[1] The countrywide conflict of 1911–12 was the culmination of a series of revolts led by Dom Boaventura [pt], the liurai (chief)[b] of the native kingdom of Manufahi.

[5] The reino or native kingdom of Manufahi (also Manufai) lay on the southern coast of Timor, within the military district of Alas, based on the rationalised re-districting of 1860.

[7] In 1906, at the suggestion of Governor José Celestino da Silva, the Portuguese government decided to replace the finta with a capitation (a head tax).

All heads of native households owed 500 réis annually unless they were under contract (contratados) on agricultural plantations of more than 500 hectares or living in reinos producing at least 500,000 pounds of the valuable cash crops of coffee, cocoa or cotton.

On 30 October, the outgoing governor, Alfredo Cardoso de Soveral Martins, formally proclaimed the republic before an assembly that included his fellow officials, military officers, churchmen and the leading men of commerce.

On 5 November, in a series of public announcements, Governor Martins confirmed that the new republic was to be a democratic one, and that royal symbols would progressively be removed from military uniforms, government letterheads, etc.

[10] The republican revolution was met with confusion by many native Timorese, who treated the royal flag as a lulic[c] symbol and part of their regal paraphernalia.

The Dutch of West Timor took advantage of the situation by distributing pictures of Queen Wilhelmina amongst the men of the disputed region of Lakmaras, in the hopes of giving a pro-Dutch turn to their royalist and anti-republican sentiment.

[12] On 5 October 1911, the first anniversary of the republican revolution, several liurais opposed to an announced increase in the head tax camped with their retinues in the suburbs of Dili.

According to Second Lieutenant Jaime do Inso, the chiefs conspired to massacre the Europeans of Dili only to abandon their plan after learning of the presence of an English merchant ship in the port.

[11] Portuguese reprisals had, by 29 December, forced 1,200 Timorese, including the liurai of Camenassa and his retinue, to seek refuge in the Dutch enclave of Maucatar.

[11] In Dili, Governor Filomeno da Câmara de Melo Cabral hastily arranged a defence and sent a request for reinforcements to Lisbon.

[15] According to the account of Jaime do Inso, who only arrived later on the Pátria, three human heads were found hanging near the posto of Laclo just ten minutes outside Dili.

It involved taking enemy heads back to the land of one's ancestors and displaying it as a lulic to the accompaniment of traditional dancing (tabedai) and chant (lorsai).

[16] On 5 January 1912, at the height of the wet season, Governor da Câmara marched out of Dili with a force of 200 men (25 Europeans plus moradores) towards the posto at Aileu, picking up loyal arraias on the way.

If opposition to the island-wide policy of the head tax engendered a general revolt, then da Câmara's decision to take his main force out into the most affected territory could be suicidal.

The gunboat Pátria, which had steamed from Macau to Singapore, then to Soerabaja in the Dutch East Indies, where it was kept in port by the monsoons, finally arrived at Dili on 6 February.

Finally, the British steamship Aldenham disembarked the African soldiers of the 8th Companhia Indígena de Moçambique in Dili on 15 February.

[13] The Pátria, commanded by First Lieutenant Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho, conducted bombardments of native strongholds between February and April 1912.

A young officer aboard the ship, Jaime do Inso, has left a first-hand description of the effects of this bombardment on Boaventura's forces on the south coast.

[18] What tipped the scales, beyond the increased manpower, was the availability to the Portuguese of modern weaponry—artillery, machine guns, grenades—and the deployment of the gunboat Patria to shell coastal areas.

[19] Something of the weakness of the native opposition can be gleaned from the record of what weaponry the Portuguese captured: 36 rifles and 590 flintlocks with a few cartridges, plus 495 swords.

[13] Governor Filomeno da Câmara expressed great admiration for the courage and martial acumen of the Timorese, and their effectiveness on the battlefield, despite the very limited arsenal at their disposal.

The main rebel group of about 12,000 men, women and children under Boaventura retreated into the Cablac mountains and prepared to make a final stand around the Riac and Leolaco peaks.

According to Pearse, a passenger on the Eastern and Australian ship, who left an account of his observations and discussions in Dili, he was told that the rebel leaders were to be exiled to Africa and other prisoners to Atauro Island.