The Southern Plains of North America saw multiple nations expand and contract in territory just in the protohistoric period, as well as one new nation, the Comanche, relocate and become the dominant force in the region.

When Spaniards arrived in the Southwest in 16th century a nation named the Jumanos dominated trade between the Rio Grande Pueblos to the west and the Caddo and Witchita villages to the east. Regular trade fairs, both near the Rio Grande as well as in the east near Caddo country, facilitated by long-range Jumano caravans, traded maize, salt, buffalo meat and hides, turquoise, and bows and arrows across the central portion of the continent. They obtained some horses from the Spanish, and developed a reputation as the horse traders on the Plains. Jumanos met Frenchmen from La Salle's expedition in Hasinai villages, and later guided the Spanish to the La Salle's settlement. Drought and disease hit the Jumano hard, and their trade network possibly collapsed completely after the 1706 smallpox epidemic. Remaining Jumano settled near La Junta in 1715, one tenth the size of the nation in 1580.

In the late 17th century the Apaches (often called Quecheros in early Spanish accounts) migrated in, and took over this key role in exchange. Apaches encountered horses early, driving off Spanish horse herds during raids on the Pueblos in 1630s. The population expanded, and by 1650 Apache controlled land began to expand into territory previously held by the Jumano. Regular raids on the Pueblos supplemented the horse herds when Spanish tribute demands interrupted trade. Jicarilla Apache began practicing horticulture, but the sedentary villages made them vulnerable to raids from Utes, and a new nation, the Comanche, migrating south.

The Apache control of the area was somewhat brief. By the 18th century Comanches, migrating south from the headwaters of the Arkansas, pushed the Apaches off the plains and dominated the Southern Plains. The Comanches, a Shoshonean-speaking nation, adopted the role of horse and slave traders across the Southern Plains, often raiding the Apache for captives to sell to the Spanish in New Mexico. Apache bands regrouped off the Plains, but the Comanches expanded to become the strongest force on the Southern Plains. They traded tanned skins, buffalo hides, and captives for corn, cloth, and Spanish goods at Pueblo trade fairs. In the East they traded horses, mules, and slaves for guns, meta tools, corn, beans, and squash with the French in Louisiana as well as the Witchitas. By the 1750s the Comanches were the dominant force on the Southern Plains, raiding and trading any direction they pleased, and controlled a vast territory in the heart of the North American continent.

For more info see Calloway's One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West before Lewis and Clark.

I suppose it depends on one's definitions. Do the Mughals count as a relocated Timurid Empire? Does the Knights Hospitaller relocating from Rhodes to Malta count? There are plenty of instances in history of peoples and leadership relocating. The continuity of said relocations can sometimes be difficult though, as often the relocater is subsumed into the culture of where they relocate to.

Hi there malta!

Oh, right, question: I can give you 2 kinds of wandering states and some explanation for both of them, I hope you'll find it satisfying.

As far as I know there are two reasons/ways a nation can wander into one direction or the other. One of them is large-scale migration - a good example of this would be the Vandal tribe that was native to eastern germany and then migrated all the way to north africa (then later proceeding to kick the crap out of rome from there but that is a story for another time) and the other one is the relocation of the ruling class (like the Portugese ruling class leaving Portugal for Brazil during the Napoleonic Era).

The second one is more tricky to define because the concept of a ruling class and government over a long period of time becomes blurry. For example, people in the middle ages weren't familiar with the concept of state as we know them today. There was no such thing as nationalism for example, people were generally loyal to a ruler. William the bastard Conqueror could be an example for this. And here would be an even crazier example with an austro-hungarian king baron ruling over - parts of - mongolia

The only modern example for a nation wandering would be the Republic of China. One could argue that it didn't wander since it controlled Taiwan and that they were merely supressed, but one could argue that... well, you could argue lots of things concering the RoC, depends on your stance on the China issue.

If you ask me, there is really only one category and that is large scale migration, every other case for a nation "wandering" as you put it is pretty much a unique phenomenon and the ways and reasons they wander for differ to much to categorize them properly.