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In Timor, the slaves were generally owned by the king. A person could become a slave
for not able to pay a debt or as a result of piracy attacks and abductions. Ch’a Hsing Sheng
in 1436, noted that there were 12 ports in Timor with various commodities, including
slaves (Parera, 2014). Furthermore, according to Francis, the chiefs of Timor had slaves
from the descendants of slaves, from those losing the war and as punishment (Parimarta,
2002: 132). It was also mentioned that the greatest wealth of the chiefs was in the form of
slaves. As more and more slaves needed in the trade and the heads or kings were in need
of money, this situation encouraged tribal wars. Then, robbery of men was preferred to get
Goheba Madopolo Romdidi: money (Parimarta, 2002: 133).
(Garuda two-headed). Since 1322,
this symbol has been designated Papuan slaves were originally taken by the people of East Seram to meet the needs
as a symbol of the kingdom: Gapi of their workforce. But after Tidore conquered parts of Papua in 1500, then as the region
(Ternate), Duko (Tidore), Tuanane
(Moti), and iron Kie (Makian). was conquered, the local king or authorities had to pay an annual tribute in the form of
tortoise shell, birds of paradise, and slaves (Kamma, 1981). The pressure from Tidore made
Papuans sail to attack villages to get slaves. They also became pirates for the same reason.
Chiefs who brought tribute were rewarded by the Sultan of Tidore by giving them titles
such as Suruhan (messengers), Rojau (village head), Gimelaha (Dimara), Sengaji (district
head), Mayor (deputy village head) and so on. They were also given cloth, iron tools,
beads and pottery. These titles are still attached to their descendants to this day, but not
everyone knows the origin, because people are more familiar with their personal name and
surname only.
Tidore managed to build its influence in Papua. Tidore’s identity was marked by a flag
bearing the Guheba birds. It was this flag that distinguished the Tidore’s boat from its
allies with other boats. Papuans would not attack boats bearing Tidore flag, for fear of the
Tidore forces.
At the beginning of the 16th century, European nations began their attempts to find
the center of the spices in Maluku. In addition to trade missions, they also brought the
evangelical mission of Christianity. Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Timor
in 1512, but they only sold and bought sandalwood. In the same year, the Portuguese
managed to find Maluku and tried to conquer it. Meanwhile, the Spanish managed to set
foot in Papua in 1529. They were followed by Ynigo Ortiz de Retes who in 1545 gave it
the name Papua Nueva Guinea (Koentjaraningrat, 1994). In 1536, the Portuguese founded
a seminary in Ternate. This was a religious school for children of the prominent families
(Pattikayhatu and Manuputty, 1998). The Portuguese also married women from Maluku.
The Portuguese clans such as de Fretes, Parera, de quelju, and Dias, are still family names

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