Sonba'i
Sonba′i ( Senobay , Senobai Sonnebay , Sonbait , also: Zerviaen or Sorbian ) was an empire in western Timor , which was ruled by a Liurai (in Dutch sources: Raja ). The entire west of the island of Servião , which is mainly inhabited by Atoin Meto , was named after him . A division of the empire created the two kingdoms Sonbai Kecil ( Klein-Sonba′i ) and Sonbai Besar ( Greater Sonba′i ), later also Amakono .
history
Pre-colonial period
Through a complicated alliance system, Sonba′i dominated most of West Timor. In ritual status, only the Maromak Oan (the child of God) and the Liurai of Wehale stood above his ruler (called Liurai or Raja ) in the hierarchy . While the Liurai embodied the masculine and active side, the Maromak Oan (only symbolically) represented the feminine and inactive. According to legend, the Maromak Oan had three sons: "Liurai" (roughly "outstanding from the earth"), Sonba′i and the ancestors of the ruler of Likusaen ( Liquiçá ). Sonba′i went west and married the daughter of Kune , the ruler of the Atoin Meto there. The various rulers of the Atoin Meto derive their origin from Sonba′i. This made the ruler of Sonba′i one of the highest-ranking rulers of the island and was at times referred to by the Portuguese and Dutch as the Emperor of Servião or Sonba′i . However, this power was ritual rather than real. Although Sonba′i was able to gather ten to twelve thousand warriors at times, when they later switched from the Portuguese to the Dutch as allies, they were disappointed to find that the large number was suddenly no longer accessible.
In 1563 Servião first appeared as Cerviaguo in the reports of the Portuguese as an important trading point for sandalwood on the north coast of Timor. Since there is no place there to which this name can be assigned, it is assumed that this was an outpost of Sonba′i, which first appeared on a Portuguese map in 1613 as the Kingdom of Servião. According to 17th century Dutch sources, Sonba'i overlapped with the Empire of Amfo'an , which existed in north West Timor until 1962.
Division of Sonba′i
In 1642, Topasse Francisco Fernandes , who was in Portuguese service, passed through with his Sonba′i troops, thereby destroying the supremacy of the Timorese Empire. 1649 Sonba′i is mentioned in Dutch sources as an ally of Portugal . In 1655 the ruler of Sonba′i surprisingly rose against the Portuguese. He killed all the Portuguese in his area and set fire to their houses and churches. Then Sonba′i allied with the Dutch. A loss for the Portuguese because the empire was one of the most prestigious in the west of the island. The background to the rebellion seems to be the personal aversions of Liurai von Sonba′i, described as aggressive, against the Portuguese. In addition, the attack turned against the proselytizing of the animist residents. But in 1658 the Portuguese and Topasse completely destroyed the kingdom of Sonba′i. The ruler was captured by the Portuguese. He retained his privileges, but remained under the supervision of the colonial rulers until his death in 1680. Sonba′i (or Sonbai Besar), as a larger inland empire, remained an ally of Portugal for years to come. The captured Sonba′i Emperor remained on the throne, but real power was given to the Kono family. Their center was named Amakono ("Father Kono"). The area was later called Miomaffo .
One of his sons went to the Dutch in Kupang and was enthroned there as the new ruler under the protection of the Dutch. Some residents of Sonba′i also settled in Kupang. They called their kingdom, a close ally of the Netherlands, Sonbai Kecil. The inland was called Sonbai Besar.
From 1711 to 1713 the Amakono rebelled after Bishop Manuel de Santo António insulted the god of the Sonba′i. The rebellion failed and the leaders fled to Kupang with thousands of supporters. Against the will of the Dutch, the Timorese allies gave the refugees shelter, but the Topasse Domingos da Costa devastated the region. Demonstratively he even camped within range of the cannons of the Dutch Fort Concordia to reveal its weakness.
1722 sent Bishop Santo António Arraias , as Timorese auxiliary troops were called, from Amakono against the Topasse . The amakono were slaughtered. Another Amakono rebellion against the Portuguese followed.
In 1748 the Amfo'an, allied with the Dutch, attacked the Topasse, whereupon they devastated Amanuban and Amakono. Both then moved to the Dutch camp. Amakonos ruler Baob Sonbai fled to Kupang with his men. This was one of the reasons for the Portuguese and Topasse attack on Kupang, which led to the momentous Battle of Penfui .
In the following years the now allied Topasse and Portuguese were able to persuade Amakono to form an alliance again with great promises. According to Dutch sources, Catholic priests worked with "the most beautiful promises" and "the darkest threats". With the move to the Protestant Dutch, according to the Portuguese, the ruler of Amakono changed from a “child of the true God” to a “child of the devil”. In March 1752 the Dutch attacked the Amakono Empire. The Emperor of Amakono was exiled to Batavia .
Dutch dominance
In 1765 and 1767 Dutch officers and mardijkers ( mestizos who did not belong to the Christian faith) were killed by headhunters in the mountains. For the Dutch it was particularly frightening that the Raja of Sonba′i Nai Tafin Sonbai was suspected of being behind the murders. He was the son of the Emperor of Amakono, who was sent to Batavia, and had been installed by the Dutch. From 1776 to 1783 Sonbai Kecil and Amakono were reunited, but after the rebellion of the grandson Kau Sonbai , the empire broke up again and in Sonbai Kecil the Nisnoni , a side line of the ruling family of Sonba′i, took control. Kau Sonbai left Kupang and reestablished Sonba′i as an independent inland empire, pitting Dutch and Portuguese against each other.
From 1796 to 1799 Maubara and Groß-Sonba′i were at war with the Portuguese.
In 1811 Portuguese sources reported 16 empires who were subject to the "Emperor" of Sonba′i.
From 1864 to 1870 the Sonba′i and the Sorbians of Amfo'an fought in the kingdom of Kupang for the rights to use some betel palms.
In 1867 Sonba′i began to fall apart and in 1885, after the Raja's death, the empire finally fell into anarchy. When the Dutch governor and his garrison were not in Kupang, the colonial capital was even occupied by the rebels. The Dutch then gave up their policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of the rulers they controlled. The governor general sent troops and placed the interior of the island under military administration. The rulers were forced to sign another treaty ( Korte Verklaring ), in which they recognized the sovereignty of the Netherlands and were forbidden from contact with foreign powers. In 1906 Nai Sobe Sonbai III. , the last ruling ruler of Sonba′i captured by Dutch troops and put an end to the empire for good. Nai Sobe Sonbai III. died in 1922 after returning to Sumba from exile .
Sonbai Kecil remained independent until 1917, when it was united with other empires to form the zelfbesturend landschap (self-governing area) Kupang. The new Raja of Kupang became the old ruler of Sonbai Kecil from the Nisnoni family in 1918 . In 1955, the Indonesian central government ended the local monarchy in Kupang. The ruling family of Sonba′i continues today in the Sonbai Kecil dynasty.
The rulers of Sonba′i
Sonbai Besar
- Nai Dawan, son of Maromak Oan von Wehale
- Nai Natti, son
- Nai Faluk, son
- Nai Lele Sonbai, son
- Nai Tuklua Sonbai or Ama Tuan I (1650–1680), son
- Nai Manas Sonbai (late 17th century), son
- Nai Neno Sonbai or Dom Pedro Tomenu (after 1704–1726), son
- Nai Baob Sonbai I. or Alfonso Salema (before 1749–1752), son
- Bernardo (Nai Sobe Sonbai I?) (1752–1760), son
- Nai Tafin Sonbai or Albertus Johannes Taffy (1760–1768), brother
- Nai Kau Sonbai or Alphonsus Adrianus (1768–1819), son
- Nai Sobe Sonbai II (1819–1867), son
- Nai Baob Sonbai II (1867–1885), son
- Nai Nasu Mollo (1870–1885), cousin and co-regent
- Nai Sobe Sonbai III. (1885–1906), son of Sobe Sonbai II.
Sonbai Kecil
- Ama Tuan II (1659–1672), son of Nai Tuklua Sonbai
- Bi Sonbai (1682-1717), daughter
- Bernardus Leu (1717–1726), son of Nai Neno Sonbai
- Corneo Leu (1728-1748), brother
- Daniel Taffy Leu (1748-1760), brother
- Jacobus Albertus Taffy (1760–1776), son of Bernardus Leu
- Nai Kau Sonbai (1776–83), reunited with Sonbai Besar
- Baki Bena or Bernardus Nisnoni (1783–1795), brother (cousin?) Of Jacobus Albertus Taffy
- Dirk Hendrik Aulasi (1795–1798), son (?)
- Nube Bena or Pieter Nisnoni I (1798–1820), brother of Baki Bena
- Isu Baki (1820s), son of Baki Bena
- Ote Nuben Nisnoni (after 1832), grandson of Nube Bena
- Babkas Nube Nisnoni or Pieter Nisnoni II (? –1839), son of Nube Bena
- Meis Babkas Nisnoni (1839–1860), son
- Pieter Messi Nisnoni (1860–1874), son
- Isu Nisnoni (1875-1889), brother
- Said Meis Nisnoni (1890–1902), son
- Baki Bastian Meis Nisnoni (1905–1911), brother
- Nicolaas Nisnoni (1911–17), brother, Raja von Kupang 1918–1945
- Alfonsus Nisnoni, son, Raja von Kupang 1945–55 († 1992)
The head of the Nisnoni dynasty is today Raja Leopold Isu Nisnoni (* 1936)
See also
Web links
- Timor Royal: History of Sonbai ( Memento from July 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ^ HG Schulte Nordholt: The political system of the Atoni of Timor, Den Haag (1971) pp. 262-274.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Hans Hägerdal: Rebellions or factionalism? Timorese forms of resistance in an early colonial context, 1650-1769 ( Memento of the original dated December 8, 2015 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.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Royal Timor: Sonbai ( Memento from July 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Chronologie de l'histoire du Timor (1512-1945) suivie des événements récents (1975-1999) (French; PDF; 887 kB)
- ^ The research trip SMS "Gazelle" in the years 1874 to 1876 under the command of the captain of the sea Freiherr von Schleinitz - original report
- ↑ FH Fobia: Sonba′i dalam kisah dan perjuangan , Soe (1984); I Gde Parimartha: Perdagangan dan politics di Nusa Tenggara 1815-1915 . Jakarta: Djambatan (2002), pp. 360-361
- ^ Royal Timor: Sonbai Kecil ( Memento of August 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Royal Timor: The Raja of Kupang ( Memento from July 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
