Genealogy of Colonial Land Registration and State Land in Portuguese Timor. Issue 5 (3rd July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Meitzner Yoder, Laura S.
• Is Part Of: European legacy. Volume 25:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 519
• Page End: 534
• Publication Date: 2020-07-03
• Subjects: Portuguese colonial land policy -- state land claims -- Timor -- land formalization -- customary land; Europe -- History -- Periodicals; Europe -- Intellectual life -- Periodicals; 940.05
• DOI: 10.1080/10848770.2020.1760459
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1084-8770

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Establishing territorial control was one of the primary activities of colonial presence on Timor from the late nineteenth century. In Portuguese Timor as elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the colonial state pursued codification and regulation of land in multiple forms, including serial attempts to enact land registration in tandem with colonial projects including pacification, resource extraction, and generation of state income. Seeking to extend official purview to Timor-specific customary land use and practices, Portugal defined distinct social categorizations linked to land access and ownership. This article traces the policies governing land in Portuguese Timor from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, highlighting state land acquisition, registration processes, laws and procedures asserting state control over land transactions, and international influences on Portuguese practices.