George Tupou I.

George Tupou I. (around 1880)

George Tupou I. (Tongan: Siaosi Tupou I .; * December 4, 1797 in Niuʻui , Lifuka , Haʻapai ; † February 18, 1893 in Nukuʻalofa , Tongatapu ) was king of Tonga from November 4, 1845 until his death on November 18, 1893 . February 1893. Before he took this name, he was called Taufaʻahau and held the highest Tongan title of Tuʻi Kanokupolu .

Life

Taufaʻahau took over the rule ( Tuʻi Haʻapai ) of the Tongan island group Haʻapai from his father in 1820 . In the battle of Velata, on the island of Lifuka , he defeated the Tuʻi Tonga Laufilitonga in 1826 . In 1831 he accepted the Christian faith. In 1833 he succeeded in taking over the rule ( Tuʻi Vavaʻu ) of the Tongan island of Vavaʻu from his father-in-law. With the help of the missionary Shirley Baker in 1839 he formulated basic laws based on the Western model for Vavaʻu and Haʻapai. Taufaʻahau inherited the title of 19th Tuʻi Kanokupolu in 1845 and was next to the last Tuʻi Tonga Fatafehi ​​Laufilitonga the most powerful man in Tonga. He then founded the Kingdom of Tonga in the same year and became King George Tupou I. Resistance from the other Tongan leaders led to a reformulation of the laws in 1850, so that an advisory assembly - fakataha - was created in which the traditional leaders called the king should advise. In 1862 there was another change in the law: in the Edict of Emancipation , ordinary Tongans were freed from their dependence on traditional Tongan leaders. When Tuʻi Tonga died on December 9, 1865 without an heir, there was no longer any equal rival for power and so the Tongan constitution was enacted on September 16, 1875 by King Georg Tupou I based on the British model.

Web links

Commons : George Tupou I  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Detailed biography

Individual evidence

1. ^ Tonga Ministry of Information & Communication (html) Retrieved April 29, 2019.