Nanzan

Nanzan, also called Sannan before the eighteenth century, was one of the three political entities that divided Okinawa Island in the fourteenth century. It came into being in 1314, when the lord of Ōzato fled south from Urasoe with a group of lesser chieftains and established himself at Ōzato gusuku near the town of Itoman, after the island's paramount chief failed to hold the loyalty of the local lords. Nanzan shared the island with Chūzan in the centre and Hokuzan in the north, a division known as the Sanzan period. Though small and poor in resources, the kingdom survived for about a century on sea trade, helped by the position of Ōzato Castle on high bluffs with its own inlet and dock. Chūzan entered a tributary relationship with Ming China in 1372, and Nanzan soon received similar commercial status, sending nineteen tribute missions over the following decades, though its ships were restricted to one per mission. Succession disputes weakened the kingdom, and in 1429 Shō Hashi of Chūzan conquered Nanzan, completing the unification of Okinawa. Nanzan then became a nominal prefecture of the Ryukyu Kingdom without administrative function.