THE HISTORY OF PORTUGUESE COLONIZATION IN EAST TIMOR (1512–1975): A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF COLONIAL ENCOUNTER, DOMINATION, AND DECOLONIZATION
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Abstract
This article examines the nearly four-century-long Portuguese colonization of East Timor, from the first Portuguese contact in 1512 to the collapse of colonial authority in 1975. Employing a qualitative historical research design based on documentary and literature analysis, the study traces the trajectory of Portuguese presence from early maritime trade and Catholic missionary activity to the establishment of formal colonial administration, economic exploitation, rivalry with the Dutch, indigenous resistance, and the eventual process of decolonization following the 1974 Carnation Revolution. The findings show that Portuguese rule in East Timor was characterized by indirect governance through the indigenous liurai system, resource extraction centered on sandalwood and later coffee, limited investment in infrastructure and education, and the gradual, uneven diffusion of Catholicism and the Portuguese language. These colonial patterns produced a hybrid Timorese identity shaped by both resilience and adaptation, while Portugal's abrupt withdrawal in 1975 created a political vacuum that directly enabled the Indonesian invasion and a subsequent 24-year occupation. The article concludes that the structural legacies of Portuguese colonialism—linguistic, religious, and institutional—continue to shape the social, cultural, and political landscape of independent Timor-Leste.
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