Tu'i Tonga

The Tuʻi Tonga Empire was a maritime power on Tongatapu. Tributaries including Samoa sent first-fruits, the ʻinasi, to Muʻa in double-hulled canoes.

In the 13th or 14th century Samoan revolts expelled the Tongans. After Takalaua was killed at Muʻa in 1535, the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua took charge of government while the Tuʻi Tonga retained sacred authority. The Tuʻi Kanokupolu, established in 1610, gradually gained power. Cook visited in 1773–1777 and witnessed the ʻinasi; the murder of a Tuʻi Kanokupolu in 1799 began civil war into the 1830s.