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Timbia: Difference between revisions
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=== Colonial Era=== | === Colonial Era=== | ||
The colonization of Timbia almost started by accident, when a | The colonization of Timbia almost started by accident, when a [[Daxia]]n vessel captained by [[South_Seas_Development_Company|Xi Haifong]] suffered a major scurvy outbreak south of [[Zhijun]] and decided to deviate off its course to find land. The landmass they found turned out to be [[Peratra]]and it was deemed interesting enough for another expedition. Captain Haifong sailed back and he who established the first company trading post in a natural bay in what is now [[Rakin]] in 1642, where the natives could go and trade freely with the [[Daxia]]ns. Two years later a new [[Daxia]]n community was founded at the cape of hope on the northwestern part of the island, named after the fact it brought hope to the ill sailors who discovered it. The [[Daxia]]ns called this city Xīwàng but is now known as the regional capital Faamoemoe. | ||
[[Daxia]]n exploration beyond the initial settlements at Xīwàng and [[Rakin]] was met with curiosity and then hostility from the local tribes, who did not trust the foreign settlers. In 1645 the [[South Seas Development Company|company]] ordered [[Xi Haifong]] to send representatives to the king of Taualai; a kingdom in the southwestern coast of [[Peratra]], to hammer out a commercial agreement that would enable the company to have a presence in Taualai's coast by establishing trading posts there. The company representatives managed to get this from the king in addition to agreeing on the inapplicability of local laws inside the trading posts. This novel concept of extraterritoriality did not sit well with some of Taualai's royal advisors. Under pressure from noble factions unhappy with the accords reached with the company, the king of Taualai reneged on the agreement only a few weeks into their implementation. One of the trading posts under construction was attacked and overrun, the workers being taken as slaves. | |||
Over the course of the next 100 years the island was transformed into a rather modern mining colony, Timbian's vast supply of metals such as | This betrayal enraged the [[Daxia]]ns, who ordered [[Xi Haifong]] to humilliate Taualai. He gathered a squadron of seven ships of the line and sailed them to within sight of Taualai's capital of Bosavi and bombarded the town indiscriminately including the royal palace for three consecutive days. On the fourth day the king emerged from the jungle to plead for talks with Haifong. On behalf of the company, it was demanded of the king to not only adhere to the previous terms but additional conditions were levied. He was to release the enslaved company workers and compensate them, he was to destroy the fortifications that still stood in Bosavi, he was to hand over his heir as a hostage and he was to hand over the nobles who spoke against the agreements. Once they were handed over to the Haifong, the nobles were keelhauled in front of the king until they perished. | ||
Despite keeping faithfully to the new conditions, the [[South Seas Development Company|company]] no longer trusted the king so in 1654 they forced him to abdicate the throne to his eldest son; who had been a guest of the company in [[Zhijun]] for almost ten years. The new teenage king was soon presented with a treaty stipulating that should he die without siring a male heir, his kingdom would pass into the ownership of the [[South Seas Development Company|company]]. By this point the kingdom was so weakened and infiltrated by people on the [[South Seas Development Company|company]]'s payroll that it could not hope to resist. The king died at the age of 16, a mere four years later, possibly strangled in his sleep. As stipulated in his treaty, the [[South Seas Development Company|company]] took possession of the kingdom initially as 'stewards' and allowing for the nobility to continue ruling in a limited fashion but soon moving towards an entirely exploitative colonial venture. Resistance started almost immediately, moving inland into mountainous areas beyond company reach. The capture of Taualai provided two new deep water ports (known modernly as the cities of Lili and I'na) further away and protected from the piracy originating from [[Sudmoll]]. A four decade long push into the countryside followed, and by 1671 the Qian had nominal control until the mountains that bisect [[Peratra]]. It is estimated that up to half the native population died during this period. | |||
Over the course of the next 100 years the island was transformed into a rather modern mining colony, Timbian's vast supply of metals such as nickel and iron being exploited by the [[South Seas Development Company|company]]. The local population was forced to follow [[Daxia]]n culture and by 1887 the nation was a [[Daxia]]n puppet state headed by a Timbian governor named Noa Zhu. Although seemingly self-governing, Zhu was nothing more than a [[Daxia]]n puppet while the nation was still ruled with a tight grip by those back in [[Daxia]]. | |||
The next three decades were not per se bad for the Timbian population, who enjoyed all the technological and social developments the Daxian brought to them while their land was still being exploited. Regardless of this progress, the native population was still treated as a second rate class to the Daxian colonizers, who enjoyed considerable wealth based on the labor of the Timbians. | The next three decades were not per se bad for the Timbian population, who enjoyed all the technological and social developments the Daxian brought to them while their land was still being exploited. Regardless of this progress, the native population was still treated as a second rate class to the Daxian colonizers, who enjoyed considerable wealth based on the labor of the Timbians. | ||