Editing History of Tonga (section)

==Tongan Maritime Empire==
{{Main|Tuʻi Tonga Empire}}
[[File:Tomb of Chief Tongamana Wellcome V0050664.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Chief Tongamana]]
[[File:Burial ground on the Island of Amsterdam Wellcome V0050665.jpg|thumb|Burial ground on [[Tongatapu]]]]
By the 12th century, Tongans, and the Tongan kings named the [[Tu'i Tonga]], were known across the Pacific, from [[Niue]], [[Samoa]] to [[Tikopia]]. They ruled these nations for more than 400 years, sparking some historians to refer to a "Tongan Empire", although it was more of a network of interacting navigators, chiefs, and adventurers. It is unclear whether chiefs of the other islands actually came to Tonga regularly to acknowledge their sovereign. Distinctive pottery and Tapa cloth designs also show that the Tongans have travelled to Fiji and Hawaii.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|last=Rutherford|first=Noel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V091AAAAMAAJ&q=Tonga+history|title=Friendly Islands: A History of Tonga|date=1977|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-550519-1|language=en|access-date=March 16, 2021|archive-date=November 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117232933/https://books.google.com/books?id=V091AAAAMAAJ&q=Tonga+history|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 950 AD Tu'i Tonga 'Aho'eitu started to expand his rule outside of Tonga. According to leading Tongan scholars, including Okusitino Mahina, the Tongan and Samoan oral traditions indicate that the first Tu'i Tonga was the son of their god [[Tangaloa (Tongan mythology)|Tangaloa]].<ref>see writings of Ata of Kolovai in "O Tama a Aiga" by Morgan Tuimaleali'ifano; writings by Mahina, also coronation edition of Spasifik Magazine, "The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia," edited by Lal and Fortune, p. 133etc.</ref> As the ancestral homeland of the Tu'i Tonga dynasty and the abode of deities such as Tagaloa 'Eitumatupu'a, Tonga Fusifonua, and Tavatavaimanuka. By the time it comes to the 10th Tu’i Tonga Momo, and his successor, ‘Tu’itatui, the empire had already stretched from Tikopia in the west to Niue in the east.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Has|first=Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rE1vgAACAAJ|title=Tonga and Environment, History Information: Early and Middle History, the People Tradition and Culture, Political Information|year=2016|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|isbn=978-1-5391-1742-1|language=en|access-date=April 27, 2020|archive-date=August 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822143601/https://books.google.com/books?id=0rE1vgAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Their realm contained [[Wallis and Futuna]], [[Tokelau]], [[Tuvalu]], [[Rotuma]], [[Nauru]], parts of [[Fiji]], parts of the [[Solomon Islands]], [[Kiribati]], [[Niue]], and parts of [[Samoa]].<ref name=":0" /> However, some islands in Polynesia were left alone by the Tu'i Tonga such as, parts of Tahiti Nui, The Cook Islands, and the Marquesas. To better govern the large territory, the Tu’i Tongas had their throne moved by the lagoon at Lapaha, Tongatapu. The influence of the Tu’i Tonga was renowned throughout the Pacific, and many of the neighboring islands participated in the widespread trade of resources and new ideas.

Under the 10th Tu{{okina}}i Tonga, [[Momo (Tonga)|Momo]] and his son Tu{{okina}}itātui (11th Tu{{okina}}i Tonga) the empire was at its height of expansion, tributes for the Tu'i Tonga were said to be exacted from all tributary chiefdoms of the empire. This tribute was known as the " 'Inasi " and was conducted annually at Mu'a following the harvest season when all countries that were subject to the Tu'i Tonga must bring a gift for the gods, who was recognized as the Tu'i Tonga.<ref name="St. Cartmail">{{cite book|last=St. Cartmail|first=Keith|title=The art of Tonga|year=1997|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|location=Honolulu, Hawai'i|isbn=978-0-8248-1972-9|pages=39}}</ref> Captain Cook witness an Inasi ceremony in 1777, in which he noticed a lot of foreigners in Tonga, especially the darker people that resembles African descend from Fiji, Solomon Islands {{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} and Vanuatu.<ref name="auto"/> The finest mats of Samoa ('ie <!-- sic! not i.e. --> toga) are incorrectly translated as "Tongan mats;" the correct meaning is "treasured cloth" ("ie" = cloth, "toga" = female goods, in opposition to "oloa" = male goods).<ref>the Tongan linguistic analogue is "to'onga," see http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/objectdetails.aspx?oid=535267&coltype=pacific%20cultures&regno=fe011574 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024103641/http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/objectdetails.aspx?oid=535267&coltype=pacific%20cultures&regno=fe011574 |date=October 24, 2012 }}</ref> Many fine mats came into the possession of the Tongan royal families through chiefly marriages with Samoan noblewomen, such as Tohu'ia the mother of Tu'i Kanokupolu Ngata who came from Safata, 'Upolu, Samoa. These mats, including the Maneafaingaa and Tasiaeafe, are considered the crown jewels of the current Tupou line<ref>Kie Hingoa 'Named Mats, 'Ie Toga 'Fine Mats' and Other Treasured Textiles of Samoa and Tonga. Journal of the Polynesian Society, Special Issue 108(2), June 1999</ref> (which is derived matrilineally from Samoa).<ref name="ReferenceA">see Songs and Poems of Queen Salote edited by [[Elizabeth Wood-Ellem]]</ref> The success of the Empire was largely based upon the Imperial Navy.  The most common vessels were long-distance double-canoes fitted with triangular sails. The largest canoes of the Tongan kalia type could carry up to 100 men. The most notable of these were the ''Tongafuesia'', ''{{okina}}Ākiheuho'', the ''Lomipeau'', and the ''Taka{{okina}}ipōmana''. It should be mentioned that the Taka{{okina}}ipōmana was actually a Samoan kalia; according to Queen Salote and the Palace Records this was the Samoan double-canoe that brought Tohu'ia Limapō from Samoa to wed the Tu'i Ha'atakalaua.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>  The large navy allowed for Tonga to become wealthy with large amounts of trade and tribute flowing into the Royal Treasury.<ref name="auto"/>

The Tu{{okina}}i Tonga decline began due to numerous wars and internal pressure. In the 13th or 14th century Samoa defeated Tu'i Tonga Talakaifaiki under the lead of the [[Malietoa]] family. In response the falefā was created as [[political advisor]]s to the Empire. The falefā officials were initially successful in maintaining some hegemony over other subjected islands but increased dissatisfaction led to the assassination of several rulers in succession. The most notable were, Havea I (19th TT), Havea II (22nd TT), and Takalaua (23rd TT), who were all known for their [[tyrannical]] rule. In AD 1535, Takalaua was assassinated by two foreigners while swimming in the lagoon of [[Mu'a (Tongatapu)|Mu'a]]. His successor, Kau{{okina}}ulufonua I pursued the killers all the way to [[Uvea (Wallis and Futuna)|{{okina}}Uvea]], where he killed them.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|title=Note Upon the Natives of Savage Island, or Niue|last=Thomson|first=Basil|volume=31|pages=137–145|date=January 1901|doi=10.2307/2842790|jstor=2842790|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1840765|access-date=September 16, 2019|archive-date=November 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117232926/https://zenodo.org/record/1840765|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:NL-HaNA 1.11.01.01 121 0051 Scheepsjournaal Abel Tasman 35.jpg|thumb|upright|Page from the ship's log of Abel Tasman with the description of t' Eijlandt Amsterdam, nowadays Tongatapu<ref>Nationaal Archief, archiefinventaris 1.11.01.01 inventarisnummer 121, scan 85 {{hdl|10648/877f659e-35ce-4059-945e-294a4d05d29c}}</ref>]]
Because of so many assassination attempts on the Tu'i Tonga, Kau{{okina}}ulufonua established a new dynasty called Tu'i Ha'atakalaua in honor of his father and he gave his brother Mo’ungamotu’a, the title of Tu’i Ha’a Takalaua. This new dynasty was to deal with the everyday decisions of the empire, while the position of Tu’i Tonga was to be the nation's spiritual leader, though he still controlled the final say in the life or death of his people. The Tu'i Tonga "empire" at this period becomes Samoan in orientation as the Tu'i Tonga kings themselves became ethnic Samoans who married Samoan women and resided in Samoa.<ref>"The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia," edited by Lal and Fortune, p. 133; {{cite journal|last1=Gunson|first1=Niel|title=Great Families of Polynesia: Inter-island Links and Marriage Patterns|journal=Journal of Pacific History|date=1997|volume=32|issue=2|pages=139–179|doi=10.1080/00223349708572835}}; "Tongan Society," Edward Gifford; "Tongan Society at the Time of Captain Cook's Visits," Queen Salote, Bott and Tavi</ref> Kau'ulufonua's mother was a Samoan from Manu'a,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gunson|first1=Niel|title=Great Families of Polynesia: Inter-island Links and Marriage Patterns|journal=Journal of Pacific History|date=1997|volume=32|issue=2|pages=139–179|doi=10.1080/00223349708572835}}; also "Deconstructing the Island Group," Australian National University</ref> Tu'i Tonga Kau'ulufonua II and Tu'i Tonga Puipuifatu had Samoan mothers and as they married Samoan women the succeeding Tu'i Tongas - Vakafuhu, Tapu'osi, and 'Uluakimata - were allegedly more "Samoan" than "Tongan."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gunson|first1=Niel|title=Great Families of Polynesia: Inter-island Links and Marriage Patterns|journal=Journal of Pacific History|date=1997|volume=32|issue=2|pages=139–179|doi=10.1080/00223349708572835}}; "Tongan Society," Edward Gifford; "Tongan Society at the Time of Captain Cook's Visits," Queen Salote, Bott and Tavi</ref>

In 1610, the 6th Tu’i Ha’a Takalaua, Mo'ungatonga, created the position of Tu’i Kanokupolu for his half-Samoan son, Ngata, which divided regional rule between them, though as time went on the Tu’i Kanokupolu's power became more and more dominant over Tonga. The Tu'i Kanokupolu dynasty oversaw the importation and institution of many Samoan policies and titles and according to Tongan scholars this Samoanized form of government and custom continues today in the modern Kingdom of Tonga <ref>see http://planet-tonga.com/language_journal/Emancipation_in_Tonga/index.shtml {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060305174550/http://planet-tonga.com/language_journal/Emancipation_in_Tonga/index.shtml |date=March 5, 2006 }} History of Tonga; 'Okusitino Mahina 2004; and journal articles</ref> Things continued this way for a long time afterward. The first Europeans arrived in 1616, when the Dutch explorers [[Willem Schouten]] and [[Jacob Le Maire]] spotted Tongans in a canoe off the coast of Niuatoputapu,<ref name="WSQ">{{cite book | last = Quanchi | first = Max| year = 2005 | title = Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands | publisher = The Scarecrow Press  | isbn = 0810853957}}</ref> followed by [[Abel Tasman]] who passed by the islands on 20 January 1643.<ref name="ATJ">{{cite EB1911|mode=cs2|wstitle=Tasman, Abel Janszoon|volume=26|pages=437–438|first=Charles Raymond|last=Beazley|author-link=Raymond Beazley}}</ref> These visits were brief, however, and did not significantly change the island.<ref name="WSQ"/><ref name="ATJ"/> Captain [[James Cook]] observed and recorded his accounts of the [[Tuʻi Tonga]] kings during his visits to Tonga.<ref name=BOT>{{cite book | last = Elizabeth Bott with the assistance of Tavi  |title= Tongan society at the time of Captain Cook's visits : discussions with Her Majesty Queen Salote Tupou |publisher= Polynesian Society |location= Wellington, New Zealand |pages=|year =1982 }}</ref><ref name="ALK">{{cite journal |author= Adrienne L. Kaeppler|url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/2798262 |title= Eighteenth Century Tonga: New Interpretations of Tongan Society and Material Culture at the Time of Captain Cook|journal= Man - Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=6 (2)|date= June 1971|issue= 1|pages=204–220 |doi= 10.2307/2798262 |jstor= 2798262 }}</ref><ref name="JPS">{{cite journal |author= |url= https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/23700060/captain-cooks-view-of-tonga-the-journal-of-the-polynesian-society|title= An Account of Eighteenth Century Tonga – Chapter 1: Captain Cook's view of Tonga|journal= Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=|date= 15 March 2014 |issue= |pages=11–55}}</ref>

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 Tu{{okina}}i Tonga are named the '''Kau hala {{okina}}uta''' (inland road people) while those from the Tu{{okina}}i Kanokupolu are known as the '''Kau hala lalo''' (low road people). Concerning the Tu{{okina}}i Ha{{okina}}atakalaua supporters: when this division arose, in the 15th century, they were of course the Kauhalalalo. But when the Tu{{okina}}i Kanokupolu had overtaken them they shifted their allegiance to the Kauhala{{okina}}uta.

Modern archeology, anthropology and linguistic studies confirm widespread Tongan cultural influence ranging widely<ref>[http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/Alumni/addison/publications/Sand_Addison_2008.pdf Recent Advances in the Archaeology of the Fiji/West-Polynesia Region"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918031030/http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/Alumni/addison/publications/Sand_Addison_2008.pdf |date=September 18, 2009 }} 2008: Vol 21. University of Otago Studies in Prehistoric Anthropology.]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WRapfjQ_iTEC&pg=PA87 "Hawaiki, Ancestral Polynesia: An Essay in Historical Anthropology"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430221338/https://books.google.com/books?id=WRapfjQ_iTEC&lpg=PA87&ots=zaLs4Yarz1&pg=PA87 |date=April 30, 2016 }}, Patrick Vinton Kirch; Roger C. Green (2001)</ref> through East 'Uvea, Rotuma, Futuna, Samoa and Niue, parts of Micronesia (Kiribati, Pohnpei), Vanuatu, and New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xOlI8czLshIC&pg=PA233 "Geraghty, P., 1994. Linguistic evidence for the Tongan empire"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629165830/https://books.google.com/books?id=xOlI8czLshIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA233 |date=June 29, 2016 }}, Geraghty, P., 1994 in "Language Contact and Change in the Austronesian World: pp.236-39.</ref> and while some academics prefer the term "maritime chiefdom",<ref>[http://antiquity.ac.uk/Ant/082/0994/ant0820994.pdf "Monumentality in the development of the Tongan maritime chiefdom"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227170629/http://antiquity.ac.uk/Ant/082/0994/ant0820994.pdf |date=February 27, 2012 }}, Clark, G., Burley, D. and Murray, T. 2008. Antiquity 82(318): 994–1004"</ref> others argue that, while very different from examples elsewhere, "..."empire" is probably the most convenient term."<ref>["Pacific voyaging after the exploration period"], Neich, R. 2006 in K.R. Howe (ed.) Vaka Moana, voyages of the ancestors: the discovery and settlement of the Pacific: 198–245. Auckland: David Bateman. p230</ref>