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Topasses
Topasses (Tupasses, Topas, Topaz) were a group of people led by the two powerful families – Da Costa and Hornay – that resided in Oecussi and Flores. The Da Costa families were descendants of Portuguese Jewish merchants and Hornay were Dutch. The origins The etymology of the name is obscure. It might come from the Tamil term ''tuppasi'', "bilingual" or "interpreter". But it has also been associated with the Hindi word ''topi'' (hat) which refers to the characteristic hat worn by the men of this community as a marker of their cultural attachment to the European community. Hence, they are also referred to as ''gente de chapeo'' in Portuguese accounts or as ''gens à chapeau'' in French accounts. It partly overlapped with the Dutch concept mardijker, "free men", who also usually had a Portuguese cultural background, but had no European ancestry. While the mardijkers served under the Dutch colonial authorities, the topasses of Timor were staunchly opposed to the Dutch and u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Penfui
The Battle of Penfui took place on 9 November 1749 in the hillside of Penfui, near modern Kupang. A large Topass army was defeated by a numerically inferior Dutch East India Company force following the withdrawal of the former's Timorese allies from the battlefield, resulting in the death of the Topass leader Gaspar da Costa. Following the battle, both Topass and Portuguese influence on Timor declined, eventually leading to the formation of a boundary between Dutch and Portuguese Timor which precipitated into the modern border between West Timor and East Timor. Background Following the loss of Malacca to the Dutch in 1641, the Portuguese there moved to Gowa- Kingdom of Tallo before they were expelled from there as well, forcing the remnants to move to either Dutch Batavia or Portuguese-controlled Timor and the Solor Archipelago. Portuguese presence in the region had started since 1520 when they established Lifau, and was largely represented by the Topasses – "black Portugues ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topass
Topass (Topass, Topass Seaman or Topas) was a term used by the British Empire for sailors and soldiers of Indo-Portuguese descent who served as foot soldiers in the army and as the equivalent of Boy First Class in the imperial British Navy. They were often assigned the worst duties aboard the ship, such as cleaning latrines. The Topasses possibly originated from soldiers raised in the 18th century in Madras as a private force to protect local factories. They were employed as mercenaries and used to bolster the ranks of the East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ... in India, especially during times when Britain was at war and the company struggled to recruit soldiers. References {{reflist Merchant navy Military history of the British East India Compa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oecussi-Ambeno
Oecusse, also known as Oecusse-Ambeno (; ) and formerly just Ambeno, officially the Special Administrative Region Oecusse-Ambeno (), is an exclave, municipality (formerly a district) and the only Special Administrative Region (SAR) of East Timor. Located on the north coast of the western portion of Timor, Oecusse is separated from the rest of East Timor by West Timor, Indonesia, which is part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara. West Timor surrounds Oecusse on all sides except the north, where the exclave faces the Savu Sea. The capital of Oecusse is Pante Macassar, also called ''Oecussi Town'', or formerly, in Portuguese Timor, ''Vila Taveiro''. Originally ''Ambeno'' was the name of the former district and ''Oecussi'' its capital. Etymology ''Oecusse'' is the traditional name of Pante Macassar, the present-day capital of the special administrative region, and its environs. The location of today's capital was also the seat of the second traditional kingdom of the area, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lifau
Lifau is a village and suco in the East Timor exclave of Oecusse District. The village is located west of the mouth of the Tono River. 1,938 people live in the suco. History Lifau was the first European settlement on the island of Timor. Dominican brothers carried on missionary work on the north coast of Timor after 1556. In 1641 they arrived at Lifau and baptized the royal family of Ambeno. A permanent Portuguese settlement arose in the 1650s, as many Portuguese moved from their old colonial seat Larantuka on Flores to Timor in response to the Dutch colonial settlement in Kupang in westernmost Timor (1653). Lifau remained the centre for Portuguese colonial activities for more than a century, and was headed by a governor after 1702. In 1769 the colonial capital was moved to Dili due to military aggression from the Eurasian Topasses who opposed the politics of the governor. After this date the place lost its significance, since the Topasses preferred to keep their residen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flores
Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the population was 1,878,875 in the 2020 Census (including various offshore islands); the official estimate as of mid-2024 was 2,014,110.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.53) The largest towns are Ende and Maumere. The name ''Flores'' is of Portuguese origin, meaning "Flowers". Flores is located east of Sumbawa and the Komodo Islands, and west of the Solor Islands and the Alor Archipelago. To the southeast is Timor. To the south, across the Sumba Strait, is Sumba Island, and to the north, beyond the Flores Sea, is Sulawesi. Among all islands containing Indonesia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kupang
Kupang (, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census, it had a population of 442,758;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as of mid-2024 was 474,801 (comprising 238,997 males and 235,804 females).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kota Kupang Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog 1102001.5371) It is the largest city and port (actually the only independent city in the province) on the island of Timor, and is a part of the Timor Leste–Indonesia–Australia Growth Triangle free trade zone. Geographically, Kupang is the southernmost large city in Indonesia, as well as the closest to Australia. History Early history and Portuguese domination Kupang was an important port and trading post during the The Portuguese in Indonesia, Portuguese and Dutch East Indies, Dutch colonial eras. There are still ruins and remnants of the colonial presence in the city. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating Voorcompagnie, existing companies, it was granted a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be purchased by any citizen of the Dutch Republic and subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets (one of which became the Amsterdam Stock Exchange). The company possessed quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike Coinage of the Dutch East India Company, its own coins, and establish colonies. Also, because it traded across multiple colonies and countries from both the East and the West, the VOC is sometimes considered to have been the world's first multinational corporation. St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larantuka
Larantuka (, ) is a ''kecamatan'' (district) and the seat of East Flores Regency, on the eastern end of Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Like much of the region, Larantuka has a strong colonial Portuguese influence. The town (including the two rural villages within the administrative district) covers a land area of 75.91 km2, and had 37,348 inhabitants at the 2010 census and 40,828 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 41,642 - comprising 20,746 males and 20,896 females.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, ''Kecamatan Larantuka Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.5309030) This overwhelmingly (95.4%) Roman Catholic area enjoys some international renown for its Holy Week celebrations. Indonesia Tourism: Larantuka Language [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dili
Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountains. The climate is tropical, with distinct wet and dry seasons. The city has served as the economic hub and chief port of what is now Timor-Leste since its designation as the capital of Portuguese Timor in 1769. It also serves as the capital of the Dili Municipality, which includes some rural subdivisions in addition to the urban ones that make up the city itself. Dili's growing population is relatively youthful, being mostly of working age. The local language is Tetum language, Tetum; however, residents include many internal migrants from other areas of the country. The initial settlement was situated in what is now the old quarter in the eastern side of the city. Centuries of Portuguese rule were interrupted in World War II, when Dili be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mardijker People
The Mardijker people refer to an ethnic community in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) made up of descendants of freed slaves who spoke or were culturally Portuguese. They could be found at all major trading posts in the East Indies. They were mostly Christian, of various ethnicities from conquered Portuguese and Spanish territories, Some are of European ethnicity, while some others are natives from various Portuguese controlled territories. They spoke Mardijker Creole, a Portuguese-based creole, which has influenced the modern Indonesian language. Origin The ancestors of the Mardijkers had been mostly made up of slaves of the Portuguese in India, Africa, and the Malay Peninsula, with a minority being European (usually Portuguese) prisoners of war that were brought to Indonesia by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), especially after the 1641 Dutch conquest of Malacca, whereby Portuguese speakers in the city were taken as captive. Some were also Christian slaves ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
