Acting as a tributary state of the Portuguese Crown, the Raja (King) of Larantuka controlled holdings on the islands of Flores (eastern part), Solor, Adonara, and Lembata.

[2]: 175 Monarchs of the Larantuka kingdom claim descent from a union between a man from the kingdom of Manuaman Lakaan Fialaran (Belu) in the North Timor or Wehale–Wewiku (Malaka) in South Timor and a mythical woman from a nearby extinct volcano of Ile Mandiri.

[1][3]: 72–74 In the Javanese Negarakertagama, the locations Galiyao and Solot were mentioned to be "east of Bali" and are believed to correspond to the approximate region, indicating some form of contact from tributary relations or trading between the region and the Majapahit Empire, due to its location in the trade routes carrying sandalwood from nearby Timor.

Solor was described by Tomé Pires in his Suma Oriental, although some scholars believe he was referring to nearby larger Flores, mentioning the abundance of exported sulphur and foodstuffs.

[4]: 61  By 1515, there was trade between both Flores and Solor with the foreigners, and by 1520 a small Portuguese settlement had been constructed in Lifau, at Timor.

The Makassarese attacked and captured Larantuka in 1541 to extend their control over the sandalwood trade[3]: 81  and in 1613, the Dutch destroyed the Portuguese base at Solor before establishing themselves at modern Kupang.

They followed a certain strategy; the most notable Raja Ola Adobala who was brought up under Portuguese education, traditionally the ninth in the pedigree of the Rajas was converted to Catholicism and baptized during the reign of Peter II of Portugal[2]: 174  (while present-day traditional celebrations place his baptism at 1650 instead),[8] by military pressure.

In addition, Portuguese sources mention a Dom Constantino between 1625–1661, which implies that Adobala may not be the first in the line of Catholic monarchs of Larantuka.

Showing clear traits of independence, he attempted to extract taxes from territories belonging to a nearby Raja of Sikka, led groups of men to intervene in local conflicts, and refused to conduct sacrifices in the manner his predecessors did for the non-Catholic natives.

[13] The royal family remained post-Indonesian independence as traditional figureheads with no legal authority until their final abolishment on 1962.

[2] In present-day Indonesia, unique Catholic traditions close to Easter days remain, locally known as the Semana Santa.

The raja title is still held by descendants of the past kings (most recently by Don Andre III Marthinus DVG on 2016), although it is not associated with any secular authority.

According to the 2010 census, the majority of the population in the kingdom's former territories, and the East Nusa Tenggara province as a whole, remained Catholics.