Tu'i Tonga Empire

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The Tui Tonga Empire or Tongan Empire was a powerful Oceanian empire. It was centered in Tonga on the island of Tongatapu at the capital of Mua. At its height, the empire stretched from Niuē to Tikopia and had an even greater sphere of influence.

The empire began to form around 950 AD after the decline of Tui Manua in Sāmoa and Tui Pulotu in Fiji. It would have been contemporary to the Micronesian Empire based in Yap.

Beginning of the empire

Around the year AD 900 a dynasty under the title Tui Tonga was formed. The first Tui Tonga, Ahoeitu became the son the god Tangaloa Eitumatupua and a mortal Tongan mother, Ilaheva Vaepopua. The new king located his capital at Toloa on Tongatapu, but it would be moved to Heketā near Niutōua under the 9th Tui Tonga.

Expansion (1200 – 1500)

Under the 10th Tui Tonga, Momo and his son Tuitātui (11th Tui Tonga) the empire was expanded to include parts of Fiji, including the distant Lau Islands, and all of Samoa, except for Manu`a island, which the ancient Tongans considered a sacred island. The empire continued to expand the imperial frontiers to include all of western and central Polynesia, and some parts of Melanesia and Micronesia. The empire at its height influenced over three million square kilometres of ocean. Many areas not under direct control of the Empire were forced to pay tribute. The capital was moved under the son of Tuʻitātui to the best-known and prosperous capital in the Empire's history, Mua.

The success of the Empire was largely based upon the Imperial Navy. The most common vessels were long-distance canoes that usually had square sails. The largest canoes could carry up to 100 men. The most notable of these were the Tongafuesia, Ākiheuho, the Lomipeau, and the Takaipōmana. The large navy allowed for Tonga to become wealthy with large amounts of trade and tribute flowing into the Royal Treasury.

Triparte system

Decline of Tui Tonga and two new dynasties

The Tui Tonga decline began due to numerous wars and internal pressure. In the 13th or 14th century Sāmoa got its independence under the lead the Malietoa family. In response the falefā were created as political advisors to the Empire. The falefā were initially successful in keeping the dynasty going but pressure persisted and was followed by the assassination of several rulers. The most notable were, Havea I (19th TT), Havea II (22nd TT), and Takalaua (23rd TT), which were known for their tyrannical rule. Takalaua's son and successor Kauulufonua I pursued the murderers for a long time, until he finally got them on Uvea and he punished them severily. This led to wars on Futuna which he lost. Meanwhile at home his younger brother Moungāmotua grabbed the power and established a new dynasty of the Tui Haatakalaua. Apparently he had not enough support to abolish the Tui Tonga title altogether, but for the next century or so the Tui Tongas lived as exiles in Sāmoa. When Tapuosi (28th TT) finally was allowed to come back, the worldly power was firmly in the hands of the Tui Haatakalaua, and the role allotted to the Tui Tonga was one of a priest, only to perform religious duties. Still priests with enough power to have large tombs built for them, the still remaining langi in Mua much like the pyramids in old Egypt.

For more than a century the 2 dynasties ruled together in their respective fields. Then Ngata, the younger son of Mounga-o-Tonga (6th TH), started his own dynasty, the Tui Kanokupolu. It seems that for a while both his father and even his older brother, Fotofili (7th TH) did not notice that their Kanokupolu governor had become disloyal. By the time they found out, it was too late, the Tui Kanokupolu had become a power on itself.

Rise of Tui Kanokupolu

This new dynasty, around 1610 did not replace either of the previous dynasties but instead competed with the Tui Haatakalaua for secular control. The Tui Kanokupolu was highly influenced by Sāmoan politics because the ruler's mother was the daughter of Ama, a Samoan high chief from Safata. For the next almost 2 centuries now the 3 dynasties tried to increase their support. In Tongan society this is done by careful selected marriages between the dynasty heirs and important, but still non-allied chiefs so that the next generation of chiefs will be obliged by blood to support that particular dynasty. The Tui Haatakalaua declined and the Tui Kanokupolu took over its worldly power, but being considered much lower ranked than the Tui Haatakalaua, this was an opportunity for the Tui Tonga to try to reclaim its old glory.

The road people

By the time (1799) the last vestiges of the empire had crumbled away, even Haʻapai and Vavaʻu, and Tongatapu itself had plunged in a civil war, the Tui Tonga remained a figurehead, a name in history only. Any religious power it had, it lost to Christianity. The Tui Kanokupolu remained the source of whatever worldly power left. The Tui Haatakalaua was reduced to a minor tribe, trying to associate itself with the Tui Tonga again. All the time the Tui Tonga people remained living on the high lands in the centre of Mua, Lapaha in particular, while the followers of the other dynasties had to satisfy themselves with some lands reclaimed from the shallow lagoon on the borders of Lapaha and nearby Talasiu. The dividing line between the two moieties was the old coastal road named Hala Fonua moa (dry land road). Still today the chiefs who derive their authority from the Tui Tonga are named the Kau hala uta (inland road people) while those from the Tui Kanokupolu are known as the Kau hala lalo (low road people). Concerning the Tui Haatakalaua supporters: when this division arose, in the 15th century, they were of course the Kauhalalalo. But when the Tui Kanokupolu had overtaken them they shifted their allegiance to the Kauhalauta.

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Last updated on Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 01:30:13 PST (GMT -0800)
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