The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 840: Chapter 629: Indigenous Migration and Territorial Allocation

The elective Sultanate system was essentially about merging multiple indigenous Sultanates into one nation, allowing each Sultanate the opportunity to control this vast country.

On the surface, it appeared to be for the sake of fairness and justice, but in reality, it gave Australasia the opportunity to meddle in the nation’s internal affairs.

In simple terms, it wasn’t easy for any individual to be elected as the Great Sultan, and it was rather challenging to achieve this solely through the efforts of one’s own Sultanate.

At that time, interference and support from the outside became very important. For the soon-to-be-established Great Sultanate, which other country’s support could surpass that of Australasia’s influence?

The stance of Australasia thus became the necessary and sufficient condition for these lesser Sultans to be elected as the Great Sultan.

In other words, when these Sultanates supported someone to become the Great Sultan, they also had to consider the attitude of Australasia.

This forcefully merged Great Sultanate formed from multiple Sultan countries was doomed not to have peace internally, with many opportunities for Australasia to intervene – to the extent that these Sultanates were likely begging Australasia to do so.

After hearing Minister Daize Taylor’s explanation, many Sultans of the Sultanates fell into deep thought, with Muhammad contemplating whether he could profit from this system.

But upon reflection, becoming the Great Sultan seemed both simple and difficult. With the support of Australasia, becoming the Great Sultan was straightforward; without it, it was downright impossible.

Thinking this, Muhammad turned his gaze to Minister Daize Taylor and asked very respectfully, “Minister Daize Taylor, can we really choose any island we want?”

"Of course,” Minister Daize Taylor said with a smile, nodding his head to signal Australasia’s position.

In reality, if Arthur had to give one of the three islands of the Dutch East Indies to the natives, he would prefer to choose Kalimantan Island.

Although Kalimantan Island was larger, it was farther from Australasia’s reach and could serve as a buffer to the North.

While Sumatra Island also had similar factors, it was after all close to the Malacca Strait, and if one wanted to control the Malacca Strait, Sumatra Island had to be under control as well.

Java Island goes without saying, as it is the closest island of the Dutch East Indies to Australasia and currently the most valuable one for development among the three islands.

Even though later generations in Indonesia would contemplate moving the capital from Java Island to Kalimantan, it didn’t mean Java Island lost its development value.

The real reason for their move was that Java Island had already accommodated a population of over 150 million, reaching the maximum limit of people it could sustain.

Such a problem did not exist for Australasia at present. Indeed, it’s no exaggeration to say that even a hundred years later, this issue may still not arise.

Just with its native land, Australasia had more than enough room to accommodate hundreds of millions of people. Together with New Guinea Island, Sulawesi Island, New Zealand, and other existing areas, it could house at least five hundred million people.

How long would it take for Australasia’s population to grow to five hundred million? Arthur didn’t know, but it seemed unlikely to happen in his lifetime.

If Java Island had a population of around 20 million, it would be a reasonable number, and the island could bring out its maximum development potential.

As long as the indigenous peoples of Java Island were displaced, with its superior soil, it could transform into another granary for Australasia, becoming one of the most vital regions outside the native land.

Australasia, with the addition of the large islands of Java and Sumatra, could easily accommodate a population of six to seven hundred million, forming the base necessary to become a superpower.

Of course, this territory was nearly at its limit. Due to Australasia’s geographical location, there weren’t many nearby countries.

If Australasia was to expand, to its North lay Britain’s Strait Colony, which was unlikely to be captured before World War II.

To the South was Antarctica, where Australasia was already actively laying claim with seemingly little resistance expected.

Real territorial expansion could only look to the East and West, but to the West lay Africa, which had already been carved up by the Powers.

To the East lay Hawaii, currently occupied by the United States, and truly separating land from the Americans was not an easy feat.

This also meant that after the conflict with the Dutch East Indies, except for major wars, Australasia was unlikely to initiate wars of expansion.

Merely using up the current territorial base was enough for Australasia to maintain its position among the superpowers, vying for a place in the top three.

Furthermore, with developments in technology and population, even if global circumstances remained unchanged, Australasia had the potential to be a stable superpower among the world’s top three.

Although it was officially stated that the natives could choose any one of the three islands, intelligence personnel had already revealed a preference for the natives to choose Kalimantan Island.

Using Kalimantan Island as a buffer zone, the south could also establish an island defense chain that includes Sumatra Island, Java Island, Royal Territory, Sulawesi Island, and New Guinea Island.

Furthermore, with the Pacific territories to the east and New Zealand, Australasia would only need to defend against the Indian Ocean to the west, and there would be no risk whatsoever to the homeland.

Completely securing the Dutch East Indies meant that, just like the United States, Australasia’s homeland had become extremely safe.

Even under the premise of American and British competition for dominance, the security of the American homeland was not as good as that of Australasia.

The Americans had to be wary of the autonomous Dominion of Canada to the north and the enemy Mexico to the south, whereas Australasia had no land neighbors and only the British Strait Colony, its own Great Sultanates and the Philippines as maritime neighbors—its security was unquestionable.

The final outcome was also quite clear. Nur Brady Hakala and Muhammad were both intelligent people and naturally wouldn’t go against the hints from Australasia, choosing other islands.

The other Indigenous Peoples, though unwilling, could not resist the current situation and had to accept the fact that their entire tribes must relocate to Kalimantan Island.

Of course, to placate these Indigenous Peoples, Minister Daize Taylor adhered to the policy of offering a carrot after the stick, providing certain benefits to the Indigenous Sultans.

This included a reward of resources valued at 2 million Australian dollars in grain for the first Sultan and part of the population from those exterminated Indigenous forces for the first Sultanate that completed the migration of its entire tribe.

The second and third to complete the migration would receive grain support valued at 1 million Australian dollars and 500,000 Australian dollars respectively, with rankings used to encourage these Indigenous Sultans to move their entire populations to Kalimantan Island as quickly as possible.

However, the last Indigenous Sultan to complete its tribal migration would lose the right to be the first elected as the Great Sultan.

This prompted some Sultans who aspired to be the Great Sultan to become more spirited, and although reluctant to move to Kalimantan Island, they could not afford to remain idle while others were relocating.

Of course, to set a baseline for the Indigenous Peoples, Minister Daize Taylor announced a three-year timeframe for their migration.

By November 1928, three years later, any Indigenous person remaining on Sumatra or Java would be considered a rioter and would face indiscriminate attacks by the Australasia Army.

In order to improve the efficiency of the population transfer of these Indigenous Peoples, Minister Daize Taylor also stated that Australasia would provide transport ships that would continuously travel between Sumatra, Java, and Kalimantan Island to help these Indigenous Sultans move their populations.

The remaining Indigenous forces included the Sultanate of Sulu, the Sultanate of Yogyakarta, the Station Stone Sultanate, the Aceh Sultanate, the Kutai Sultanate, the Brunei Sultanate, and the Ternate Sultanate. Of course, there was also Muhammad, totaling eight Indigenous forces.

How to fairly distribute these eight Indigenous forces on Kalimantan Island became a matter of dispute among them.

Since the Kutai Sultanate and Brunei Sultanate were comparatively large and were already located on Kalimantan Island, they needed to cede some of their land to compensate those Sultanates having to move their entire tribes.

They dared not defy Minister Daize Taylor’s orders, but they would also receive compensation in the form of a supply of grain and the population from those exterminated Indigenous forces, to even out the population disparities among different Indigenous forces.

This was also part of Arthur’s policy of balance, aimed at minimizing the differences in strength between these Indigenous Sultans to ensure that no single Sultan could dominate and monopolize the position of the Great Sultan.

Fortunately, the populations of these Sultanates were actually not very different, all about one to two million, with military forces of only about ten to twenty thousand.

The populations of those exterminated Sultanates thus became an attractive prospect for these Sultanates, as the ability to freely distribute these populations allowed Australasia to better control these fragmented small Sultanates.Upd@te by novg0.co

Before all the Sultanates completed their migration, the internal affairs of this larger Sultanate would be assisted in management by Australasia to ensure peace among the various Sultanates.

These Indigenous countries simply did not have the power to refuse, and for the sake of obtaining these populations, they would not refuse.

After all, the biggest gap in power between Indigenous Peoples was their population. The differences in their technology and knowledge levels were not significant; population was the largest factor in boosting their power.

Even Muhammad, who was in a unique position, now wanted to acquire some population to strengthen his status.

Because he commanded just one brigade, and did not have any population base. Without a population, there would be no income or grain, and whether he could even sustain a military force was in question.

This also meant that he had to establish his own Indigenous force to support his military and, incidentally, seek a higher status.

The good news was that, compared to other more ‘pure-blooded’ Indigenous Peoples, his men were mostly of mixed heritage, so there was no need to worry about them defecting to other Indigenous forces.

After all, mixed-race individuals were viewed as somewhat unusual, even looked down upon, both under the Dutch and among the Indigenous Peoples. To go as far as to say, they were a race despised by both sides.

If it weren’t for the fact that the forces commanded by Muhammad still had some fighting ability, it’s likely his military would have already been divided up by those Indigenous Sultans.

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