# Taufa'ahau becomes Tu'i Ha'apai (1820)

URL: https://allhistories.com/tonga/timeline/1820-taufa-ahau-becomes-tu-i-ha-apai
Location: Lifuka, Ha'apai, Tonga
Themes: main-event

Taufa'ahau, born on 4 December 1797 at Niu'ui on Lifuka, was appointed Tu'i Ha'apai by his father in 1820, according to the royalark genealogical page. The George Tupou I article says that in 1820 he received a disputed inheritance of land in Ha'apai, and the Kanokupolu article notes his father Tupouto'a died in 1820. The Ha'apai islands had been a theatre of the civil wars since the warlord of Vava'u extended his authority there at the end of the eighteenth century. Taufa'ahau kept the territory after his father's death and built it into a base from which he later defeated the last Tu'i Tonga and took Vava'u. The Timeline of Tongan history says that in 1820 Aleamotu'a took the Kanokupolu title, whereas Aleamotu'a's own article gives 1826–1827. The Ha'apai holding is nevertheless the first step in a long career that ended with the unification of the kingdom in 1845 and his reign as the first king. At this point in the timeline (1820), the sources list the title of Tu'i Kanokupolu as vacant (1820 – 6 December 1826), a period of civil war in which rival chiefs fought for power.

## Why it matters
Ha'apai gave the future king his first territory and his power base, from which he went on to win Vava'u, Tongatapu and the unified kingdom.

Ruler at the Time: [Interregnum of the Tu'i Kanokupolu title](https://allhistories.com/tonga/rulers/interregnum-of-the-tui-kanokupolu-title-12)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — George Tupou I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tupou_I)
- [royalark.net — tupou8](https://www.royalark.net/Tonga/tupou8.htm)
- [Wikipedia — Tuʻi Kanokupolu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu%CA%BBi_Kanokupolu)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of Tongan history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Tongan_history)