Dili became the capital of the Portuguese colonial possessions in the Lesser Sunda Islands in 1769. Today, Dili is the capital of Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor).
Founding
According to legend, the place name "Dili" is derived from the Tetum word "ai-dila" for papaya. According to this, the Portuguese first heard the name of this fruit when they reached the Bay of Dili in 1520. However, this cannot be true, as Mambai was spoken in the region at that time. Tetum only spread to Dili when it became the capital of Portuguese Timor. Furthermore, papaya is an American fruit that only came to Southeast Asia through the Europeans. The origin of the name "Dili" seems rather to lie in the Bunak word "zili" (English: "cliff"), which refers to the cliffs behind the city. This is an indication that Papuan language, such as Bunak, was probably spoken in the region even before the Austronesian languages; Mambai and Tetum.
In 1730, Governor Pedro de Melo (1729-1731) formed alliances with the Liurai of Manatuto and other rulers of the region - a circumstance that would facilitate the later relocation of the colonial capital from Lifau to Dili. A year later, Governor Pedro de Rego Barreto da Gama e Castro (1731-1734) established a Portuguese garrison in Manatuto. Missionaries founded a seminary in Manatuto in the mid-18th century.
On 10 October 1769, Governor António José Teles de Meneses began to build Dili after the Portuguese had been driven out of Lifau in the west of the island by the Topasses on 11 August 1769 (see: Cailaco Rebellion). Originally, Vemasse was the destination, but favourable conditions were found in Dili to establish a new capital. The bay and the offshore island of Atauro offered protection to anchored ships and there was drinking water and plains for agriculture. The surrounding swamps, however, were to cause problems.Património de Influência Portuguesa: Díli, retrieved 3 December 2014. Shortly after Meneses' arrival, 42 Liurais swore allegiance to Portugal in Dili, including Dom Alexandre, ruler of Motael, who gave Portugal the entire plain of Dili to the surrounding mountains by treaty. In addition, Dom Alexandre assured the Portuguese of timber and, for the defence of the settlement, men and horses. Due to the Dominicans' previous contacts with the Timorese rulers, who had already founded missions in Manatuto and Viqueque, Portugal was able to rely on relatively large support from the Liurais at this time, as was not the case later. The city rights of a vila, meaning "small town", were granted to Dili as early as 10 October 1769. In 1772, in addition to 40 Europeans, many Indians from Goa and Mozambique lived in Dili; a total of 750 people, half of whom were slaves. In 1779, a fire destroyed large parts of the archive with many documents from the founding period.
In the early years, the place was little more than a collection of wooden huts with an earthen wall as an outer fortification and a church dedicated to St. Anthony. Construction of the first stone fortress began on 22 September 1796 under Governor João Baptista Verquaim (1794-1800), as at that time the Maubara and Sonba'i empires, allied with the Netherlands, were at war with various vassals of Portugal. In addition, Dili was vulnerable to attack by other colonial powers, such as France and Britain. Under Governor José Joaquim de Sousa (1800-1803), the fortress was equipped with cannons.
19th century
In 1813, Dili had 1,768 inhabitants, including 688 African slaves, but not counting the indigenous population. Although there are no visible traces of these Africans left on Timor today, the Portuguese slave trade brought 200 to 250 Mozambican slaves across the Indian Ocean to East Asia by 1830. Apart from the fortress, the governor's house and St. António's Church, the place still consisted only of huts with roofs made of palm fronds. It was not until 1834 that Governor José Maria Marques finally began to develop Dili into a real city. An avenue was laid out along the shore and, in addition to a new governor's residence, an infantry barracks was built. New roads connected the centre with the outskirts. The town was granted the rights of a cidade (large town), which went far beyond the rights of a vila (small town) granted in 1769, in January 1864.
From January to April 1861, the British explorer Alfred Russel Wallace visited Dili. He described the place as even "shabbier" than the Dutch possessions in the region. All the buildings, including the church and the customs house, were made only of mud without any decoration. The only stone building was the governor's house, a small whitewashed building. The town was surrounded by swamps, which is why Dili was considered malarial and, according to Wallace, half of Dili's European inhabitants suffered from fever at all times. At that time, 3,000 Europeans, Indians, Chinese and Timorese lived in Dili. During the 1861 rebellion, Dili was threatened by the rebel Liurai of Laclo and Ulmera. On 10 June, Governor Afonso de Castro declared a state of emergency and had weapons handed out to civilians and even to Dili's Chinese population. The Laclo uprising was crushed at the end of August and a state of siege was lifted on Dili. Portugal's victory was celebrated extensively by Castro in Dili, including the traditional Likurai dance performed by the women for the men returning home from the war. The heads of the slain enemies were carried through the town in a procession.
On 18 September, 1,200 indigenous warriors gathered in Dili to take on Ulmera. They were joined by another 3,000 men from Liquiçá. Ulmera was overrun and the ruler of Ulmera and his son were brought to Dili as prisoners. There another victory celebration was held, where the captured Liurai had to kneel down and agree to pay a large sum of compensation. The heads of the fallen opponents were also presented again. Castro later wrote of the rebellion: "It takes strength, not to bully, but to make an indolent people obey the laws and work." Castro's successor José Manuel Pereira de Almeida (1863-1864) had the fortifications of the fortress upgraded, barracks for soldiers and officers built and the governor's residence expanded. The hospital of Lahane (since 1860, today in the Suco Lahane Ocidental), the bridge and road to Lahane, a prison and a school for the sons of the Liurais were also completed. The Timorese clergyman Jacob dos Reis e Cunha, who had been educated overseas, was the first to teach there.
On 24 August 1866, large parts of Dili burnt down. The military barracks, the ammunition depot, the church, the treasury, the governor's palace and 15 private houses fell victim to it. The last parts of the archives from the Lifau period were also lost. There were no fatalities. The governor of Macau appealed to the population for donations for the reconstruction of Dili. A total of 2,630 patacas were collected, one fifth of which came from Macau's Chinese population. In 1867, Macau's governor José Maria da Ponte e Horta personally brought medicine and also pictures and ornaments for the new Dili church. It had stone walls and was 40 metres long and 10 metres wide. It had eight windows on each side, two in the front and two in the back. However, the reconstruction of the city progressed slowly due to the lack of materials and skilled labour. In 1869, a cholera epidemic raged. Governor João Clímaco de Carvalho (1870-1871) temporarily considered relocating the capital completely to the climatically more favourable and less unhealthy Lahane, one and a half kilometres from Dili's centre in the mountains - a plan that Governor Frederico Leão Cabreira (1839-1844) had also considered. But the inhabitants did not want it because of the water supply. In Dili, almost every house had a well; in Lahane, water had to be fetched from a river some distance away.
By 1870, some important buildings had been rebuilt. The rebuilt fortress of Nossa Senhora da Conceição extended to the river on the west and was of typical Portuguese design. The hydrographic mapping of the harbour was completed and Fort Carqueto protected the anchorages. Across the bay stood a lighthouse. In the main square was the prison, built of limestone. The customs house, military barracks, arsenal, school and hospital were also standing again. The governor's palace, however, is still in ruins on a map from 1870. The new governor's palace was only rebuilt between 1874 and 1881. A main road led from Bidau to Motael. Several private houses stood along this road. Bidau was the commercial centre where many Chinese, Topasses and Moradores lived. The Moradores were Timorese provided and financed by Liurais for the Portuguese forces. Several Chinese trading houses sprang up along the major streets. The neighbourhood of Lahane had also been built up. By the end of the century, several colonial-style houses and government buildings had sprung up here, beyond the malaria-infested lowlands. In 1879, a traveller described Dili as a "small, thriving town" with 4,114 inhabitants, of whom 2,498 were Catholics. However, there was a lack of cultural facilities such as theatres, concert halls, libraries or a simple central square as a meeting place. Thus, the inhabitants occupied themselves primarily with political discussions about the local authorities and the consumption of alcohol. Portuguese wine was rather rare, mostly alcoholic beverages made from sugar cane and local palm wine were consumed. At least wheat bread was baked in Dili and tea was imported from Macau. The main church, rebuilt between 1877 and 1878, was consecrated in August 1879. In 1884, Dili received street lighting, which was fired with oil from Laclubar.
The hospital in Lahane was divided into three sections: one for Europeans at four rupees, one for Chinese at three rupees and one for locals at two rupees per day. In 1877, an Australian described the hospital as a large, airy and clean building where much attention was paid to the sick. In 1883, medical officer J. Gomes da Silva was appointed head of the "Macau-Timor Health Service". He chalked up several abuses. For example, the hospital lacked a maternity ward, and of all the cemeteries in Dili, only the Chinese one met the basics for public health. He also criticised the fact that while the "uncivilised" Timorese and African soldiers bathed in the Lahane River, the European soldiers never did. In contrast, the Dutch military had already introduced a system of alternate bathing days for its colonial troops by this time. It was precisely malaria and poor hygiene that earned Dili the reputation as the unhealthiest port in the archipelago. This description is not surprising, as the death rate in Dili, while roughly equal to that of the colonies in Mozambique, was three times higher than in Macau. In 1887, there were several deaths due to diarrhoeal diseases and beriberi, which mainly claimed the lives of African soldiers.