Larantuka

Larantuka lies at the eastern end of Flores, on the narrow strait facing the islands of Solor and Adonara. It became a centre of Portuguese-speaking traders and Catholic communities in the eastern archipelago. Its ships carried sandalwood from Timor, and its mixed families formed alliances with rulers on Flores and neighbouring islands.

Shortly before 1600 Portuguese traders left Solor for Larantuka; Dominican friars followed after the Dutch occupied Solor in 1613. Refugees arrived again after the Dutch conquest of Malacca in 1641 and attacks on Makassar in 1660. The community known as Larantuqueiros, or Topasses, operated with considerable independence from Portugal, though its leaders maintained Portuguese connections. Rivalries between the da Costa and de Hornay families shaped its politics. From Lifau on Timor, established around 1640, these merchants and their allies sought control of the sandalwood trade. Their influence tied Larantuka to distant island courts as well as to the commerce of the seas between them.