Alorian Protectorate of Indrala

Alorian expeditions
During the Regency, a period of peace, stability and great welfare in Alorian history, the Alorian government urged for a more international economic policy. During the 17th century the eastern trade routes were dominated by Luthori and the Majatran and Selayan nations who controlled allmost every trade route towards the east.

The demand for "eastern" products as spices, coffee and tobacco was relatively inelastic, and the lagging supply of "new opportunities" on the newfound continent of Dovani therefore caused a sharp rise in need for new profitable area at the time. The need for more exotic products and more (profitable) trade with other continents formed motive for Alorian merchants to enter the intercontinental spice trade themselves at this time. Unfortunately, earlier trade expeditions to Eastern Selaya and Dovani failed.

In 1711, a group of Alorian merchants decided to try to circumvent the Selayan monopoly. In 1712, a four-ship expedition led by William Prescott was the first Alorian contact with the island of Indrala. The expedition reached Quibashi, the main pepper port of East Indrala, where they clashed with both the Luthori and indigenous Indralans. Prescott's expedition then sailed east along the north coast of Indrala, losing twelve crew to a native attack at Bantuneru and killing a local ruler in Kathura. Half the crew were lost before the expedition made it back to Aloria the following year, but with enough spices to make a considerable profit.

Foothold on Indrala
The much-publicized travels of Alorian explorers piqued the Regency's interest in the island's alleged vast riches and in the value of the island as a gateway to Dovani. The Alorians gained footing in Indrala around 1715 after the local ruler of Quibashi granted it the rights to establish a trading post near Huzan, in the southeast of the island. In 1717, consequent to receiving similar permission from the ruler of Mishari, a second tradingpost was established in Karu Karu. From Indrala, the Alorians were able to open new trading routes to the Dovani continent. Next, in 1722, a Company settlement was established on the west coast of Indrala, again after receiving such rights from of the local monarch, and the Company now began its lengthy presence on the Indralan island.

But Alorian traders frequently engaged in hostilities with their Artanian and Selayan counterparts in the Anantonese Ocean, especially from Luthori. Initially, the Company struggled in the spice trade due to the competition from the already well established Luthori. Aloria achieved a major victory over the Luthori in the Battle of Karu Karu in 1724, for wich aloria gained control over the southern coastal areas of the island. Over time, the Alorians gradually consolidated control over various trading ports of the East.

Perhaps realizing the cost of waging trade wars in remote seas, the Alorian Eastern Trade Company decided to explore the feasibility for gaining a territorial foothold on Indrala, and requested the Regency to launch a diplomatic mission. In 1725, Sir John Penn was instructed by Regent William Fox to visit the Maharaja of Quibashi to arrange for a commercial treaty which would give the Company exclusive rights to reside and build factories on the southeastern Indralan coastal area and other areas. In return, the Company offered to provide the Maharaja with goods and rarities from the Artanian market. This mission was highly successful.

Trade monopoly
During this time, other trading posts were similarly expanding in the region. This resulted in the domination of the sources of valuable spices that gained control over most of the Eastern trade routes. Control over the eastern trading ports allowed Aloria to monopolise the Eastern spice trade for decades. The Company soon expanded its commercial trading operations. The Company created trading posts in Velash (where a factory was built in 1728), Satharis (1732), Dangelash (1734) and Qombal(1741). By 1750, the Company had 21 factories, each under the command of a master merchant and governor if so chosen, and nearly 100 employees in Indrala.

The Alorian exploration of Indrala comprised a varied collection of principalities and kingdoms that were occasionally at war with each other but maintained significant inter-island and international trade. The company's mainstay businesses were by now in pepper, tobacco, silk and tea. All the while, it was making inroads into the Luthori monopoly of the spice trade in the Anantonese Ocean.

Their monopoly over the spice trade became complete after they drove the Luthori finally from Indrala in 1763. Richard Hayes, the Luitenant General, led the Company to an astounding victory against the Luthori forces on Indrala, and captured Fort Henry from the Luthori in 1763. After this, Luthori ambitions on Indralan territories were effectively laid to rest, thus eliminating a major source of economic competition for the Company. In contrast, the Company, fresh from a colossal victory, and with the backing of a disciplined and experienced army, was able to assert its interests in Indrala without facing any further obstacles from other colonial powers.

Military expansion
The company's dominance of Indrala took a major form. This was the use of subsidiary alliances between the company and the local rulers; these agreements were essentially feudal in nature and under them the local rulers gave up much of their control on foreign affairs to the Company and in return had their independence guaranteed. This development created the Native States, or Princely States, of the local rulers.