		Pedro de Rego Barreto da Gama e Castro
personal data
SURNAME Melo, Pedro de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mello, Pedro de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese governor of Portuguese Timor
DATE OF BIRTH 17th century or 18th century
DATE OF DEATH 1738