Wehali
Sign in to saveWehali (Wehale, Waihali, Veale) is the name of a traditional kingdom at the southern coast of Central Timor, now in Indonesia and East Timor. It is often mentioned together with its neighbouring sister kingdom, as Wewiku-Wehali (Malaka). Wehali held a position of ritual seniority among the many small Timorese kingdoms.
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Encyclopedic overview
7 sectionsContents
- Geography and society
- History
- Dutch East India Company
- Partition and later colonial rule
- List of rulers
- References
- Further reading
Wehali (Wehale, Waihali, Veale) is the name of a traditional kingdom at the southern coast of Central Timor, now in Indonesia and East Timor. It is often mentioned together with its neighbouring sister kingdom, as Wewiku-Wehali (Malaka). Wehali held a position of ritual seniority among the many small Timorese kingdoms.
== Geography and society == Wehali is centred at the village of Laran, (now modern-day Wehali, Indonesia), situated on a fertile plain which is well suited for varied agriculture. It belongs to the South Tetun-speaking area, which is also known as Belu. The southern Tetun have a matrilineal system. At the apex of the political system stood a "great lord" (Nai Bot) who held the title of Maromak Oan ("son of God"). His task was ritually passive, in a symbolic sense "female", and he kept an executive "male" regent or assistant by his side, the Liurai ("surpassing the land").
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wehali” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.