Editing History of Tonga (section)

==European arrival and Christianization==
[[File:Hessel Gerritsz 1622 map of the Pacific - closeup 'Illas de Salomon'.png|upright=1.5|thumb|Close-up of the 1622 Map of the Pacific by [[Hessel Gerritsz]] showing among others ''Goede hoop Elt'' ([[Niuafo'ou]], ''Cocos Eylandt'' ([[Tafahi]]) and ''Verraders eylandt'' ([[Niuatoputapu]]). It is one of the earliest maps where those island are drawn.]]
[[File:1777 Cook Map of the Friendly Islands or Tonga - Geographicus - FriendlyIsles-cook-1777.jpg|upright=1.5|thumb|Cook's map of 1777]]
In the 15th century and again in the 17th, civil war erupted. It was in this context that the first Europeans arrived, beginning with Dutch explorers [[Willem Schouten]] and [[Jacob Le Maire]]. Between April 21 to 23, 1616 they moored at the Northern Tongan islands "Cocos Island" ([[Tafahi]]) and "Traitors Island" ([[Niuatoputapu]]), respectively. The kings of both of these islands boarded the ships and Le Maire drew up a list of Niuatoputapu words, a language now extinct. On April 24, 1616, they tried to moor at the "Island of Good Hope" ([[Niuafo'ou]]), but a less welcoming reception there made them decide to sail on.

On January 21, 1643, the Dutch explorer [[Abel Tasman]] was the first European to visit the main island ([[Tongatapu]]) and [[Ha'apai|Ha{{okina}}apai]] after rounding Australia and  New Zealand while looking for a faster route to [[Chile]]. He mapped several islands. Tasman named the island of [[Tongatapu]] ''t’ Eijlandt Amsterdam'' (Amsterdam Island), because of its abundance of supplies.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1179/tin.2004.36.1.20|title=The European Discovery of the Tonga Islands|journal=Terrae Incognitae|volume=36|pages=20–27|year=2013|last1=Hooker|first1=Brian|s2cid=140737896}}</ref> This name is no longer used except by historians.

The  most significant impact had the visits of [[James Cook|Captain Cook]] in 1773, 1774, and 1777, followed by the first London missionaries in 1797, and the Wesleyan Methodist Walter Lawry in 1822. Around that time, most Tongans converted en masse to the Wesleyan ([[Methodist]]) or Catholic faiths. Other denominations followed, including [[Pentecostal]]s, [[Mormons]], [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventists]], and most recently the [[Bahá'í Faith in Tonga|Bahá'í faith]].

The islands were also visited by the Spanish under [[Francisco Antonio Mourelle]] in 1781 and [[Alessandro Malaspina]] (who unsuccessfully claimed [[Vavau]] for Spain) in 1793 and by the French under [[Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne]] in 1772, [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse]] in 1787 and [[Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux]] in 1793.<ref name=Quanchi>Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', p. 239</ref> [[Fletcher Christian]] also led the [[mutiny on the Bounty]] while crossing Tongan waters, in 1789.

<gallery>
File:Tasman-dagboek-b.jpg|Tongans as depicted by Isaack Gilsemans during [[Abel Tasman]]'s trip to [[Tongatapu]] in 1642–43
File:TonganCanoes.jpg|Tongan canoes, with sails and cabins, and two Tongan men paddling a smaller canoe in the foreground; derived from "Boats of the Friendly Isles" a record of Cook's visit to Tonga, 1773–74.
File:Captain Cook, navigator and discoverer (1930) (19912863733).jpg|Captain Cook welcomed on the island of [[Haapai]], 1777 (1930 engraving)
File:Vavaʻu girls.png|Vavaʻu (Tonga) girls playing traditional games, circa 1800; perhaps [[Alessandro Malaspina|Malaspina]]'s voyage of 1793
</gallery>