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The Kingdom of Tonga has a number of historical monuments , linked to the chiefly dynasties which ruled over the islands for centuries.
In 2007, Tonga submitted several of these monuments collectively for consideration as a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site. They were to be considered as "the Ancient Capitals of the Kingdom of Tonga", covering the Haʻamonga 'a Maui Historical Park (including the Haʻamonga 'a Maui itself and the Maka Faʻakinanga slab) and the royal tombs (langi) in Muʻa. Heketa, included in the Park, was the country's capital from the 10th to the 13th century, while Muʻa was the capital from the 13th to the 19th century. [1]
Arguably Tonga's most famous monument is the Haʻamonga ʻa Maui, a six-metre-tall (20 ft) trilithon consisting in three coral slabs (two holding up the third as a crosspiece), located in the east of Tongatapu (the country's main island), "near the villages of Niutoua and Afa". It is thought to have been erected around the year 1200, under the reign of Tuʻi Tuʻitatui. Its name means "Maui's burden", in reference to the legend whereby Maui fished up the Tongan islands from the sea depths. Its purpose remains uncertain. It is thought it may have been a "gateway" of sorts to the palace in Heketa. Another legend says that Tuʻitatui had the monument built to represent his two sons, Lafa and Talaihaʻapepe, "with the lintel uniting the columns symbolizing the bonds of brotherhood" to urge them to remain united and to maintain peaceful brotherly relations after his death. The Tongan monarchy today states that the Haʻamonga ʻa Maui was "an early style sundial clock that recorded different seasonal changes". Since 1972, the site around the monument has been protected as the Haʻamonga ʻa Maui Historical Park. [1] [2]
About a hundred metres away from the Haʻamonga ʻa Maui is the Maka Faʻakinanga, an upright stone slab "with markings on the front resembling an indentation of a large head, shoulders and back". Oral history has it that the slab "served as the King's throne" at the time of Tuʻitatui. "It is said that the King sat here alertly to ward off assassination attempts on his life." [1] [3]
There are twenty-two to twenty-eight langi (royal tombs) in or near Lapaha, in Muʻa, in the east of Tongatapu. The tombs are stone vaults, "platforms of earth with a stepped pyramid effect supported by carefully placed retaining walls". The earliest person to have been buried there is thought to be Fatafehi, daughter of Tuʻi Tuʻitatui; the earliest tombs have been tentatively dated back to the mid-thirteenth century. There are also a number of other langi in other parts of the country, notably in Vavaʻu and Haʻapai. [1] [4]
The "grandest" of Muʻa's langi is Paepae o Teleʻa ("Teleʻa's mound"), "impressive in its engineering and joinery, with eight-foot wide coral slabs neatly fitted one end to the next". It is named for Tuʻi ʻUluakimata I, also known as Teleʻa, who is thought to have had it built for himself in the 16th century. He was never buried there, however, as he died during a visit to Samoa in an attempt to recover the body of his Samoan-born wife, Talafiava. He is thought to have been buried in Manuʻa, Samoa, and the Paepae o Teleʻa has remained empty. Beside it is a smaller langi, Namoʻala, which was built for an unknown person but wherein now lie (since 2006) the bodies of Prince ʻ Uluvalu Tuʻipelehake and his wife Kaimana Aleamotuʻa. [5]
Monarchs of the current dynasty, the House of Tupou, are buried at Malaʻekula ("Red Ground"), in a park in the centre of Nukuʻalofa, the current capital. Malaʻekula became a burial ground following the death of King George Tupou I, the founder of the modern Kingdom of Tonga, in 1893. It is not an langi, but an elaborate "modern" burial monument in white stone. [6]
The Royal Palace, made of kauri wood and located in the heart of Nukuʻalofa, was built in 1864 for King George Tupou I. It remains the residence of the royal family. [7]
There is an "ancient fortress" in Haʻapai, and a bronze statue of Shirley Waldemar Baker, also in Haʻapai. [1]
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about 750 km2 (290 sq mi), scattered over 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately 800 km (500 mi) north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west, Niue to the east, and Kermadec to the southwest. Tonga is about 1,800 km (1,100 mi) from New Zealand's North Island.
The history of Tonga is recorded since the ninth century BC, when seafarers associated with the Lapita diaspora first settled the islands which now make up the Kingdom of Tonga. Along with Fiji and Samoa, the area served as a gateway into the rest of the Pacific region known as Polynesia. Ancient Tongan mythologies recorded by early European explorers report the islands of 'Ata and Tongatapu as the first islands having been hauled to the surface from the deep ocean by Maui.
Nukuʻalofa is the capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group.
George Tupou I, originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi, the Tongan equivalent of George, after King George III of the United Kingdom, when he was baptized in 1831. His nickname was Lopa-ukamea, meaning iron cable.
Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the national population, on 260 square kilometres. Tongatapu is Tonga's centre of government and the seat of its monarchy.
Haʻamonga ʻa Maui is a stone trilithon located in Tonga, on the eastern part of the island of Tongatapu, in the village of Niutōua, in Heketā. It was built in the 13th century by King Tuʻitātui in honor of his two sons. The monument is sometimes called the "Stonehenge of the Pacific".
Tuʻi Kanokupolu (chiefs) are a junior rank of the Haʻa Tuʻi in Tonga.
Tupoumālohi was the 16th Tuʻi Kanokupolu of Tonga from the death of his uncle Maʻafuʻolimuloa, the 15th Tuʻi Kanokupolu on 22 April 1799, until his own death in 1812.
The Tuʻi Tonga Empire, or Tongan Empire, are descriptions sometimes given to Tongan expansionism and projected hegemony in Oceania which began around 950 CE, reaching its peak during the period 1200–1500.
Muʻa is a small town in the Hahake (eastern) district on the island of Tongatapu, and it was for centuries the ancient capital of the Tuʻi Tonga Empire. It is divided in the villages Lapaha and Tatakamotonga, is close to Talasiu and famous for the ancient langi.
The Tuʻi Tonga is a line of Tongan kings, which originated in the tenth century with the mythical ʻAhoʻeitu, and withdrew from political power in the fifteenth century by yielding to the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua. The title ended with the death of the last Tuʻi Tonga, Sanualio Fatafehi Laufilitonga, in 1865, who bequeathed the ancient title and its mana to his nephew, Fatafehi Tu'i Pelehake, who was the Tu'i Faleua, or Lord of the Second House. Tu'i Pelehake surrendered the title and its privileges to his father-in-law, King George Tupou I, who united its power and prestige with that of the Tu'i Kanokupolu, Tu'i Vava'u, and Tu'i Ha'apai titles to establish the modern-day institution of the Tongan Crown. Though the title is no longer conferred, the ancient line remains unbroken and is represented by the noble title of Kalaniuvalu.
Fīnau ʻUlukālala was a dynasty of six important hereditary chiefs from Vavaʻu, currently in the kingdom of Tonga. The dynasty began sometime in the 18th century and died out in 1960. The chief's original estate was Tuʻanuku, and his nickname and that of the village is Tavakefaiʻana.
The Tuʻipelehake is one of the highest ranking chiefly titles in Tonga. In the absence of the ancient Tuʻi Faleua title, the Tuʻipelehake title is a high title due to, Tuʻi Kanokupolu. There have been several holders of the title mainly from the ruling royal family, from princes to prime ministers. It is Tongan custom to refer to the holder by his customary title, only adding his given name if confusion may arise. For example, Tuʻi Pelehake (ʻUluvalu).
Tuʻi-tā-tui(translation: The king who strikes the knee) was the 11th king of the Tuʻi Tonga, a dynasty in Tonga, who lived during the 12th century AD.
Talatama is named as the oldest son of Tuʻitātui and succeeded him as the 12th Tuʻi Tonga (king of Tonga) somewhere in the middle of the 12th century AD.
Malaʻekula or Malaʻe Kula is the proper name of the royal burial grounds in central Nukuʻalofa in the Kingdom of Tonga in the southern Pacific Ocean. The kings of Tonga and their very close relatives are buried there. Those who are a little farther away from the mainline are buried elsewhere, in other chiefly cemeteries. Kings from older times,, are mostly buried in the langi in Muʻa.
Funerals in Tonga, despite the large Christian influence they have received over the last 150 years or so, are still very much a traditional affair and an important part of the culture of Tonga, especially if it concerns the death of a member of the royal family or a high chief.
Aleamotuʻa was the 18th Tu'i Kanokupolu of Tonga, the third lineage of Tongan Kings with the political and military power who ruled in support of the Tu'i Tonga.
Fatafehi Laufilitonga was the 39th and last Tuʻi Tonga, a dynasty of kings in Tonga during the Tuʻi Tonga Empire.
Prince Fatafehi Tuʻipelehake was the youngest son of Queen Sālote Tupou III of Tonga. He was the prime minister of Tonga from 1965 to 1991, a record tenure of over 25 years, serving under his brother King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV.