Hospitality and Tourism Trade School

There’s very little recorded history prior to the Portuguese arrival in the early 1500s. Traders from China, Java and other regional islands are known to have visited Timor in search of sandalwood and beeswax. The Portuguese traders who arrived between 1509 and 1511 were followed by a handful of Dominican friars who, in 1556, landed in Lifau, Oecussi and established a base.

In 1642 Francisco Fernandes led a military expedition to weaken the power of the Timor kings. The Topasses, aka Black Portuguese or mestizos, from neighbouring Flores, assumed Kingships over various tribes and regions throughout the island of Timor.

The Dutch, ever more active in the region, established a base in Kupang in 1653 to counter the Portuguese presence in the east. The Topasses continued to defy colonial rule and in 1705 drove the Portuguese Governor out of Lifau. By 1749 they were emboldened enough to march on Kupang but were beaten back by the Dutch. Their retreat allowed the Dutch to take control of more territory in the west of the island. The Portuguese, meanwhile, moved their base from Lifau to Dili in 1769.

Over 100 years passed in quiet isolation. All parties seemed happy enough to live side by side, oblivious of each other’s business. The Treaty of Lisbon was signed in 1859, formally dividing Timor in two, with Portugal in control of the east and Holland in control of the west. Portuguese Timor, as it then became known, reverted to slumber. The country was essentially ruled through a traditional system of local chiefs or Liurai and the Portuguese rarely ventured out beyond Dili.

Dom Boaventura, a Liurai of Manufahi, led a resistance movement that operated from 1894 through to 1912. Started by his father Dom Duarte, the initial rebellions of 1894 and 1907 amounted to small outcomes but the 1911 – 1912 resulted in the Great Rebellion with revolutionaries entering Dili and sacking Government House. The Portuguese responded by sending troops from Mozambique and Macau to crush the revolt. The rebellion was ultimately put down and with pacification came a cessation of hereditary Liurais – the old native states faded from history.

The Japanese occupied Portuguese Timor during the second world war and the Allies (Australians and Dutch – the Portuguese being neutral), recognising the strategic importance of the area fought a bitter and long internecine  battle against the invaders. Tens of thousands of Timorese lost their lives fighting with, and assisting, the Allies who ultimately had to withdraw, leaving the Timorese to fend for themselves. At the end of the second world war the Portuguese administration was restored, as was the Dutch administration throughout Indonesia. Unlike the Indonesians however, who rose-up and demanded independence, the East Timorese seemed happy enough to carry on as things were prior to the Japanese invasion.

The April Revolution of April 25, 1974, saw the end of the Salazar regime in Portugal and the eventual withdrawal of Portuguese administration from its former colonies, including Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Timor. In May 1975 partisan political parties were formed in East Timor to contest the first ever democratic election set for October. The Timorese Democratic Party (UDT) sought integration in a Portuguese speaking community; the Timorese Social-Democratic Association (ASDT), later to become FRETLIN, wanted full independence; the Popular Democratic Association of Timor (APODETI) thought integration with autonomy within the Indonesian community was the way forward. Earlier local elections in Lautem district gave a clear indication that integration with Indonesia had very little support with the grassroots, cultural differences being cited as the main reason.

Violence broke out between Fretlin and predominantly UDP supporters (with Indonesian backing) in August and showed all the hallmarks of a civil war. Short lived, it soon resulted in Fretlin’s Xavier do Amaral declaring independence on November 28, 1975, and Nicolau Lobato being sworn in as Timor Leste’s first Prime Minister. Nine days later the Indonesian military invaded East Timor, beginning a cruel and tortuous occupation that would last for 25 years.

Life as Timor Timur, Indonesia’s 27^th province, was harsh, cruel, and brutish for the Timorese people. Estimates vary but upwards of 100,000 people died during the War of Resistance, a third of the country’s population.

On the 12^th of November, 1991, a funeral procession at Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili was fired upon, in what was described as a disciplined assault, by Indonesian forces. Over 270 citizens were mown down in a bloody and heartless display of “occupier frustration”. Fortunately, the massacre was captured on film and smuggled out for the world to see by Max Sthal, an independent journalist operating in Dili at the time. It is a moment in history that some say captured the ’beginning of the end’ for the Indonesian occupation.

In 1996, Jose Ramos Horta and the Bishop of Dili, D. Ximenes Belo, were awarded the Nobel Peace prize.

In 1998, Indonesian regime of President Suharto came to an end and he was forced to resign. His replacement, B.J. Habibie, announced he was willing to hold a referendum to determine whether the people of East Timor wanted integration, with autonomy, or independence. In a complex and massive logistical achievement, over 90% of the population turned out to vote on the 30^th of August 1999. An overwhelming 78.5% voted in favour of independence.

Sadly, pro-Indonesia militias in Dili and elsewhere, run amok. The great anger displayed by those who supported integration, aided by the Indonesian military, was as bad as anything that occurred during the occupation. Western press conveyed the horror into lounge rooms around the world and eventually, on September 18, a UN force of Blue Berets was deployed to Timor Leste. The initial task force of 2500 peacekeepers soon became 8000. The militias were disarmed and disbanded and most fled to West Timor and beyond.

On May 20^th, 2002, Timor Leste’s brand-new constitution came into effect. This day is known as Restoration of Independence Day.