Has there ever been an instance of a colonizing power being colonized by it's own colonies

Title says it all.

I have been thinking of ideas for a TL and one of them was Japan colonizing the coats of East Asia and the coasts of Western America only to be colonized by those colonies in America. Is this plausible? Has there been an instance of this in history?
 

Skallagrim

Banned
Well... Macedon was under Persian authority before it became independent again, and then produced Alexander, who conquered Persia. I'm not sure if it's correct to apply the specific label 'colonialism' to Persian rule, though. Arguably, Alexander's deliberate attempts to fuse Hellenic culture with Persian culture and create a syncretic elite comes closer, but it's also not the same thing as what we generally mean by 'colonialism'. Nevertheless, this is the first thing that occurred to me.


ETA: If you interpret "colonialism" broadly (including, say, mass migrations instead of just counting deliberate politically-commanded efforts), then the Germanic foederati overthrowing the Roman Empire and establishing their own kingdoms within the Empire's former boundaries would also count.
 
To be clear you're after a settler colony later setting up a settler colony of its own in the original motherland?
So something like Carthage setting up shop in the former Phoenician homeland?
 
@Skallagrim

Actually that was kind of my idea for my TL. A Native American "Alexander the Great" or "Khalid ibn al-Walid" would revolt against a Japanese Imperial Empire, fuse Native American culture with Japanese culture, and conquer more than what the Japanese Empire could at the time. Of course there will be differences given how Japan and Persia have fundamentally different cultures which would make them receive an Alexander the Great type of guy differently (Persia adored him, while Japan, given how it is certainly less tolerant of outsiders, might not).
 
For cases of a colony colonizing the metropole... The Qin-Han transition could be viewed in this way, with the grandees of a submerged Han domain usurping the dominant position of the Qin.

I suppose the Khwarezmian shahdom, a far-flung outpost of the Seljuks, later turning south and conquering Persia and Central Asia might work.

All of these stretch the definition of colonization and colony, though.
 
Depending on the definitions of "colony" and "colonised", you could include the conquest of Kiev by Russia, and the conquest of Rome by the Byzantine Empire.
 
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mad orc

Banned
The Chinese were technically colonized by the Mongols, and then they did the same by conquering Mongolia.

Same applies partially to the Manchus.

Idk though if they technically count as colonizaton or conquest. The latter I must say.
 

Bison

Banned
Portugal was ruled from Brazil after the Napoleonic Wars, but there werent many Brazilians settling in Portugal.
 
Khans conquer Russia. Russia (by default) conquers/controls Mongolia.

Persians colonize and develop Central Asia. Tamerlane conquers Persia.

Etruscans control and develop Rome. Rome turns and conquers Etrusca.

And so on.
 
Prussia was arguably "colonized" by the (German) Teutonic Knights. It then went on to "colonize" Germany by forcing the other states into an unequal federation. (I know it's a stretch).
 
Prussia was arguably "colonized" by the (German) Teutonic Knights. It then went on to "colonize" Germany by forcing the other states into an unequal federation. (I know it's a stretch).

Is that more of a colonization-turned-conquest or evolution of a knightly state that merges Teutonic and Christian ideology to become something else over time?
 
Oh better one. Europe (along with the rest of the world) was originally a settler colony of the African homo sapiens who exterminated/assimilated the indigenous Neandthal population. Their descendants then went on to colonize Africa, their original homeland.
 
Prussia was arguably "colonized" by the (German) Teutonic Knights. It then went on to "colonize" Germany by forcing the other states into an unequal federation. (I know it's a stretch).
The Kingdom of Prussia was not a continuation of the Teutonic order it was arguably a continuation of Brandenburg. The duchy of Prussia gave the elector of Brandenburg sovereignty but the territories inside the HRE were more important.
 
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