Timeline of Tongan history

This is a timeline of Tongan history. To read about the background to these events, see History of Tonga. See also the list of monarchs of Tonga and list of Prime Ministers of Tonga.

This timeline is incomplete; some important events may be missing. Please help add to it.

Centuries: 8th BC - 7th BC - 6th BC - 5th BC - 4th BC - 3rd BC - 2nd BC - 1st BC - 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 5th - 6th - 7th - 8th - 9th - 10th - 11th - 12th - 13th - 14th - 15th - 16th - 17th - 18th - 19th - 20th - 21st

8th century BC

Year Date Event
800 BC Estimated arrival of the first Lapita settlers in Tonga.

7th century BC

6th century BC

5th century BC

4th century BC

3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

1st century

2nd century

Year Date Event
200 Explorers set out from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji to discover and settle eastern Polynesia.

3rd century

4th century

5th century

6th century

7th century

8th century

9th century

10th century

11th century

Year Date Event
1100 The Empire expands, under Tuʻi Tonga Momo, to include Samoa and parts of Fiji.

12th century

Year Date Event
1200 Muʻa becomes the capital of the Tongan Empire.

13th century

Year Date Event
1250 Samoa rebels and casts off Tongan rule; foundation of the Malietoa dynasty in Samoa. Beginning of the Empire's decline.
1300 The Haʻamonga ʻa Maui is built during the rule of Tuʻi Tonga Tuʻitātui.

14th century

15th century

Year Date Event
1470 The Tongans are driven out of ʻUvea and Futuna. Tuʻi Tonga Kauʻulufonua I cedes temporal authority to his brother Moʻungāmotuʻa: the Tuʻi Tonga dynasty is replaced by the Tu'i Ha'atakalaua dynasty.

16th century

Year Date Event
1600 ascension of the Tuʻi Kanokupolu dynasty.

17th century

Year Date Event
1616 April Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire visit the Niuas
1643 January Abel Tasman visits Tongatapu and Haʻapai.
1650 Mataelehaʻamea, the Tuʻi Kanokupolu, establishes the supremacy of his dynasty after a war against the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua, Vaea.

18th century

Year Date Event
1773 First visit by Captain James Cook. Cook calls Tonga the "Friendly Isles", and returns the following year.
1777 James Cook visits Tonga for the third time, and meets the Tuʻi Kanokupolu, Tuʻihalafatai.
1782 Tuʻihalafatai renounces power and moves to Fiji.
1793 Tupoumoheofo, first woman to hold the title Tuʻi Kanokupolu, is overthrown by her cousin Tukuʻaho.
1797 Arrival of the first Christian missionaries from London.
1799 Tukuʻaho, the Tuʻi Kanokupolu, is murdered; beginning of half a century of civil war.

19th century

Year Date Event
1806 William Mariner's sojourn in Tonga. (to 1810)
1808 Tupoumālohi is appointed Tuʻi Kanokupolu after a nine-year interregnum, but resigns within less than a year.
1820 Aleamotuʻa takes the throne as Tuʻi Kanokupolu, amidst ongoing conflict.
1826 Aleamotuʻa converts to Christianity and allows Wesleyan Methodist missionaries to settle on Tongatapu.
1831 Tāufaʻāhau proclaims himself "King George Tupou I of Tonga".
1845 Tāufaʻāhau completes his conquest and unification of Tonga. Foundation of the modern Kingdom of Tonga. Nukuʻalofa becomes the capital.
1875 King George Tupou I makes Tonga a constitutional monarchy, emancipates all 'serfs' and guarantees freedom of the press and the rule of law.
1893 Death of George Tupou I; George Tupou II becomes King.
1900 Treaty of Friendship: Tonga becomes a British protected State, but remains essentially self-governing.

20th century

Year Date Event
1918 Death of George Tupou II; Salote Tupou III becomes Queen.
1965 Death of Salote Tupou III; Taufa'ahau Tupou IV becomes King.
1970 Tonga regains full sovereignty and independence from the United Kingdom, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
1999 Tonga joins the United Nations.

21st century

Year Date Event
2006 30 March Feleti Sevele is appointed as the first non-noble Prime Minister of Tonga since Shirley Baker in the 19th century.
11 September Death of Taufa'ahau Tupou IV; George Tupou V becomes King.
16 November Riots hit Nukuʻalofa, as protestors demand a faster transition to democracy. Some rioters burn down and loot Chinese-Tongan shops and businesses. Eight looters die in a burning building.
17 November George Tupou V promises democratic legislative elections for 2008. They eventually take place in 2010.
2010 25 November Following significant reforms, the 2010 general election produces a Parliament in which an absolute majority of representatives are elected by the people. This new Parliament, rather than the King, was to appoint the next Prime Minister (Lord Tuʻivakano), the King having relinquished to the Prime Minister the bulk of his political powers.

References