Local history on Adonara is documented from the sixteenth century, when Portuguese traders and missionaries established a post on the nearby island of Solor.

Together with two principalities on Solor (Lohayong and Lamakera), they constituted a league called Watan Lema ("the five shores").

In the course of the nineteenth century, the ruler of Adonara (proper) in the north strengthened his position in the Solor Archipelago; by then, he was also the overlord of parts of eastern Flores and Lembata.

The Demon areas stood under the suzerainty of the principality of Larantuka, which in turn was under Portuguese rule until 1859, when it was ceded to the Netherlands.

Some post-independence local officials trace their roots to past rulers, called raja, of Adonara (proper).