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Amarasi was a traditional princedom in West Timor, in present-day
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. It had an important role in the political history of
Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...
during the 17th and 18th century, being a
client state A client state in the context of international relations is a State (polity), state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state. Alternative terms for a ''client state'' are satellite state, ...
of the Portuguese colonialists, and later subjected to the
Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
.


History

The origins of Amarasi are recounted in various legends. The oldest available version says that the dynastic line originated from
Wehali Wehali (''Wehale'', ''Waihali'', ''Veale'') is the name of a traditional kingdom at the southern coast of Central Timor, now in Indonesia and East Timor. It is often mentioned together with its neighbouring sister kingdom, as Wewiku-Wehali (Waiwik ...
, the traditional political navel of Timor in Belu. A member of a local family, Nafi Rasi, accidentally broke a valuable bowl and was forced too flee the wrath of his siblings. With his followers he went to Beboki-Insana to the north of Wehali, and thence to the south coast of West Timor.Geerloff Heijmering, 'Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van Timor', ''Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indë'' 9:3 1847. There he founded a princedom with help of
firearms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originated ...
that he had acquired in Beboki-Insana, which in turn lay close to the land of the Topasses (Portuguese
mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...
population). Roaming groups from Belu arrived and strengthened the manpower of Nafi Rasi. In spite of its supposed Belunese origins, the population belonged to the
Atoni The Atoni (also known as the Atoin Meto, Atoin Pah Meto or Dawan) people are an ethnic group on Timor, in Indonesian West Timor and the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi-Ambeno. They number around 844,030. Their language is Uab Meto. The Ato ...
group, speaking a
dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
of Dawan. European sources confirm that Amarasi was a powerful domain in western Timor by the early 17th century. It was influenced by
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
through Dominican
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
in the 1630s, and turned an important client of the Portuguese Topasses. In consequence, Amarasi fought the
Dutch East Indies Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a 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 Neth ...
(Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC), which attempted to expand its power on Timor, attracted by the stands of commercially valuable sandalwood. A sizeable Dutch expedition led by Arnold de Vlaming van Oudshoorn (1656) was soundly defeated by Amarasi and the Topasses. For almost a century after this event, Amarasi remained a Portuguese vassal, during much of the time fighting the Timorese clients of the VOC in the
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 o ...
area in westernmost Timor. This was a low-scale
warfare War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...
that took the form of
headhunting Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim. More portable body parts (such as ear, nose, or scalp) can be taken as trophies, instead. Headhunting was practiced in historic times ...
raids. Amarasi was in fact counted as one of the principal props of Portuguese authority on Timor in this era.


Dutch rule

In 1749 the Amarasi soldiers were pushed to participate in a large-scale military campaign led by the Topasses against the Dutch in Kupang. In the resulting Battle of Penfui the Topasses were routed by the VOC forces, while Amarasi fled the field and subsequently submitted to the VOC. After a short time, in 1752, Amarasi attempted to withdraw from the new Dutch suzerainty, and rejoin the Portuguese camp. However, the princedom was badly defeated by the other Dutch clients, its king committed suicide and a large part of the manpower was killed or enslaved. The remaining Amarasi congregation was allowed after some years to settle in its old lands. From this point, the weakened princedom remained attached to Dutch interests until the 1940s. By the 1820s, Amarasi consisted of three parts: Buwarein under the main ruler (''Nai Jufa Naek''), Talba, and Houmen, the latter two under
district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
lords (''Nai Jufa''). Later in the 19th century a further division resulted in five parts. The district lords were in practice the near-equals of the central ruler or
raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...
, and were in turn dependent on the various Amaf (local headmen). In 1930 the population of Amarasi was 16,832 people, and its area was an estimated 740 square kilometers.


Japanese occupation

During the
Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. In May 1940, Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, occupied the Netherlands, and ma ...
(1942–1945) the raja of Amarasi, H.A. Koroh, was accused of collaborating with the
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese, who recruited
comfort women Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...
and conscript labourers ( romusha) from the local population. After the Japanese capitulation in 1945, the raja kept a defiant attitude against the returning Dutch authorities.S. Farram, ''From 'Timor Koepang' to 'Timor NTT': The Political History of West Timor, 1901-1967'', PhD Thesis, Northern Territory University 2003, pp. 227, 240-1.


Indonesia

In the first years after the achievement of
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
n
independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
in 1949, the Amarasi princedom survived as a self-ruling territory or ''swapraja'', until 1962, when the unitary Indonesian republic abolished traditional forms of governance in this region. Today Amarasi is included in the kabupaten (
regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
) Kupang, and constitutes the kecamatan (districts) Amarasi, Amarasi Barat, Amarasi Selatan, and Amarasi Timur. The centre of the region is the village Baun, where the last residence of the former rajas can still be seen.


List of rulers

*Dom António I d. 1665 *Dom Tomás 1665-? (brother) *Dom António II mentioned 1688 *Dom Affonco mentioned 1703 *Dom Augusto Fernandes mentioned 1703 *Nai Soti mentioned 1714 *Dom Luís Hornay before 1749-1752 *Dom Affonco Hornay 1752-1774 (son) *Don Rote Ruatefu 1774-1802 (son) *Kiri Lote 1803-before 1832 (son) *Koroh Kefi before 1832-1853 *Obe Koroh 1853-1871 (nephew) *Rasi Koroh 1872-1887 (nephew) *Taku Obe 1888-1891 (son of Obe Koroh) *Rasi Koroh second time, 1892–1914 *Isaac Koroh 1914-1923 (brother) *Alexander Koroh 1923-1925 (grandson of Rasi Koroh) *Hendrik Arnold Koroh 1925-1951 (brother) *Viktor Koroh 1951-1962 (son)


References

{{Precolonial states in Indonesia Precolonial states of Indonesia East Nusa Tenggara History of Timor