Kingdom of Rarotonga

Mātāmuatanga Rarotonga

Protectorate of United Kingdom (1888–1893)

1858–1893

Flag

Capital

Avarua (presumed)

Government

Monarchy

Historical era

New Imperialism

•

Protectorate

1888

•

Established

1858

•

Disestablished

1893

Succeeded by

Cook Islands Federation

Flag

The Kingdom of Rarotonga, (Cook Islands Māori: Mātāmuatanga Rarotonga) named after the island of Rarotonga, was an independent kingdom established in the present-day Cook Islands in 1858. In 1888 it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom by its own request. In 1893 the name was changed to the Cook Islands Federation.

After the early conversion of a number of important ariki (high chiefs) support for Christianity increased rapidly throughout the Southern Group. Working through the ariki the missionaries drew up draft legal codes which together with the abolition of violence as a means of dispute settlement, led to unprecedented political stability. In 1881 the British Colonial Office decided that New Zealand interests in the area needed some form of protection against foreign powers and the British Government granted a petition by local European traders and planters for the appointment of an unpaid British Consul for the Hervey Islands, as the Southern Group was then known.

...
Wikipedia