Adonara

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adonara
Adonara, viewed from the Space Shuttle, 1983. The eruption plume from stratovolcano Ili Boleng is visible.
Geography

Location	Lesser Sunda Islands
Archipelago	Solor Archipelago
Highest point	1,659 m (5,443 ft)
Administration
Indonesia
Province	East Nusa Tenggara

Adonara is an island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, located east of the larger island of Flores in the Solor Archipelago. To the west lies Lomblen. It is the highest of the islands of the archipelago, at 1659 m, and has an area of 497 km².^[1] It is in the East Nusa Tenggara province.

[edit] History

This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Local history on Adonara is documented from the sixteenth century, when Portuguese traders and missionaries established a post on the nearby Island of Solor. By that time Adonara and the surrounding islands were ritually divided between a population of coastal dwellers known as Paji, and a population mainly settling the mountainous inland called Demon. The Paji were susceptible to Islam, while the Demon tended to fall under Portuguese influence. The Paji areas on Adonara contained three principalities, namely Adonara proper (centered on the north coast of the island), and Terong and Lamahala (on the south coast). Together with two principalities on Solor, Lohayong and Lamakera, they constituted a league called Wetan Lema ("the five shores"). The Wetan Lema allied with the Dutch East India Company(VOC) in 1613, confirmed in 1646. The Adonara principalities had frequent feuds with the Portuguese in Larantuka on Flores, and were not always obedient to the Dutch authorities.

In the course of the nineteenth century, the ruler of Adonara (proper) in the north strengthened his position in the Solor Archipelago; by then, he was also the overlord of parts of eastern Flores and Lembata. The Demon areas stood under the suzerainty of the principality of Larantuka, which in turn was under Portuguese rule until 1859, when it was ceded to the Netherlands. The principalities of Larantuka and Adonara (proper) were abolished by the Indonesian government in 1962. Some post-independence local officials trace their roots to past rulers, called raja, of Adonara (proper). These include:

Foramma, c. 1650
Boli I, c. 1674-1684
Eke 1684-1688 (killed by mountain people)
Gogok, c. 1702
Wuring (brother of Eke), 1688-1719
Boli II (son of Wuring), 1719-after 1756
unknown rulers
Lakabella Jo, c. 1832
Begu, d. July 28, 1850 (killed)
Pela(ng) (son of Begu), 1850-1857
Jou (brother of Pela), 1857-1868
Kamba Begu (brother of Lakabella), 1868-1893
Bapa Tuan (son of Kamba Begu), temporary Raja in 1893 for 6 months
Arkiang Kamba (Arakang; brother of Bapa Tuan, b. 1866), 1893 or 1894 - abdicated December 18, 1930
Bapa Ana (son of a sister of Kamba Begu), Regent with the title of Kapitan 1930 - December 1, 1935, condemned to life imprisonment 1935 and sent to Kupang
Bapa Nuhur, (son of Gela, b. 1915), 1941-1947
Bapa Kaya, (son of Bapa Ana, d. 12/1/1954), Regent 1947-1951
Mohamad Eke (great-grandson of Raja Jo, 1929 - c. 1985), 1951-1962, first referred as Government Asst during Bapa Kaya's rule and also Kapitan of Adonara

[edit] References

P. Arndt (1938), 'Demon und Padzi, die feindlichen Brüder des Solor-Archipelags', Anthropos 33.
Robert H. Barnes (1995), 'Lamakera, Solor: Ethnohistory of a Muslim Whaling Village of Eastern Indonesia', Anthropos 90.
Benno M. Biermann (1924), 'Die alte Dominikanermission auf den Solorinseln', Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft 14.
Arend de Roever (2002), De jacht op sandelhout: De VOC en de tweedeling van Timor in de zeventiende eeuw. Zutphen: Walburg Pers.

^ Monk, K.A.; Fretes, Y., Reksodiharjo-Lilley, G. (1996). The Ecology of Nusa Tenggara and Maluku. Hong Kong: Periplus Editions Ltd., page 8. ISBN 962-593-076-0.