Bali is a republic located in the south-central portion of "Nusantara" (the Malayan Archipelago). This thus also situates it in insular Southeast Asia. In the late 1800s, it was eyed by the Netherish, who already had control of the islands of Sumatra and Java. The Balinese, seeing this as a threat, sent ambassadors to India to gain their protection. India was wary of starting trouble with the Netherish, but eventually it agreed to establish a protectorate over Bali. This gave India more sway over the Nusantara region, which was a priority if it wanted to assure access not only to Macronesia, but to Pacha, with which Indian trade was burgeoning at the time. India would soon sign a treaty with Netherland, expressly giving Netherish ships access to Bali's ports under Indian control, and promi