# Fort Maubara

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**Fort Maubara** is a small Dutch colonial fortress located in the [East Timorese](/source/East_Timor) town of [Maubara](/source/Maubara), [Suco](/source/Sucos_of_East_Timor) [Vaviquinia](/source/Vaviquinia), [Maubara administrative post](/source/Maubara_Administrative_Post), [Liquiçá municipality](/source/Liqui%C3%A7%C3%A1_Municipality). The rectangular fort, on whose wall two cannons still stand, is the most striking building in the town. It is located directly at the entrance to Maubara, on the well-developed thoroughfare, from where visitors could see the entire bay from the beach. The fort is owned by the state, but is managed by the Maubara Association *Mós Bele*.[1]

## History

In 1756, Maubara allied itself with the [Dutch](/source/Netherlands). Maubara became a Dutch enclave in [Portuguese Timor](/source/Portuguese_Timor). In 1758, two ships from [Sikka](/source/Sikka_Regency), which was allied with Portugal, attacked Maubara. The [Dutch East India Company](/source/Dutch_East_India_Company) (VOC) responded by sending two ships from [Kupang](/source/Kupang) to support Maubara's ruler [José Xavier Doutel](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Xavier_Doutel). After the successful defense, a unit of one hundred European and [Balinese](/source/Balinese_people) soldiers, under the command of Jacob Pietersz, was sent to Maubara to build the fort. The enclosure now had a diameter of 80 feet and the walls were six feet thick. However, this was not enough of a deterrent. When Pietersz returned to Maubara with fresh soldiers in 1759, he once again had to defend the kingdom against unnamed attackers. The next Portuguese attack took place in 1760. A VOC ship with [Mardijkers](/source/Mardijker_people) came to Maubara's aid. That year, the German VOC commander [Hans Albrecht von Plüskow](/source/Hans_Albrecht_von_Pl%C3%BCskow) lost his life. As a result, almost the entire crew of Fort Maubara was ordered back to Kupang in 1761. Only twelve European soldiers remained behind. Doutel therefore asked for reinforcements in Kupang and [Batavia](/source/Batavia,_Dutch_East_Indies). To emphasize his request, he sent large quantities of [sandalwood](/source/Sandalwood) and [beeswax](/source/Beeswax) as a gift. The following years remained turbulent. In 1790, the [Topasse](/source/Topasses) ruler [Pedro da Hornay](/source/Pedro_da_Hornay) attacked Maubara on behalf of Portugal. The attack was repulsed. All the Topaz achieved with this action was that Maubara renewed its alliance with the Netherlands and planted the [Dutch flag](/source/Flag_of_the_Netherlands). From 1796 to 1799, Maubara, together with [Great Sonba'i](/source/Sonbai), was again at war with the Portuguese.[2][3][4][5][6]

However, in the [Treaty of Lisbon](/source/Treaty_of_Lisbon_(1859)) in 1859, the Dutch agreed to cede Maubara to the Portuguese as part of a larger territorial exchange. The handover took place in April 1861.[6][2] In 1869, the captain of the Portuguese corvette *Sa de Bandeira* described the fort as being built of loose stones, close to the sea shore, which at this point was only equipped with a single, rusty cannon. [Maubara revolted](/source/Maubara_revolted) against the Portuguese several times until 1893. A customs station was built in Maubara in 1889. The customs house is still located opposite the fort today.[2]

The building inside the fort dates from the second half of the 20th century and once served as the seat of the local administration of Maubara. Today it houses a restaurant.[1]

## References

1. [*Arquitectural Patrimony of Portuguese Origins of Liquiçá*](https://issuu.com/incidentaldoc/docs/liquimonio_low_res). Dili: the Secretary of State for Arts and Culture in Timor-Leste. 2013. pp. 95–98. – via issuu.

1. Gunn, Geoffrey C. [*History of Timor*](http://pascal.iseg.utl.pt/~cesa/History_of_Timor.pdf). p. 50. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090324213447/http://pascal.iseg.utl.pt/~cesa/History_of_Timor.pdf) 24 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.

1. ["Chronology of the history of Timor (1512–1945) following recent events (1975–1999)"](http://www.revues-plurielles.org/_uploads/pdf/17_8_4.pdf). *Latitudes*. 1 May 2000. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160303185752/http://www.revues-plurielles.org/_uploads/pdf/17_8_4.pdf) 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine.

1. de Figueiredo, Fernando Augusto. [*Timor. A presença portuguesa (1769–1945)*](https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/bitstream/10216/10864/2/N5617TD01PFERNANDOFIGUEIREDO000069005.pdf)

1. Kammen, Douglas (2015). *Three Centuries of Conflict in East Timor*

1. Farram, Steven (2019-05-01). ["The Maubara fort, a relic of eighteenth-century local autonomy and Dutch–Portuguese rivalry on Timor"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-studies/article/abs/maubara-fort-a-relic-of-eighteenthcentury-local-autonomy-and-dutchportuguese-rivalry-on-timor/DE6A04B5850E1FEB6C2A8747148D4050). *Journal of Southeast Asian Studies*. **50** (2): 263–287. [doi:10.1017/S0022463419000225](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463419000225). [ISSN 0022-4634](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0022-4634)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fort Maubara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Maubara) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Maubara?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.