Tuʻi Tonga Empire
| Tu'i Tonga Empire | |||||
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| Capital | Mu'a | ||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||
| Tu'i Tonga | |||||
| • | 950 CE | 'Aho'eitu | |||
| • | 1827 - 1865 | Laufilitonga | |||
| History | |||||
| • | 'Aho'eitu brought his faction to Samoa | 950s | |||
| • | the title Tuʻi Tonga was abolished | 1865 | |||
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The Tuʻi Tonga Empire or Tongan Empire in Oceania are descriptions sometimes given to Tongan expansionism and projected hegemony which began around 950 CE, reaching its peak during the period 1200–1500.
It was centered in Tonga on the island of Tongatapu with its capital at Muʻa. While modern researchers and cultural experts attest to widespread Tongan influence and evidence of transoceanic trade and exchange of material and non-material cultural artifacts, empirical evidence of a true political empire ruled for any length of time by successive rulers is lacking.
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. As the ancestral homeland of the Tu'i Tonga dynasty and the abode of deities such as Tagaloa 'Eitumatupu'a, Tonga Fusifonua, and Tavatavaimanuka, the Manu'a islands of Samoa were considered sacred by the early Tongan kings. 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. Their realm contained Wallis and Futuna, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Rotuma, Nauru, parts of Fiji, Marquesas, parts of the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Cook Islands, and parts of Samoa. 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.
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