George Tupou I.

George Tupou I. ( Tongan: Siaosi Tupou I., ( born December 4, 1797 in Niuui, Lifuka, Haapai, † February 18, 1893 in Nukualofa, Tongatapu ) was King of Tonga on 18 November 1845 to his death on 18 February. 1893. Before taking this name, he was called Taufaahau and held the highest Tongan title of Tui Kanokupolu.

Life

Taufaahau took over in 1820 by his father's reign ( Tui Haapai ) of the Tongan archipelago Haapai. In the battle of Velata, on the island Lifuka, he defeated the Tui Tonga Laufilitonga 1826. In 1831 he embraced the Christian faith. In 1833, he succeeded the rule ( Tui Vavau ) on the Tongan island of Vavau to take over from his father. With the help of missionary Shirley Baker 1839 he formulated basic laws on the Western model for Vavau and Haapai. Taufaahau 1845 inherited the title of the 19th Tui Kanokupolu and was next to the last Tui Tonga Fatafehi ​​Laufilitonga most powerful man in Tonga. He then founded the Kingdom of Tonga in the same year and became King George Tupou I. resistances of the other Tongan leaders led to a reformulation of the law in 1850 so that a consultative body -. Fakataha - was created, in which the traditional leaders to King should advise. In 1862 there was a further change in the law: the Edict of Emancipation ordinary Tongans were freed from dependence on traditional Tongan leaders. When the Tui Tonga on December 9, died in 1865 without heir, there was no more capable of rivaling for power and so the Tongan Constitution on September 16, 1875 issued by King George Tupou I. on the British model.