General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
José Celestino da Silva, (6 January 1849 – 10 February 1911) was a
Portuguese Army
The Portuguese Army ( pt, Exército Português) is the land component of the Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...
officer and colonial administrator. Between 1894 and 1908, he was
governor of the colony of Portuguese Timor.
Early life and career
Celestino da Silva was born in ,
Chaves, Portugal, on 6 January 1849. He attended the
School of the Army, from which he graduated in 1865 as best in class. In 1869, he was given the rank of ensign. In that capacity, he was assigned to Prince Carlos, later
Carlos I of Portugal, and a friendship arose between the two. In 1875, he was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1883 to captain in the
2nd Lancers Regiment.
Governorship
In 1894, Celestino da Silva was appointed to the rank of Major, and as Governor of Portuguese Timor. Under him, the dominance of Portuguese rule in the colony was consolidated. In three major offensives launched in 1894-95, he carried on wars of pacification against certain kingdoms. He also draw up terms of
vassalage
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
with several native petty kings (''Liurai''), but even so, he had to quell various rebellions. Overall, he conducted more than 20 military actions during his tenure as governor.
From Celestino da Silva's point of view, future wars could only be prevented if the military, civilian officials and the missionaries did a good job. During his tenure, the ''finta'' tax, which had been levied in kind, was replaced with a poll tax. He founded schools in various parts of the colony where the population was taught the basics of agriculture in order to apply them to coffee cultivation for export. He and one of his successors, (who was Governor from 1911 to 1913), made efforts to establish the coconut palm tree, which had been grown in Timor even before the Portuguese arrived, as a cash crop. He also set up regular sea connections with Macau and Australia, and a colonial telephone network several hundred kilometres long. The swamps of Dili were drained, a water supply was established, and in 1906 a modern hospital was built.
However, Celestino da Silva also used his position as governor to enrich himself, both at the expense of the Portuguese state and at the expense of the Timorese inhabitants. He was either involved in, or the owner of, almost all private plantation companies that emerged for the first time in his reign. He also illegally provided these companies with Timorese forced laborers. In 1897, he established the
Sociedade Agrícola Pátria e Trabalho (SAPT), which eventually acquired wide-ranging monopolies in the colony, and even after World War II was majority owned by his descendants. Contemporary critics mockingly called him "King of Timor".
Only after Celestino da Silva's friend King Carlos I
was assassinated in 1908 was the governor recalled. As it was feared that Celestino de Silva would not voluntarily vacate his post, his successor, , was accompanied by the Director General of Overseas, Captain , who would arrest Celestino da Silva in an emergency. However, for health reasons Celestino da Silva had meanwhile appointed Captain as acting governor, and had traveled with his wife to Australia. After he returned to Dili, he even offered his help to Marques, as Castro's father, General
Joaquim Pimenta de Castro
Joaquim Pereira Pimenta de Castro, 10th Count of Pimenta de Castro (5 November 1846, in Pias, Monção – 14 May 1918, in Lisbon; ) was a Portuguese army officer and politician. He was a career military officer reaching the position of General ...
, was a friend of his.
Later career
On the trip home, Celestino da Silva's ill wife died. Following his return to Portugal, he was appointed as Commander of a Cavalry Regiment in
Almeida. In 1910, after the proclamation of the Republic, he was promoted to the rank of General and placed in the reserve. He died on 10 February 1911.
Honours and awards
Celestino da Silva was a knight of the
Order of Aviz
The Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz ( pt, Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis, ), previously to 1910 ''Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz'' ( pt, Real Ordem Militar de São Bento de Avis), previously to 1789 ''Knights'' (of ...
and of the
Order of the Tower and Sword
The Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of the Valour, Loyalty and Merit ( pt, Antiga e Muito Nobre Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada, do Valor, Lealdade e Mérito), before 1910 Royal Military Order of the Tower an ...
. For his achievements on Timor, he was awarded the gold medal for military merit and the gold medal of
Queen Amélie. In 1932, he was posthumously appointed
Grand Officer of the Order of the Colonial Empire. In the late 1950s, the
Banco Nacional Ultramarino decided to issue new
Portuguese Timorese escudo
The escudo was the currency of Portuguese Timor between 1959 and 1976. It replaced the pataca at a rate of 5.6 escudos = 1 pataca and was equivalent to the Portuguese escudo. It was replaced by the Indonesian rupiah at an unknown exchange rate ...
banknotes depicting Celestino da Silva's image to replace the previously circulating
Portuguese Timorese pataca
The pataca was a monetary unit of account used in Portuguese Timor between 1894 and 1958, except for the period 1942–1945, when the occupying Japanese forces introduced the Netherlands Indies gulden and the roepiah. As in the case of the Macan ...
notes. The new banknotes began circulating in January 1960.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Jose Celestino
1849 births
1911 deaths
Governors of Portuguese Timor
Portuguese army personnel
19th-century Portuguese military personnel
20th-century Portuguese military personnel
Commanders of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa
People from Chaves, Portugal