Kahekili II

Kahekili II, full name Kahekilinuiʻahumanu, (c. 1737–1794) was an ali'i (Moʻi) of Maui. His name was short for Kāne-Hekili after the Hawaiian god of thunder. Because Kāne-Hekili was believed to be black on one side, Kahekili tattooed one side of his body from head to foot.^[1] He was called Titeeree, King of Mowee by Europeans explorers.

Family

He was born about 1710-1737 in Hāliʻimaile on the island of Maui. His father was Kekaulike Kalani-nui-Kui-Hono-i-Kamoku the 23rd Moʻi of Maui. His mother was Kekuaipoiwa-nui Kalani-kauhihiwakama Wanakapu (Kekuiapoiwa I, half-sister of Kekaulike). He had at least two wives, and three or four sons and two daughters.^[2]

His sister was Kalola.

There is a theory that he was the biological father of Kamehameha I.

Battles

His kingdom encompassed seven of the Hawaiian Islands except the Island of Hawaiʻi and paved the way for the creation of a unified Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha I. He succeeded his brother Kamehameha-nui ʻAilūʻau as king of Maui, Lanai and Molokaʻi in 1765.

He conquered King Kahahana of Oʻahu and killed most of the Oʻahu chiefs that stood in his way, using their skeletons to construct a house of bones. This insurrection of the Oʻahu chiefs is known as Waipi‘o-Kimopo. He had influence on Kauaʻi through his brother Kaeokulani who was the consort of Kamakahelei, Queen regnant of Kauaʻi. After his death in Waikīkī in July 1794, war broke out between his son Kalanikūpule, King of Oʻahu, and his brother Kaeokulani over succession to Kingdom of Maui. Kalanikūpule eventually overcame his uncles on December 6, 1794.

As Kalanikupule's forces were weakened it gave Kamehameha a chance to conquer Maui. The Kingdom of Maui would eventually fall after Kamehameha defeated the combined forces of Oʻahu and Maui in the Battle of Nuʻuanu on May 1, 1795 less than a year after Kahekili's death.

References