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Question:

I am interested to know of any more possible instances like Sarawak and the Cocos-Keeling Islands described below, where individuals have managed to establish de facto fiefdoms or states lasting a significant amount of time. I am guessing there may of been more occurrences like these in the Age of Discovery, but i have not managed to find any.

White Rajahs of Sarawak

James Brooke received territory from the Sultan of Brunei as a reward for helping the Sultan fight of insurgents. The Brookes ruled Sarawak for three generations until it was ceded in the aftermath of WW2.

Kingdom of the Cocos Islands

John Clunies-Ross established a de facto kingdom in the Cocos Islands in the beginning of the 1800s when he established a settlement on the islands. The Clunies-Ross ruled the islands until 1978 when the islands where sold to Australia.

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  • Does Edessa count?
    – Felix Goldberg
    Dec 13, 2016 at 16:55
  • Sort of, but not really. Baldwin inherited the fiefdom from his adopted father.
    – Henningsson
    Dec 14, 2016 at 7:51
  • Kiliaen van Rensselaer, William Penn, the Calverts, Eric the Red, Ivarr the Boneless, Cecil Rhodes?
    – Spencer
    Dec 15, 2016 at 1:05
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    I think that instead of "independent" "individuals" this question is maybe about cases when rulers were introduced despite being of entirely alien ethnicity and culture and social class.
    – kubanczyk
    Dec 19, 2016 at 21:05
  • @kubanczyk In most cases that fits the description, but as for example in the case of the Cocos Islands, Clunie-Ross settled the island and introduced the population himself
    – Henningsson
    Dec 20, 2016 at 8:13

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