An East Timorese Domain

Abstract

The East Timorese kingdom Luca is described as the hegemon of the eastern parts of Timor in some nineteenth-century works. This is gainsaid by other data, which point to the existence of a multitude of petty kingdoms. This article scrutinizes Luca’s claim to power from a number of angles, utilizing European records and contemporary anthropological fieldwork. First, we analyse the claims of the centre as reflected in colonial and indigenous narratives. Second, we investigate narratives from the ‘periphery’, that is, the minor adjacent domains of Vessoro and Babulo. Third, we offer a comprehensive discussion of Luca’s role from a wider geographical perspective. In this way we produce a ‘general account’ that situates the symbolic and historical significance of Luca within the Timorese understanding of time, ritual, and power.

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