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Brief History of the Kingdom of Tonga The Beginning It has been suggested by archaeological exploration that settlement in Tonga began around 1200BC. Recently, discoveries of pottery particles called "Lapita" in Tonga, proved to be from the Rewa River in Fiji. This confirmed the theory that Tonga was once the centre point for migration to all the civilizations in the South Pacific. The "Lapita" people had the ability to sail the open seas for thousands of miles and their navigation skills were second to none. The first known rulers or Tu'i Tonga (King) are believed to have existed during the 9th century AD, and according to legend the first Tu'i Tonga, was the son of the supreme god, Tangaloa, and of a young Tongan girl, Va'epopua. Long before the first
Europeans first came to Tonga, the Tongans were feared warriors all over the
pacific and at one stage had conquered Samoa, Niue and parts of Fiji.
However, around the 13th century the Tongan empire collapsed due to a number of
bloody battles from upraises and internal problems back in Tonga. In 1470,
the Tu'i Tonga who grew tiresome of all the routine work of controlling the
affairs of the country delegated much of his day-to-day role to the Tu'i
Ha'atakalaua, who was the younger brother of the then ruling King. Having
delegated his powers, the Tu'i Tonga became the spiritual leader. In
the 17th century, the Tu'i Ha'atakalaua again delegated his powers to another
ruler, the Tu'i Kanokupolu, who acted as an intermediary between the Tu'i Tonga
and the Tu'i Ha'atakalaua. The three ruling families lived in peace during
the 16th and early 17th century but as their dynasties grew, fierce fighting
began to emerge between the three groups controlling Tongatapu, Ha'apai and
Vava'u.
It was a descendant of the Tu'i Kanokupolu line, then the young Taufa'ahau, son of Tupouto'a and grandson of Tuku'aho who emerged as the maker of modern Tonga. Indeed he became the ruler of Ha'apai in 1820, and by the time the French Catholic missionaries arrived, the Wesleyans had already converted Taufa'ahau in 1834. He adopted the name King George in 1831 and his influence also converted Finau 'Ulukala Tuapasi to Christianity, who was the ruler of Vava'u. This angered many of the Chiefs in Vava'u but with Taufa'ahau's warriors' aide, resistance was quickly halted. Upon Finau's death, he named his successor Taufa'ahau and this became the first important step to unification. The great wars between Taufa'ahau and the Ha'a Havea (chiefs of the Tongatapu group) broke out in 1837 and again in 1840. Taufa'ahau was assisted in these battles by Siosaia Aleamotu'a (who was the incumbent Tu'i Kanokupolu in Tonga) and who was also a converted Christian. When Aleamotu'a died in 1845 after naming his successor Taufa'ahau, King George immediately assumed rulership of the whole of Tonga. Although there were still opposition, this was finally put rest in the last civil war of 1852. Once Tonga's internal political struggles had been favourably resolved, King George turned his attention to establishing and maintaining independence by trying to secure its recognition by the major powers. He set to improve Tonga's legal system, and eventually enacted Tonga's Constitution in 1875. He also converted most of the people to Christianity and guaranteed for each Tongan a garden plot and a house lot.
The most important constitutional amendments during Tupou II's reign were passed at a special session of Parliament in December 1914. These reforms provided for a smaller Legislative Assembly to sit annually instead of every 3 years, and for the election of nobles. The King held meetings with the nobles and representatives to explain the need to reduce the size of the Legislative Assembly, which then had 70 members for a population of 22,000, largely for economic reasons, since the outbreak of World War I had bought a significant decrease in government revenue. King George Tupou II died on 5 April 1918 and was succeeded by his daughter who was crowned Queen Salote Tupou III in October that year. She had a commanding presence and a radiant and attractive personality, which endeared her to everyone, including British Officials. During WWII Tonga formed a local defence force of about 2000 men, which saw action in the Solomon Islands. New Zealand and US troops were stationed on Tongatapu, which became a staging point for shipping. In 1917 she married Tungi Mailefihi, son of Tuku'aho and direct descendent of the Tu'i Ha'atakalaua line. He succeeded Tu'ivakano as Premier in 1923 and held the position until his death in 1941.
Queen Salote died on 16 December 1965 and was succeeded by Prince Tungi, who was crowned King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV. His legal training and wide experience in international relations facilitated Tonga's full independence in 1976 and was readmitted to the Commonwealth. King Taufa'ahau's reign has emphasized economic development, and the country has even enjoyed a pumpkin-led boom in recent years, with massive exports of pumpkins to the profitable Japanese export market. Today, Tonga is a place where great importance is placed on maintaining social and political harmony, consensus and tolerance. Tongan society remains conservative, with reverence for the monarchy and strong attachments to the church. Sabbath observance laws are still applied per the Constitution, with no sport or general commercial trading on Sundays (with the exception of bakeries, island/beach resorts). [ Back to Top ] |
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The earliest missionaries were
Wesleyan, who arrived around the 1810's were the most successful. French
Catholic missionaries arrived not too long afterwards, but were not as
successful. The fact that some of the leading chiefs in Tonga,
particularly the Tu'i Kanokupolu family were beginning to question the validity
of the old order contributed to the eventual success of the mission.
Pictured left, are one of the earliest missionary to Tonga.
King
George Tupou I died in February 1893 at the age of 97. Everything came to
a halt as the country mourned a truly remarkable leader, measured by any
standard of the world. It was King George's great grandson who was only 19
years old who succeeded him. He was the son of the daughter of the son of
King George Tupou I who was Crown Prince David 'Unga before he died in Auckland
in December 1889. Within the first few months of his coronation in 1896, King George Tupou II
dismissed the Tuku'aho government blaming them for not putting under quarantine
the ship that had bought the measles epidemic to Tonga. Sateki Tonga was
made the new Premier. This state of tension was exhilarated , when
contrary to popular advice from his chiefs, Tupou II insisted on marrying
Lavinia, a descendent of the Tu'i Tonga line, instead of 'Ofa, a descendant from
the Tu'i Ha'atakalaua line. This caused antagonism amongst a number of
chiefs and were only silence when it was argued that according to the
Constitution the Kings approval was required for the marriage of any member of
the Royal family, and that therefore, he had the right to decide for himself
whom he wanted to marry. 
Queen Salote's reign was not
completely free of problems but she handle it with care and skill. One of
these, was the on-going tension between the 2 Methodism fractions in Tonga.
She decided to initiate a reunion of the two fractions under the name the Free
Wesleyan Church of Tonga. She succeeded in bringing two thirds of the Free
Church to the union, but her influence meant that the bitterness felt towards
each fraction gradually faded away. It was also under her reign that
Clause 64 of the Constitution was amended to give women the right to vote.
Queen Salote's major achievements were the stabilization of the relationship
between the Tongan government and British Officials, the development of social
services such as education and public health which bought about population
growth. Pictured left: Queen Salote in one of her visits to England.