Amarasi
Amarasi was a traditional
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Een_meo_voorvechter_en_priester_van_Mata-Amarasi_met_zijn_vader_in_vol_ornaat_TMnr_10005967.jpg/220px-COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Een_meo_voorvechter_en_priester_van_Mata-Amarasi_met_zijn_vader_in_vol_ornaat_TMnr_10005967.jpg)
The origins of Amarasi are recounted in various legends. The oldest available version says that the dynastic line originated from Wehali, 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.[1]
There he founded a princedom with help of
European sources confirm that Amarasi was a powerful domain in western Timor by the early 17th century. It was influenced by
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
Dutch rule
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_De_Radja_van_Amarasi_met_krijgers_TMnr_10001759.jpg/220px-COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_De_Radja_van_Amarasi_met_krijgers_TMnr_10001759.jpg)
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.[5]
By the 1820s, Amarasi consisted of three parts: Buwarein under the main ruler (Nai Jufa Naek), Talba, and Houmen, the latter two under district 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, 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.[6]
Japanese occupation
During the
Indonesia
In the first years after the achievement of
List of rulers
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Portret_van_de_Raja_van_Amarasi_Isaac_van_Baven_met_dominee_Loeff_en_zijn_beoogde_opvolger_raja_Alex_TMnr_60034966.jpg/220px-COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Portret_van_de_Raja_van_Amarasi_Isaac_van_Baven_met_dominee_Loeff_en_zijn_beoogde_opvolger_raja_Alex_TMnr_60034966.jpg)
- 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)[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b Geerloff Heijmering, 'Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van Timor', Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indë 9:3 1847.
- ^ Arend de Roever, De jacht op sandelhout. Zutphen: Walburg Pers 2002, pp. 260-3.
- ^ Hans Hägerdal, 'White and Dark Stranger Kings; Kupang in the Early Colonial Era', Moussons 12 2009, p. 153.
- ^ Artur Teodoro de Matos, Timor Português, 1515-1769. Lisboa: Instituto Histórico Infante Dom Henrique 1974, pp.50-1.
- ^ H.G. Schulte Nordholt, The Political System of the Atoni of Timor. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, pp. 181-2.
- ^ H.G. Schulte Nordholt, 1971, pp. 155, 319-20.
- ^ 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.