History of the Oan Isles

The Oan Isles is an ancient country that is formally stated to have been established in 1000 CE by Ahua the Great. However, the Oan Isles has been inhabited mostly but not exclusively by primines since around 20,000 BCE. So the history of the country is taken to include the period before the country was formally established. The country has since experienced expansion, for instance under the Aotearoic Wars, cessation of territory after the Morsto-Oan War, and participation in international conflicts such as the Auroran-Pacific War.

Oan-Matuapuan War

In 1345, King Hapene ruled the Kingdom of Matuapu which controlled the island of Matuapu which is currently located in the East Point Island of the Morstaybishlian West Pacific Territories. In the early part of the year, there was a shortage of food because there was a weather phenomenon that forced fish to move farther away from the waters of Matuapa. King Hapene sent a delegation to Emperor Tuputara in Tokamotu to allow Matuapuan ships to access waters in that country.

Emperor Tuputara said that Matuapa had to pay for that right by promising to give the Oan Isles the right to take 10 out of 134 fish that were caught. Furthermore, these ships could only fish in Oan waters if an Oan sailor sent by the Emperor in Tokamotu. King Hapene abided by the terms. The arrangement was consecrated by the exchange of wooden tablets which both agreed to the terms.

These sailors arrived and worked side by side with the people Matuapa in relative peace until 1350. However, starting in 1351, the Oan sailors quickly extorted Matuapuan sailors for more fish than was in the agreement. Beyond this, the terms prove difficult to enforce in practice. In 1354, Emperor Tuputara took offence to this and demanded that King Hapene and his people leave Oan waters. The Matuapuans were angry feeling that the Oans broke their promise. Starting in 1356, the Matuapuans ended up fishing at night instead when the Oan sailors were asleep.

An Oan sailor found this in 1358 and they had a fight with the Matuapuan sailors. They killed the Oan sailor. News of this spread and the incident was exaggerated as a massacre. In 1359, Emperor Tuputara sent soldiers which destroyed Matuapuan ships. King Hapene saw this as a provocation of war. This led to the Battle of Rutuahere in 1360, where Oan soldiers and Matuapuan solders fought by navy. This battle introduced the practice of ramming whereby one nations canoes rammed the ships of the other and they would even try to climb into each other's ships to kill one another. Further battles were fought in the same places over several months

This war led to the defeat of Matuapa in 1363, so Oan soldiers ended up going on to the Matuapuan mainland and they forced King Hapene to accept terms of surrender whereby not only would Matuapuans would not be allowed to fish in Oan waters but Matuapu had to send a portion of its catch to the Oan Isles. In this process, the Office of Foreign Tribute was established in 1373 whereby the Oan Isles extracted tribute from foreign nations.