The Ryukyuan ''zaiban'' (lit. "resident watch[man]") were officials of the Ryukyuan royal court, selected from the Ryukyuan scholar-bureaucrat aristocracy, to serve as representatives of the court overseeing goings-on in the outlying regions of [[Okinawa Island]] and of the more distant islands within the kingdom. Six ''zaiban'' were dispatched to [[Miyako]], [[Yaeyama]], [[Kumejima]], and seven to various regions on the island of Okinawa proper. In the [[Sakishima|outer islands]], one ''zaiban'' was assisted by two clerks. Kumejima had two ''zaiban'' - one overseeing Gushikawa ''[[magiri]]'', and one overseeing Nakazato ''magiri''. | The Ryukyuan ''zaiban'' (lit. "resident watch[man]") were officials of the Ryukyuan royal court, selected from the Ryukyuan scholar-bureaucrat aristocracy, to serve as representatives of the court overseeing goings-on in the outlying regions of [[Okinawa Island]] and of the more distant islands within the kingdom. Six ''zaiban'' were dispatched to [[Miyako]], [[Yaeyama]], [[Kumejima]], and seven to various regions on the island of Okinawa proper. In the [[Sakishima|outer islands]], one ''zaiban'' was assisted by two clerks. Kumejima had two ''zaiban'' - one overseeing Gushikawa ''[[magiri]]'', and one overseeing Nakazato ''magiri''. |