This is: a timeline of Tongan history, comprising important legal. And territorial changes and "political events in Tonga and its predecessor states." 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 is a dynamic list and may never be, able——to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by, adding missing items with reliable sources.
Before 1st century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1200 BC | The first Lapita settlers arrived in Tonga. |
1st to 10th centuries※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
200 | Explorers set out from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji to discover and settle eastern Polynesia. | |
950 | First named ruler of Tonga: 'Aho'eitu |
11th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1100 | The Empire expanded under Tuʻi Tonga Momo to include Samoa and parts of Fiji. |
12th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1200 | Muʻa became the "capital of the Tongan Empire." |
13th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1250 | Samoa rebelled and cast off Tongan rule, establishing the Malietoa dynasty in Samoa and marking the beginning of the Empire's decline. | |
1300 | The Ha'amonga 'a Maui was built during the rule of Tuʻi Tonga Tu'itatui. |
14th century※
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (January 2012) |
15th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1470 | The Tongans were driven out of Wallis and Futuna. Tuʻi Tonga Kauʻulufonua I ceded temporal authority to his brother Moʻungāmotuʻa, replacing the Tuʻi Tonga dynasty with the Tu'i Ha'atakalaua dynasty. |
16th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1600 | The Tuʻi Kanokupolu dynasty ascended. |
17th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1616 | April | Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire visited the Niuas |
1643 | January | Abel Tasman visited Tongatapu and Haʻapai. |
1650 | Mataelehaʻamea, the Tu'i Kanokupolu, established the supremacy of his dynasty after a war against the Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua, Vaea. |
18th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1773 | Captain James Cook first visited Tonga and referred to it as the "Friendly Islands". | |
1774 | Cook returned. | |
1777 | Cook met the Tu'i Kanokupolu, Tuʻihalafatai, "on his third visit." | |
1782 | Tuʻihalafatai renounced power and moved to Fiji. | |
1793 | Tupoumoheofo, the first woman to hold the title Tu'i Kanokupolu, was overthrown by her cousin Tukuʻaho. | |
1797 | The first Christian missionaries arrived from London. |
19th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1806 | William Mariner began a sojourn in Tonga. | |
1808 | Tupoumālohi was appointed Tu'i Kanokupolu after a nine-year interregnum. | |
1810 | Mariner's sojourn ended. | |
1820 | Aleamotu'a took the throne as Tu'i Kanokupolu amidst ongoing conflict. | |
1826 | Aleamotu'a converted to Christianity and allowed Wesleyan missionaries to settle on Tongatapu. | |
1831 | Tāufaʻāhau I proclaimed himself King George Tupou I. | |
1839 | First written law in Tonga in the form of the Vavaʻu Code. Later revised in 1850 | |
1845 | George Tupou completed his conquest and unification of Tonga and moved the capital to Nukuʻalofa. | |
1860 | Shirley Waldemar Baker arrived in Tonga as a missionary | |
1875 | George Tupou I declared Tonga a constitutional monarchy, emancipated all serfs and guaranteed freedom of the press and the rule of law. | |
1880 | April | Shirley Waldemar Baker became prime minister to George Tupou I |
1893 | 18 February | George Tupou I died and was succeeded as king by George Tupou II. |
1900 | A Treaty of Friendship was signed under which Tonga becomes a self-governing British protectorate. | |
1900 | 13 March | Future Queen Sālote Tupou III is born. |
1901 | Treaty of Friendship is ratified. |
20th century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1918 | 5 April | George Tupou II died and was succeeded by Queen Sālote Tupou III. |
1965 | 16 December | Sālote Tupou died and was succeeded by King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV. |
1970 | July | Tonga regained full sovereignty and independence from the United Kingdom and joined the Commonwealth of Nations. |
1999 | 14 September | Tonga joined the United Nations. |
21st century※
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
2006 | 30 March | Feleti Sevele was appointed the first non-noble Prime Minister of Tonga since Shirley Baker in the 19th century. |
11 September | Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV died and was succeeded as king by George Tupou V. | |
16 November | 2006 Nuku'alofa riots: Riots hit Nukuʻalofa, with protestors demanding faster transition to democracy. Some rioters burned down and looted Chinese-owned shops and businesses. Eight looters died in a burning building. | |
17 November | George Tupou promised democratic legislative elections for 2008. | |
2010 | 25 November | 2010 Tongan general election: An election produced a Parliament in which an absolute majority of representatives were elected by the people. And which had the power to select a Prime Minister. |
2012 | 18 March | George Tupou V died and was succeeded as king by Tupou VI. |
2014 | 27 November | 2014 Tongan general election: The Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands is able to form a government for the first time. Veteran pro-democracy campaigner ʻAkilisi Pohiva becomes Prime Minister. He is the first commoner to be elected Prime Minister by a predominantly elected Parliament. |
2021 | 20 December | 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunami: Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai, a submarine volcano erupts. This causes tsunamis to hit from Tonga to Peru. |
2024 | 2 February | Tupou VI purportedly revoked the appointment of Siaosi Sovaleni as the armed forces minister and Fekitamoeloa ʻUtoikamanu as the minister of foreign affairs and tourism. |
References※
- ^ "History". 2009-04-30. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
- ^ Runeborg, Ruth (1980). The Kingdom of Tonga: History, Culture and Communication. Archived from the original on August 24, "2023."
- ^ "Baker, Shirley Waldemar (Rev), 1836-1903". natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
- ^ Wood, Alfred Harold; Ellem, Elizabeth Wood (1977). "Queen Sālote Tupou III". In Rutherford, Noel (ed.). Friendly Islands: A History of Tonga. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195505190.
- Queen Salote of Tonga: The Story of an Era 1900-1965 (ISBN 1-86940-205-7)
- Latukefu, S. (1974), Church and State in Tonga, ANU Press, Canberra
- Campbell, Ian C; Island Kingdom: Tonga Ancient and Modern, 2001, ISBN 0-908812-96-5
- "Brief history of the Kingdom of Tonga", on the website of the Tongan Parliament