Suran Expedition

The Suran Expedition was the extended campaign by the thalassocratic merchant kingdom of Haina to conquer the remote island kingdom of Suran. Suran occupied a key position on trade routes between the Airendhe and the Nakalani, and many Haina merchants believed that its conquest would be the key to vast riches. The seaborne east-west trade would become dramatically safer, and merchants would flock to a route free of Dulama and Hai Vithana tariffs.
The truth proved not so simple. The Suran were a resistant people, and despite the loss of their capital, they fought on for decades in the hinterland. Inconsistent Haina leadership was also to blame, occasionally decreasing support for the expedition in favor of other projects. The enormous expenditure on the Expedition ultimately bankrupted the Haina royal family, who, despite retaining their title, became mere pawns to other noble families who had avoided expending their wealth on Suran. Even after Suran was completely subjugated, Haina proved unable to control piracy in the Airendhe, and the promised surge of trade consequently never emerged. Instead, the Expedition would open the Haina to attack by the pirate king Paitlo, and distaste among many nobles for the failed policy ultimately led to Haina's annexation by its neighbor Trahana.
Although Suran itself did not reemerge after the fall of Haina, the young city of Tsutongmerang sprang up to fill the trade gap and has since become a major hub of the burgeoning east-west trade, as the Haina had hoped Suran would become.
Category:West
Category:South
Category:Wars