Oecussi-Ambeno (
Tetum Oe-Kusi Ambenu, also variously
Ocussi,
Oekussi,
Oekusi,
Okusi,
Oé-Cusse) is a district of
East Timor. It is a coastal
exclave in the western part of the island of
Timor, separated from the rest of East Timor by
West Timor, which is part of the province of
Nusa Tenggara Timur,
Indonesia, and which surrounds Oecussi-Ambeno in all directions except the north, where it borders the
Savu Sea. The capital of the district is
Pante Macassar, also called
Ocussi Town, or formerly, in
Portuguese Timor, as
Vila Taveiro.
The district has an area of 815 square kilometers.
Oecussi-Ambeno was the first part of the island of Timor on which the Portuguese established themselves, and is thus usually considered the cradle of East Timor. In 1556, a group of Dominican brothers started missionary work on the north coast of Timor. In 1641 they arrived to the village of Lifau, five km to the west of modern Pante Macassar, where they baptized the royal family of the Ambeno kingdom. A permanent Portuguese settlement arose in the 1650s due to migration from Larantuka on Flores. The Eurasian population in Lifau became known as Topasses. After 1664 they were governed by officers belonging to the Hornay and Da Costa families, and were able dominate most of Timor.[1] In 1702, Lifau became the authorized capital of the colony when it received the first governor from Lisbon. The following period saw frequent clashes between the governor and the independent-minded Topasses, who had their strongholds in Tulicão west of Lifau, and Animata in the inland. Under their leader Gaspar da Costa they attacked the Dutch colonial post at Kupang in 1749 but were smashingly defeated, and subsequently moved their residence to Pante Macassar (Oecussi) in 1759 due to Dutch military pressure. The capital of the governor was transferred from Lifau to Dili in 1769, because of the frequent attacks from the Topass leader Francisco Hornay III. Most of West Timor was left to Dutch forces, who were conquering what is today Indonesia. The Eurasian leadership of Oecussi by and by turned into a bona fide Timorese kingship, and members of the Hornay and Da Costa families reigned as Liurai (kings) until modern times. They regularly intermarried with the Ambeno royalty. In the 1780s a reconciliation took place between the governor in Dili and the Topasses, who henceforth usually supported the Portuguese government.[2]
It was only in 1859, with the Treaty of Lisbon, that Portugal and the Netherlands divided the island between them. West Timor became Dutch, with its colonial seat at Kupang, and East Timor became Portuguese, with its seat in Dili. This left Oecussi-Ambeno as an enclave surrounded by Dutch territory. In 1912 the Liurai of Ambeno, João da Cruz, staged a revolt against the Portuguese. It was quickly put down, after which the Ambeno kingdom lapsed. The Liurai of Oecussi became dominant in the entire Oecussi-Ambeno exclave.[3] The definitive border was drawn by the Hague in 1916. Apart from Japanese occupation during World War II, the border remained the same until the end of the colonial period. The region was given the status of municipality, named Oecússi, by the Portuguese government in August 1973, the last Timorese area to receive it.
