Wehale

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Timor and neighboring islands in the 17th and 18th centuries

Wehale ( or Waihale or Wehali , German  fig tree water ) was an empire on the island of Timor , which dominated the center of Timor for several centuries. The ruler was named Liurai after the mythical founder of the empire . Originally this title was restricted to the ruler of Wehale only. Only later was it used for the other tribal leaders of Timor. The center was in today Desa Wehali ( district Malaka Tengah , Region of Malaka ).

history

Wehale on a map showing the Dutch demarcation of Timor in 1911

In the ritual status of the Liurai in the hierarchy of Wehale was the Maromak Oan (the child of God). 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 (today: Liquiçá ) were. Sonba'i ruled west Timor, which the Portuguese called Servião , the Dutch Zerviaen or Sorbian. Liurai founded Wehale in the center of the island and the east was ruled by Likusaen. Other stories name Luca instead of Likusaen as the third kingdom.

The core of the Wehale empire was formed by members of the Tetum people with their capital, Laran, in what is now West Timor . Laran was also the spiritual center of the entire island. Around its core, Wehale had built a complex system of alliances through rituals, marriage and trade, which was supported by the tribes of the Tetum, Bunak and Kemak ethnic groups . Together with the east of the island, the Portuguese called this area Belu (also Belos or Behale ). The Dutch referred to the East as Tetum , as their language was used there as the Lingua Franca even then .

A member of the Magellan Expedition, Antonio Pigafetta , visited Timor briefly in 1522. He reports of four main kings in Timor: Oibich, Lichisana, Suai and Canabaza who were brothers. Oibich was the chief of the four. Oibich could be assigned to Wewiku , which is referred to in later sources as the Wehales base. Suai is the capital of today's East Timorese municipality of Cova Lima and probably formed a double empire with Kamenasa (Canabaza, also Camenaça, Camenasse). Lichisana is equated with Liquiçá. All of these empires had similar rulership structures and were in the area of ​​Belu. Shortly afterwards, the expansion of Portuguese influence on the island began.

With the arrival of the Dutch in Timor around 1640, the island began to be politically divided. On May 26, 1641, the Portuguese military leader Francisco Fernandes defeated a force of the Liurais von Wehale on the border with Mena . The Portuguese then began under Fernandes with a large-scale military operation to extend their control to the interior of the island. This procedure was justified with the protection of the Christianized rulers of the coastal region. The previous Christianization supported the Portuguese in their quick and brutal victory, as their influence on the Timorese had already weakened the resistance. Fernandes carried out the campaign with only 90 Portuguese musketeers. But he was supported by numerous Timorese warriors. Fernandes first moved through the Sonba'i area and until 1642 conquered the kingdom of Wehale, which was considered the religious and political center of the island. Members of the Wehales royal family fled to the east and married into ruling families there. Many noble families therefore still claim their descent from Wehale today, even if this is in part very questionable. Later sources report only sparsely about Wehale. In 1665 it was taken again by the Topasse Mateus da Costa and its inhabitants sold as slaves. Wehale appears repeatedly in Portuguese accounts of the early 18th century without being ascribed much importance to him.

When a Portuguese attack on the Dutch Kupang ended in disaster in 1749, Portuguese rule in West Timor collapsed. Most of the regional rulers of West Timor signed treaties with the Dutch East India Company in 1756 . Including Jacinto Correa , King of Wewiku-Wehale and Grand Duke of Belu , who also signed the dubious Treaty of Paravicini on behalf of many areas in central Timor . This included Dirma , Lakekun , Samoro , Fatulete , Letisoli , Batuboro , Lanqueiro , Suai , Atsabe , Reimeia , Diribate , Maroba , Lidak , Jenilu , Sukunaba , Biboki and Insana and also the sphere of influence of Wehales: Wewiku, Manufahi , Tiris , Alas , Luca , Viqueque , Corara and Banibani . Fortunately for the Portuguese, Wehale was no longer powerful enough to pull the local rulers over to the side of the Dutch. The eastern former vassals of Wehales remained under the flag of Portugal, while Wehale itself fell under Dutch rule. In 1906 the area of ​​Wehale was finally integrated into the colonial structure of the Dutch, the local ruler remained. He was dubbed a fetor (from the Portuguese feitor for tenant ) or korne (from the Portuguese coronel for colonel ). Nevertheless, Wehale's cultural and spiritual significance for Timor was retained. When Nai Bot , the Great Prince of Wehale died in 1924 , there were expressions of mourning all over Timor.

See also

literature

  • HG Schulte Nordholt: The Political System of the Atoni of Timor , The Hague 1971.
  • Tom Terik: Wehali, the female land , 2004.
  • BAG Vroklage: Ethnography of the Belu in Central Timor , Leiden 1953.

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History and Politics: 2. b. Portuguese contact and historical experience - Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University
  2. ^ Frédéric Durand: Three centuries of violence and struggle in East Timor (1726-2008). (PDF file; 237 kB) Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence, (online), June 7, 2011, accessed on May 28, 2012, ISSN  1961-9898
  3. ↑ Douglas Kammen: Fragments of utopia: Popular yearnings in East Timor , Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 40 (2), pp. 385–408 June 2009, doi : 10.1017 / S0022463409000216 .