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Liurai Wehali was a Symbolic King of Timor Island

Travel to East Timor or West Timor and ask Timorese people about Liurai Wehali or the Kingdom of Wehali. They will tell you that Liurai Wehali was one of the most well-known kingdoms on Timor Island. Liurai Wehali was indirectly in charge of the island of Timor for many years until the arrival of the Europeans at the beginning of the 16th century. All the other little kingdoms considered him the symbol king of the island of Timor. Even the King of Portugal gave him a golden stick which is still kept in the palace at Laran, Betun, West Timor, today. However, the kingdom of Wehali was not the king of the island of Timor, nor was there a single monarch who reigned over the island. There were about one hundred Liurai, or kingdoms, on the island of Timor, each of which ruled their people in their respective territories. Why did other Liurai see Liurai Wehali as the ritual centre of the island of Timor? In this article, I will explain how Liurai Wehali managed to win the hearts of other realms.

Most literature suggests that Liurai Wehali and his people migrated from the Malay Peninsula (Malacca), probably during the Bronze Age or earlier. How did they cross the Malaca Sea to the island of Timor? They probably used rafts or canoes to cross the sea, and it was a great adventure. They did it and reached the coast of Belu. When they arrived, they encountered the Dawan people, who were already living in the western part of the island. In addition, other tribes had already occupied the east of the island of Timor. These new immigrants travelled to the south and settled in South Belu. They named the location Malacca or Malaka after their origin. At this location, they originally founded the Kingdom of Wehali or Liurai of Wehali. To set themselves apart from the other tribes, they identified themselves as Sina Mutin Malaka (white Chinese from Malacca).

Like other kings of the world who considered themselves representatives of God, the King of Wehali regarded himself as the intermediary between God and his people. He called himself Maromak Oan (the Son of God), the greatest king who reigned over his kingdom with authority and possessed divine privileges. As Hans Hagerdal described, he was the dark lord or invisible lord that represented the earth, a "female" entity in contrast to the "male" heaven (Hagerdal, 2012). Because he served as an intermediary between the physical and spiritual worlds, Maromak Oan was not permitted to work. All he did was eat and sleep, drink and sleep, or, as we say in Tetun, Ha Toba, Hemu Toba. He needed someone to carry out his duties, so he established several little kingdoms, or Liurai, to exercise executive power. Compared with the pharaoh, Liurai Wehali was not as powerful as the Egyptian pharaoh, whom the Egyptians considered a living god.

The first king of Wehali was a beautiful woman named Hoa Diak Malaka, the beautiful Queen of Malaka. In Tetun, we call Liurai Feto Diak. As Spillett (1999) pointed out, the female queen lasted only up to the fifth generation; the sixth to the eleventh generation were all men. The Dutch government abolished the role of women when they arrived in Wehali, Betun, and it continues until now. It seemed as though the Dutch didn't like working with the matriarchal monarchy because they came from a patriarchal monarchy.

Liurai Wehali, the King of Wehali, knew he could not rule the island of Timor because there were so many small kingdoms across the island, from Kupang to Tutuala. How could you unite and rule these kingdoms in a single kingdom? You have to have a system and a solid army to conquer these kingdoms because every kingdom has its own culture, language, and warriors to defend itself. Therefore, Liurai Wehali sent his representatives to cooperate with other kings throughout the island of Timor instead of having a king who ruled the whole island. The Maromak Oan appointed three Loro, or representatives, to carry out his executive power in the island's central, western, and eastern regions.

According to Peter Spillett's oral history book, in the past, all kingdoms on Timor Island were sheltered under the flag of Wewiku-Wehali, led by Maromak Oan. Because the island of Timor was so extensive, the Maromak Oan designated three Liurai as his representatives. They were:

Through these officials, Liurai Wehali probably tried to persuade other Liurai to establish a single monarch that governed the island of Timor, but they failed. However, the representatives successfully collaborated with other kingdoms to pay "Upeti," or homage, to Liurai Wehali every two years.

Additionally, Liurai Wehali sent three other delegates to Maunfahe. They were three brothers: Sesu Mauk lived in Ainaro, Lauk Mauk in Same, and Bere Bauk in Alas. These three brothers had to be separated because they wanted to expand their authority to other areas. However, they failed to influence the people in those areas because Usi Leki Taek had already arrived before them. The original name of Manufahi was Maunfahe, which means the separation of three brothers. The Portuguese misspelled it. Furthermore, to expand his authority and influence in eastern Timor, Liurai Wehali established a small kingdom in Kamanasa, which ruled the kingdoms of Suai, Raimea, and Maunfahe, as well as other kingdoms in Suai regency (Spillett, 1999).

So Liurai Wehali established a good relationship with other kingdoms throughout the island of Timor through his representatives. They attempted to influence their authority and brought Tetun, which has become the lingua franca of Timor and East Timor in particular. Although Liurai Wehali did not govern the island of Timor as a nation, he managed to cooperate with other kingdoms, and they considered him an iconic king of the island of Timor.

Liurai Wehali also built a good relationship with other kingdoms across the island of Timor through mixed marriages between the Wehali people and some eminent tribes. For example, the traditional chief of the kingdom of Mota Ain, We Too, said their ancestors were from Besikama. His name was Nahak Batak Rai. Also, the king of Pisa stated that Liurai Tety Dias married a princess of Wehali called Nai Solok Wehali. Another example is the kingdom of Lauten-Moro, which was connected to Wehali because a man married a Wehali woman. The Lia Nain of the Kingdom of Aisahe, Wekeke, mentioned that three people migrated from Wehali to Wekeke. They were Leto Bauk (a female), Seran Bauk (a male), and Mauk Bauk (a male), and they all married locals in Wekeke. In addition, they brought Hali, a banyan tree. (Spillet, 1999).

In summary, Liurai Wehali was not the ruler of the island of Timor, nor was he the king of the island, but had a good relationship with other small kingdoms through his delegates: Liurai Fatuaruin, Liurai Likusaen, and Liurai Sonbai. They also formed strong ties with other kings through marriage. In this way, other Timorese kingdoms revered Liurai Wehali as the exemplary ruler of the entire island of Timor.