Nimban Crisis (Cail's Empire)

The , also known as the Hutt confrontation or simply the Nimban event, was a political crisis that took place in 4 BBY. The Hutt Empire was forged in 8 BBY after politicking conducted by Jabba and Durga the Hutts maneuvered them into positions of high power in Hutt Space. Durga was made the Emperor of a new Hutt Empire, though in effect was often a puppet of Jabba, who was the de facto leader of the Hutt Grand Council. Emperor Palpatine viewed the Hutt Empire as an affront to the legitimacy of his own Galactic Empire and its self-proclaimed right to rule over the known galaxy, and wished to make an example of the Hutts to show them their place. Thus, beginning in 5 BBY, he dispatched Imperial Sith agents to Nimban, on the border of Imperial-Hutt space, to begin influencing the local Hutt governor. After roughly a year, Palpatine's agents convinced the governor of Nimban to declare secession from the Hutt Empire and opened "negotiations" with Imperial diplomats. Emperor Durga's response was swift: with the backing of the Grand Council (and influenced largely by Jabba), the Hutts deployed a battlegroup to the system to enforce Hutt rule over the planet. Therbon, Grand Moff of the Therbon Maldrood Oversector on the border of Hutt space, dispatched Vice Admiral Balmus Cail at the head of an Imperial fleet in response. The ensuing month-long tense standoff resulted in the brief but destructive Battle of Nimban, leading to Nimban's accession by Palpatine's Empire.

The effects of the crisis were twofold: perhaps most importantly, it severely diminished the influence of the Hutt Empire politically across the galaxy; and second, it brought now-promoted Admiral Cail to the attention of the Emperor. In 2 BBY, in recognition for his services to the Empire, he was made Grand Moff of the Corellian Oversector. He would later play an important role in the Corellian Rebellion and the subsequent Second Battle of Corellia.