Amabi was a traditional principality in
West Timor
West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The ...
in the currently
East Nusa Tenggara
East Nusa Tenggara ( id, Nusa Tenggara Timur – NTT; pt, Sonda Oriental) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the nor ...
province of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. From at least the 17th century to 1917, Amabi played a role in the rivalries between the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
colonials on
Timor Island
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, also ...
.
History
According to traditional accounts, the dynastic line of Amabi was related to the leading West Timorese kingdom of
Sonbai, and to the
Tetun
, nativename=Tetun
, states= Indonesia East Timor
, speakers=, mostly in Indonesia
, date=2010–2011
, ref=e18
, speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor
, familycolor=Austronesian
, fam2=Malayo-Polynesian
, fam3= Central–East ...
kingdom of
Wehali in south-central Timor. Through the effort of
Dominican missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group which 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 Mi ...
in the early 17th century, it was tied to Portuguese interests on Timor. In 1655, however, the king of Amabi, together with that of Sonbai, switched sides and made an alliance with the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
(VOC), which had established itself in
Kupang
Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...
two years previously. The Dutch and their new allies soon proved particularly unsuccessful against the Portuguese clients on Timor. In the fall of 1657 the king of Amabi was killed by the latter at the battle of Gunung Mollo in the interior of West Timor. In September 1658 a large part of the Amabi population fled to Kupang in order to escape their enemies, and were permitted by the Dutch to settle close to the European fort. Part of the population stayed in the interior. This congregation, Amabi Oefeto, was subjected to the
Amarasi principality, which in turn was a vassal of Portugal.
The Amabi community of
refugee turned out to be loyal subordinated allies of the VOC. Together with the principalities of Kupang,
Sonbai Kecil,
Amfoan and
Taebenu, they constituted the backbone of Dutch strategy on Timor. During much of the 17th and 18th centuries they waged small-scale warfare against the Portuguese client principalities, in particular Amarasi. This role was less crucial after 1749, when the Portuguese grip on West Timor was lost. Still, in the late 19th century Amabi was considered the most powerful among the local allies of the Dutch colonial government. When the Dutch implemented full control over the inland territories of West Timor in the early 20th century, the protective role of the small Amabi principality became obscure. Through an administrative reorganization, Amabi was merged with four other principalities in 1917, into the (self-ruling territory) of Kupang. Up to 1962, the ex-ruler of Amabi held the function of (sub-ruler) of his old lands. In that year, the Indonesian republican government definitely abolished the system of hereditary princes. In 1949, the population of Amabi stood at 10,767 persons.
[H.G. Schulte Nordholt (1971), ''The Political System of the Atoni of Timor'', p. 155.]
List of rulers
*Sebastião mentioned 1652
*Saroro Neno mentioned 1655
*Ama Kefi Meu 1666-1704
*Ama Kefi 1704-1725 (son)
*Loti 1725-1732 (son)
*Nai Balas 1732-1755 (brother)
*Balthazar Loti 1755-1790 (son of Loti)
*Osu I 1791-1795 (son)
*Slolo 1795-c. 1797
*Afu Balthazar c. 1797-before 1824
*Arnoldus Adriaan Karel Loti before 1824-1834 (son)
*Osu II 1834-1859 (brother)
*Mano 1859-1883 (nephew)
*Lelo 1884-1894 (son)
*Kusa 1895-1901 (second cousin)
*Arnoldus 1901 (son of Lelo)
*Junus Amtaran 1901-1903
*Kase Kome 1903-1912 (nephew of Osu II)
*Jacob Ch. Amabi 1912-1917 (son)
References
Further reading
* L. J. van Dijk, 'De zelfbesturende landschappen in de Residentie Timor en Onderhoorigheden', ''Indische Gids'' 47 1925, pp. 528–40, and 56 1934, pp. 708–12.
* P.Middelkoop, 'Trektochten van Timorese groepen', ''Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land en Volkenkunde'' 85 1952, pp. 173–273.
* A. de Roever, ''De jacht op sandelhout: De VOC en de tweedeling van Timor in de zeventiende eeuw'', Zutphen: Walburg Pers 2002.
* H. G. Schulte Nordholt, ''The Political System of the Atoni of Timor''. The Hague: M. Nijhoff 1971.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amabi
East Nusa Tenggara
Precolonial states of Indonesia
History of Timor