The Tu'i Tongan 'Empire'?

**Acco** · April 25, 2010, 05:46 PM

According to Wikipedia, some European commentators have propagated the concept of a Tongan Empire in the region of Oceania, which was supposedly created around 950 AD by 'Aho'eitu, the son of a deified Samoan chief and a Tongan woman of noble stock, thus enabling him to assume both a temporal and religious following in Tonga. The Tongan Empire was said to include all of Fiji, parts of Samoa and various other islands, some as far away as Melanesia (Tikopia, just south of the Solomon Islands) and Micronesia (Nauru and parts of Kiribati). Apparently, the Tongan people take great pride in their former dominance, however according to Wiki most historians generally discount the theory that the Tu'i Tonga ever had a true political empire. But what annoyed me about the article is that it doesn't really make good use of sources; for example, I'd like to see some sources/works from those who allege Tonga had a true political empire and from those who assert it didn't.

So, I've searched around a bit, and, as expected, haven't been able to find a wealth of sources, except for a fair few. This source is a good read, though again I'm not certain about its authenticity. Since I don't think I've ever seen a topic about this region in the VV before, I decided to post a thread on this. Do you think the Tongans had a true political and centralized empire, or that it was more of a network of interacting chiefs?

**clandestino** · April 25, 2010, 06:37 PM

Did Tongans have writing system before Europeans came? Have they write down anything about this supposed empire in the time it supposedly existed i.e. in the 10th century AD? If the answers are ''no'', then it's really hard to talk about sources.

**Acco** · April 26, 2010, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by clandestino

Did Tongans have writing system before Europeans came? Have they write down anything about this supposed empire in the time it supposedly existed i.e. in the 10th century AD? If the answers are ''no'', then it's really hard to talk about sources.

One Polynesian people (the inhabitants of Easter Island) are suspected of having developed a writing system, however I don't believe the Tongans or their neighbors had done so. As Trax mentioned, the Tongans do have a rich oral history, which as you noted shouldn't be recognized as complete fact, but it paints the general portrait concerning dynasties and such. However, there are many other ways of uncovering historical information, and thus by 'sources' I meant just general scholarship on the matter.

**Trax** · April 25, 2010, 06:50 PM

Well, they have oral history, the family trees (of royal families at least) should reach back as far as that IIRC.

**clandestino** · April 25, 2010, 06:56 PM

All due respect to their oral history but that's very vague and weak source.

**Farnan** · April 26, 2010, 04:14 PM

Well first there should be some linguistic evidence of a common rule. That should be the first step to finding your answer.

**antaeus** · April 27, 2010, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by Future Redleg Officer

Well first there should be some linguistic evidence of a common rule. That should be the first step to finding your answer.

this is a difficult one, as their languages are quite closely related, as are those of most of polynesia from hawaii to new zealand to tahiti... in many cases are fairly mutually intelligible - all the peoples of polynesia came through the same migratory channels over the last 2000 odd years... there's also archaeological evidence of more than one migratory phase... so linguistic evidence is going to be scarce.

it's even difficult to use archaeological evidence, as samoa, tonga, and other polynesian islands have been connected by trade and war since their settling.

the only really conclusive evidence that could be provided is a detailed study of the oral histories of samoa, tonga, the cook islands, fiji, etc etc to look for crossovers

other than that, you're basically in pre-history.

**Farnan** · April 27, 2010, 08:24 PM

Yea, I'm just saying the first test is linguistic, if there is no linguistic connections than any empire is unlikely (well an empire that recent).

**antaeus** · April 27, 2010, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by Future Redleg Officer

Yea, I'm just saying the first test is linguistic, if there is no linguistic connections than any empire is unlikely (well an empire that recent).

as i said.. the linguistic connections are pretty much 100%, all of the languages of polynesia are very closely related. they are so closely related that it would be impossible to determine whether words have been loaned or transferred.