Changes

Some records suggest that as early as [[1266]], Amami was sending tribute to leaders on Okinawa Island.

Some records suggest that as early as [[1266]], Amami was sending tribute to leaders on Okinawa Island.

The Ryûkyû Kingdom tried multiple times over the course of the 15th-16th centuries to bring Amami Ôshima under its authority, occasionally clashing with Shimazu forces attempting to do the same. One such clash occurred as early as [[1493]]. Records show a Shuri official named [[Tameharu]] being dispatched to Amami and taking up office there as Shuri-ôyako (O: ''Sui ufuyaku'') in [[1506]],<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 24, 170.</ref> and later kingdom officials resident on Amami traced the origins of their family posts to dates in the 1520s.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 179.</ref> However, given that Ryûkyû launched additional military expeditions to Amami in [[1537]] and [[1571]], it is clear that the island was not fully submissive to Okinawan control until at least 1571. Okinawan forces also clashed with, and drove back, Shimazu forces seeking to take Amami in that year. For the brief few decades when [[Shuri]] exercised authority over Amami, it did so lightly, assigning officials and extracting taxes but allowing the island a considerable degree of autonomy, like other relatively distant parts of its territory.<ref>Smits, "Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism," ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'' 37-3-10 (September 13, 2010).; Smits, "Rethinking Ryukyu," International Journal of Okinawan Studies 6:1 (2015), 7.</ref> Perhaps in part simply because of its size, Amami Ôshima was one of the sites of the greatest resistance to Ryukyuan expansion in that period; when Shimazu forces [[invasion of Ryukyu|invaded Ryûkyû]] in 1609, as well, the island put up considerable resistance, falling to Shimazu control only after about nine days of fighting.

The Ryûkyû Kingdom tried multiple times over the course of the 15th-16th centuries to bring Amami Ôshima under its authority, occasionally clashing with Shimazu forces attempting to do the same. One such clash occurred as early as [[1493]]. Records show a Shuri official named [[Tameharu]] being dispatched to Amami and taking up office there as ''[[Shuri oyako|Shuri ôyako]]'' (首里大屋子, O: ''Sui ufuyaku'') in [[1506]],<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 24, 170.</ref> and later kingdom officials resident on Amami traced the origins of their family posts to dates in the 1520s.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 179.</ref> However, given that Ryûkyû launched additional military expeditions to Amami in [[1537]] and [[1571]], it is clear that the island was not fully submissive to Okinawan control until at least 1571. Okinawan forces also clashed with, and drove back, Shimazu forces seeking to take Amami in that year. For the brief few decades when [[Shuri]] exercised authority over Amami, it did so lightly, assigning officials and extracting taxes but allowing the island a considerable degree of autonomy, like other relatively distant parts of its territory.<ref>Smits, "Examining the Myth of Ryukyuan Pacifism," ''The Asia-Pacific Journal'' 37-3-10 (September 13, 2010).; Smits, "Rethinking Ryukyu," International Journal of Okinawan Studies 6:1 (2015), 7.</ref> Officials overseeing Amami for the kingdom were largely from either local Amami households, or Okinawan households which had become settled on Amami; seven households on the island were of particular prominence. Officials generally sent their sons to Shuri for an education and for them to serve in the royal palace; they then later returned to take up official positions on Amami. The ''Shuri ôyako'' oversaw the administration of the entire island; officials known as ''ôya'' or ''[[oyako|ôyako]]'' below him administered individual districts, and were assisted by local officials known as ''[[yohito]]''. Additional officials known as ''okite'' and ''mezashi'' were further down in the hierarchy.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 180.</ref>

 

Perhaps in part simply because of its size, Amami Ôshima was one of the sites of the greatest resistance to Ryukyuan expansion in that period; when Shimazu forces [[invasion of Ryukyu|invaded Ryûkyû]] in 1609, as well, the island put up considerable resistance, falling to Shimazu control only after about nine days of fighting.

===Early Modern History===

===Early Modern History===