What is "liurai"

Liurai is a ruler's title on Timor. The word is Tetun and literally means "surpassing the earth". It is originally associated with Wehali, a ritually central kingdom situated at the south coast of Central Timor (now included in Indonesia). The sacral lord of Wehali, the Maromak Oan ("son of God") enjoyed a ritually passive role, and he kept the Liurai as the executive ruler of the land. In the same way, the rulers of two other important princedoms, Sonbai in West Timor and Likusaen ( Liquica) in East Timor, were often referred as Liurais, which indicated a symbolic tripartition of the island. In later history, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the term Liurai underwent a process of inflation. By this time it denoted any ruler in the Portuguese part of Timor, great or small. The Liurai families have kept a certain role in Timorese society until recent times.