in 1942-45 and the Indonesian Revolution in 1945-49. Its population was 49,168 inhabitants in 1949. In 1955 the new Indonesian republic ended the rule of governing princes (raja) in Kupang.

In the interior of West Timor, a Sonbai principality remained under Portuguese suzerainty after 1658. The rulers, known to the Europeans as "emperor (keizer, imperador)", usually had an inactive role, while the executive governance was done by their main lieutenants