Dunhelm Island

Dunhelm Island

Disputed island Native name: Duneler (Imaguan Creole) Ilha da Revolução (Lusitan)
Dunhelm Island from the east
Geography
Location	Arucian Sea
Area	125.44 km²
Highest point	TBD 985 m
Administered by
Maracao
Province	Ilha da Revolução
Claimed by
Imagua and the Assimas
Parish	Saint Isidore's
Demographics
Population	97,816 (as of 2017)

Dunhelm Island (Etrurian: Isola Dunelm, Imaguan Creole: Duneler), officially Revolution Island (Lusitan: Ilha da Revolução) is an island located in the Arucian Sea, situated 250 kilometers away from the island of Imagua, and just over 1,000 kilometers from the island of Maracao. Disputed between Maracao and Imagua and the Assimas, it has been under Maracan control since 1945. The island hosts a permanent AIS military presence, with assets from Maracao, Swetania and Chervolesia based on the island.

Etymology

The name Dunhelm Island comes from the city of Dunhelm in Buckland, which had been under personal union with Estmere at the time the island was discovered by Eucleans in TBD.

The official name, Revolution Island commemorates the Glorious Revolution which freed Maracao from Mariranan occupation and ended any chance of Adelmar I returning to power.

History

Pre-colonization

Dunhelm Island was originally inhabited by the Nati peoples, having taken over the island around TBD. At the time the island was first sighted, it was estimated that there were around three thousand Nati living on Dunhelm, with Native Imaguans beginning to establish a foothold on Dunhelm Island, with archaeological evidence documenting conflict on the site of present-day Guimarães between the Nati and the Native Imaguans.

(TBC)

Early colonization

Depiction of the slave trade on Dunhelm Island, c. 1876

The island was first sighted by Caldish explorer TBD in 1549, but it was only in 1573 when under Ordennyan explorer TBD, he landed on the island and claimed it for Ordennya, with the town of Lötvall (present-day Guimarães) being the primary settlement on the island. During this period, while the island was not as populated as Imagua, or the Assimas, the Nati on Dunhelm Island were enslaved, and were so mistreated that by 1650, there were "virtually no natives" left on Dunhelm Island.

While after the island of Imagua fell, it remained under Ordennyan control, in 1683, the island was conquered by (TBD), and was incorporated into their colony of Maracao. Guimarães would remain the primary economic centre of Dunhelm Island, although political decisions were made in the colonial capital of Porto Leste. This state of affairs lasted until 1721, when after the Gilded Wars, it became part of the Gaullica's recently-annexed territory of Imagua, which it seized from Estmere.

It would remain under Gaullican control until 1771, when after the War of the Asterian Succession, Estmere took over the island of Imagua, including Dunhelm Island, and incorporated the island into the parish of Saint Isidore's, with Guimarães being renamed to Kingston.

During the late eighteenth and through the early nineteenth century, Dunhelm Island was a quiet part of the Colony of Imagua, although due to its distance from the administrative centre of New Taois, there were demands in 1811 and again in 1838 for Dunhelm Island to become a parish in its own right, although the request was rejected by the colonial governor both times, as Dunhelm Island did not possess a "significant population" to be able to sustain its duties as a parish within the colony.

Transition to self-government

As the Colony of Imagua transitioned to self-government, Dunhelm Island's population continued advocating for separation from Saint Isidore's Parish, and the establishment of a separate parish just for the island. As well, with the industrialisation going on in Cuanstad and San Pietro, emigration became a significant issue, as many who were born on Dunhelm left for work in Cuanstad, as besides farming and fishing, there was not a significant economy on the island.

(TBC)

Contemporary era

TBD