A preliminary investigation into the history of the old fort at Maubara

There are a number of forts on Timor built by the European contestants for colonial control of the island; the Dutch, who prevailed in the western half, and the Portuguese, who came to control the eastern half of the island. The Portuguese had been active in Timor since the sixteenth century and retained a presence there until 1975. Such a long presence makes it easy to overlook the fact that the present borders on Timor were only formalised in 1916, and until at least the mid-nineteenth century, the Dutch and Portuguese were actively campaigning for territorial control. One result of this rivalry is that one of the best-known forts in the former Portuguese -controlled areas, the Maubara fort, initially completed in 1760, was originally built by the Dutch. To date, the fort has received little attention from researchers. This paper is a preliminary attempt to alter that situation and examines the history of the Dutch claim to Maubara; the circumstances surrounding the erection of the fort; and the reasons for its abandonment by the Dutch to the Portuguese in 1861.