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Ma`afu, prince of Tonga, chief of Fiji
The life and times of Fiji’s first Tui Lau
Authored by: John SpurwayPlease read Conditions of use before downloading the formats.
Description
Enele Ma`afu, son of Aleamotu`a, Tu`i Kanokupolu, grew up during a time of unprecedented social and political change in Tonga following the advent of Christianity. Moving to Lau, Fiji, in 1847 when he was about 21, he skilfully exploited kinship links to establish a power base there and in eastern Cakaudrove. His achievements were recognised in 1853 when his cousin King Tupou I appointed Ma`afu as Governor of the Tongans in Fiji.
Acting as a putative champion of the lotu, Ma`afu undertook successful military campaigns elsewhere in Fiji and, after adding the Yasayasa Moala and the Exploring Isles to the nascent Lauan state, he was able to establish the Tovata ko Lau, a union of Lau, Cakaudrove and Bua, with himself as head. His power was formally recognised in 1869 when the Lauan chiefs appointed him as Tui Lau, a new title in the polity of Fiji. Ma`afu was now able to challenge Cakobau for the mastery of Fiji.
After serving as Viceroy during the farcical planter oligarchy known as the Kingdom of Fiji, Ma`afu underwent a severe humiliation when, in order to maintain his power in Lau, he was forced to accede to the wishes of Fiji’s other great chiefs in offering their islands to Great Britain. He would end his days as Roko Tui Lau, a ‘subordinate administrator’ in the Crown Colony of Fiji, presiding over a province characterised by corruption and maladministration but where the legacy of his earlier innovative land reforms has endured.
Details
- ISBN (print):
- 9781925021172
- ISBN (online):
- 9781925021189
- Publication date:
- Feb 2015
- Imprint:
- ANU Press
- DOI:
- http://doi.org/10.22459/MPTCF.02.2015
- Series:
- Pacific Series
- Disciplines:
- Arts & Humanities: Cultural Studies, History; Social Sciences: Politics & International Studies, Social Policy & Administration
- Countries:
- Pacific: Fiji
PDF Chapters
Ma`afu, prince of Tonga, chief of Fiji »
Please read Conditions of use before downloading the formats.
- Preliminary pages (PDF, 166KB)
- List of Figures (PDF, 118KB)
- List of Maps (PDF, 92KB)
- Epigraphs (PDF, 68KB)
- Acknowledgements (PDF, 131KB)
- Preface (PDF, 115KB)
- Abbreviations (PDF, 211KB)
- A Note on Spelling (PDF, 69KB)
- Maps (PDF, 2.4MB)
- Ma`afu`otu`itonga (PDF, 241KB)
- ‘Ma`afu…had sailed for Feejee…’ (PDF, 240KB)
- ‘A fast ignorant vain young man’ (PDF, 2.2MB)
- ‘…the reformation is exploded’ (PDF, 3.0MB)
- ‘We are Kai Tonga’ (PDF, 266KB)
- ‘I shall be chief at Bau…’ (PDF, 303KB)
- ‘Tonga is too small for him…’ (PDF, 7.1MB)
- ‘A man of great energy and ambition’ (PDF, 203KB)
- ‘He looks every inch a chief’ (PDF, 303KB)
- ‘There is no doubt Ma`afu means mischief now’ (PDF, 254KB)
- ‘Ma`afu’s word is in the hills…’ (PDF, 332KB)
- ‘Sa oti, Ma`afu’ (PDF, 239KB)
- ‘He is regarded with much bitterness and ill-will’ (PDF, 364KB)
- ‘He was a very dangerous man’ (PDF, 151KB)
- Appendix A: Instrument signed by Ma`afu at Levuka, 14 December 1859 (PDF, 81KB)
- Appendix B: Précis of an agreement signed between George Tupou I, King of Tonga, and William Pritchard, HBM Consul to Fiji and Tonga, Nuku`alofa, 5 May 1862 (PDF, 72KB)
- Appendix C: Constitution of the Tovata Ko Natokalau Kei Viti, 13 February 1867 (PDF, 835KB)
- Appendix D: Resolutions relating to Fiji passed by the Tongan general Parliament, June 1868 (PDF, 795KB)
- Appendix E: Law relating to Governors [Tonga 1868] (PDF, 54KB)
- Appendix F: Statement by George Tupou I, King of Tonga, Nuku`alofa, 3 February 1869 (PDF, 72KB)
- Appendix G: Formation of the Chiefdom of Lau, Lakemba, 15 February 1869 (PDF, 822KB)
- Appendix H: Constitution of Tonga 1875: Paragraph 35 (PDF, 71KB)
- Appendix I: Some Tongan descendants of Ma`afu and Elenoa Ngataialupe (PDF, 118KB)
- Appendix J: Some Fijian descendants of Ma`afu and Elenoa Gataialupe (PDF, 819KB)
- Appendix K: Ko E Pulupaki (PDF, 1.5MB)
- Glossary (PDF, 830KB)
- Bibliography (PDF, 16.1MB)
- Figures (PDF, 35.0MB)
- Index (PDF, 352KB)
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