Oecusse and Ambeno are the names of the two original kingdoms in the area, of which Ambeno existed before the colonial period. Oecusse was among the first parts of the island of
Timor on which the
Portuguese established themselves, and is thus usually considered the cradle of Timor-Leste. In about 1556, the Dominican friar António Taveiro, operating from a base on
Solor, started missionary work on the north coast of Timor. Shortly after this, in 1569, the village of "Alifao" (
Lifau) is mentioned on a European map. It was situated five kilometres to the west of modern
Pante Macassar. For the Portuguese traders in
sandalwood, Lifau was a convenient place to land since it was situated to the south of their base in the
Solor Archipelago. The area was dominated by the
Ambeno kingdom, which was sometimes referred as the kingdom of Lifau. In 1641 the Dominican priests baptised the royal families of the Ambeno, Mena and
Amanuban kingdoms, which meant that Portuguese influence increased in parts of western Timor. Migration of
Topasses, a Eurasian population, rose in the 1650s from
Larantuka on
Flores. After 1664 they were governed by officers belonging to the
Hornay and
Costa families, and were able to dominate most of Timor. The Topass leaders used Lifau as their main stronghold on Timor, but still resided much of their time in Larantuka. In the second half of the seventeenth century they made great profits through the sandalwood trade, attracting merchants from
Siam,
Batavia,
Macao, and
Goa. The precious wood was brought to Lifau and sold to external traders under Topass supervision. In 1702, Lifau became the authorised capital of the colony when it received the first governor from
Goa. 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 in the
Battle of Penfui, and subsequently moved their residence to
Pante Macassar (Oecusse) 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 Oecusse by and by turned into a Timorese kingship, and members of the Hornay and 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. In 1859, with the
Treaty of Lisbon,
Portugal and the
Netherlands divided the island between them.
West Timor became Dutch, with its colonial seat at
Kupang, and
Timor-Leste became Portuguese, with its seat in
Dili. This left Oecusse and
Noimuti as enclaves 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 Oecusse became dominant in the entire Oecusse exclave. 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 county
(conselho), named Oecússi, by the Portuguese government in August 1973, the last Timorese area to receive it.
Indonesian forces invaded Oecusse on 6 June 1975. In October they occupied the western border districts of Timor-Leste's main territory. It was in Pante Macassar that an Indonesian
fifth column raised the
Indonesian flag on 29 November 1975, a week before the official
Indonesian invasion of Timor-Leste proper. However, even under Indonesian rule, Oecusse was administered as part of the province of Timor-Leste, as it had been as part of
Portuguese Timor. Like much of the country, it suffered violent attacks near the 1999 referendum for independence. Over 90 percent of the infrastructure was destroyed. It became part of the independent state of Timor-Leste on 20 May 2002. In the 1970s and 1980s, anarchist
New Zealander Bruce Grenville began a hoax, claiming to have founded the sultanate of Occussi-Ambeno. He invented a history for the state of tribes united against the
Portuguese, and produced many
cinderella stamps for his creation. On 11 November 1999, over 600 Australian troops from 3RAR (Third Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment) deployed from Maliana in Timor-Leste proper to Oecusse to liberate the enclave. They stayed there until late February 2000, being replaced by
Jordanian troops. ==Politics==