Kamehameha I

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This article is about the Hawaiian ruler. For other uses, see Kamehameha (disambiguation).

Template:Infobox hawaiian monarchi to become the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai.| | Birth name = PaiTemplate:Okinaea | Reign = 1810-1819 | Predecessor = Established monarchy | Successor = Kamehameha II | Born = circa 1758 | Died = 1819 }}

Kamehameha, also known as Kamehameha I and Kamehameha the Great (circa 1758-1819), unified the Hawaiian Islands in battle and formally established the [[Kingdom of Hawaii|Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai]] in 1810. A skilled diplomat, Kamehameha developed friendships with the major colonial powers in the Pacific resulting in the preservation of independence, as well as a guarantee of peace and prosperity of the kingdom, for future generations of native Hawaiians. Kamehameha is most noted for his vehement defense of traditional Hawaiian values and the kapu system of law and religion. He is also remembered for mamalahoe or the Law of the Splintered Paddle, used today throughout the world protecting the human rights of non-combatants in times of battle.

In 1871, Kamehameha V decreed a holiday, Kamehameha Day, in Kamehameha I's honor. This holiday is still celebrated annually today, on June 11. In addition, a statue was erected in his honor at [[Aliiolani Hale|AliTemplate:Okinaiolani Hale]], the center of HawaiTemplate:Okinai's judicial system. Two identical statues also exist in Kohala and the United States Capitol.

1 Legendary birth
2 Unification of the island of HawaiTemplate:Okinai
3 Kamehameha's ambition
4 The first King of HawaiTemplate:Okinai
5 Trivia
6 External links

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Legendary birth

Although there is some debate as to the precise year of his birth, Hawaiian legends claimed that a great king would one day unite the islands, and that the sign of his birth would be a comet. Halley's comet was visible from HawaiTemplate:Okinai in 1758, and it is therefore assumed that Kamehameha was born shortly after its appearance.

Kamehameha's birth is shrouded in legend. He was born as PaiTemplate:Okinaea, to Keoua and KekuTemplate:Okinaiapoiwa, [[ali'i|aliTemplate:Okinai]] of Kohala on the island of HawaiTemplate:Okinai. Kamehameha's father, Keoua, was the grandson of [[Keaweikekahiali`iokamoku|KeaweikekahialiTemplate:Okinaiokamoku]], who had once ruled a large portion of the island of HawaiTemplate:Okinai. When he died, war broke out over succession between his sons, [[Ke`eaumoku|KeTemplate:Okinaeaumoku]] and [[Kalaninui`amamao|KalaninuiTemplate:Okinaamamao]], and a rival chief, [[Alapa`inuiakauaua|AlapaTemplate:Okinainuiakauaua]]. [[Alapa'i|AlapaTemplate:Okinai]] emerged victorious over the two brothers, and their orphan sons were absorbed into his clan.

When Kamehameha was born, AlapaTemplate:Okinai ordered the child killed. One of his Kahunas had warned him that a fiery light in the sky would signal the birth of a "killer of chiefs", or aliTemplate:Okinai. AlapaTemplate:Okinai, nervous at the thought of his nephew usurping his rule, decided to take no chances.

PaiTemplate:Okinaea's parents, however, had anticipated this. As soon as he was born, he was given into the care of NaeTemplate:Okinaole, another aliTemplate:Okinai, and disappeared from sight.

NaeTemplate:Okinaole raised PaiTemplate:Okinaea for the first few years of his life. Five years after his birth, AlapaTemplate:Okinai, perhaps remorseful of his actions, invited the child back to live with his family. There under the guidance of his kahu (teacher) KekuhaupiTemplate:Okinao he learned the ways of court diplomacy and war. KekuhaupiTemplate:Okinao remained a faithful and trusted adivsor to Kamehameha until the accidental death of the loyal kahu during a sham battle. He is said to have had a dour disposition, and acquired the name he is best known for today: Kamehameha, from the Hawaiian language term for "the lonely one".

Image:Kaahumanu.jpg

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Unification of the island of HawaiTemplate:Okinai

When AlapaTemplate:Okinai died, his position was succeeded by his son [[Keawea'opala|KeaweaTemplate:Okinaopala]]. [[Kalani'opu'u|KalaniTemplate:Okinaopu Template:Okinau]], AlapaTemplate:Okinai's great-nephew, challenged his rule, and was backed by his nephew Kamehameha. In fierce fighting at Kealakekua Bay, KeaweaTemplate:Okinaopala was slain and KalaniTemplate:Okinaopu Template:Okinau claimed victory. For his loyal service to his uncle, Kamehameha was made KalaniTemplate:Okinaopu Template:Okinau's aide.

In 1779, Kamehameha again traveled with KalaniTemplate:Okinaopu Template:Okinau to Kealakekua Bay. This time, he met with Lono, the Hawaiian god of fertility, who had arrived on a great canoe bearing tapa banners. Lono was, in fact, Captain James Cook, and his ship was the H.M.S. Discovery. It was Kamehameha's first dealings with the white man. It would not be the last.

Raised in the royal court of his uncle, Kamehameha achieved prominence in 1782, upon KalaniTemplate:Okinaopu Template:Okinau's death. While the kingship was inherited by KalaniTemplate:Okinaopu Template:Okinau's son [[Kiwala‘o|KiwalaTemplate:Okinao]], Kamehameha was given a prominent religious position, guardianship of the Hawaiian god of war, [[Kuka‘ilimoku|KukaTemplate:Okinailimoku]], as well as the district of [[Waipio|WaipiTemplate:Okinao]]. Nevertheless, there was already bad blood between the two cousins, caused when Kamehameha presented a slain aliTemplate:Okinai's body to the gods instead of KiwalaTemplate:Okinao, and when a group of chiefs from the Kona district offered Kamehameha the kingship instead of KiwalaTemplate:Okinao, he accepted eagerly. KiwalaTemplate:Okinao was soon defeated in the battle of [[Moku'ohai|MokuTemplate:Okinaohai]], and Kamehameha took control of the districts of Kohala, Kona, and Hamakua on HawaiTemplate:Okinai, but KiwalaTemplate:Okinao's brother KeouakuTemplate:Okinaahu Template:Okinaula.

Kamehameha then moved against the district of Puna in 1790 deposing its chief [[Keawema'uhili|KeawemaTemplate:Okinauhili]]. Keoua, exiled to his home of KaTemplate:Okinaū, took advantage of Kamehameha's absence and led an uprising. When Kamehameha returned with his army to put down the rebellion, Keoua fled past the volcano, which erupted and killed nearly a third of his warriors from poisonous gas.

Questioning a kahuna on how best to go about securing the rest of the island., Kamehameha resolved to construct a heiau to [[Kuka'ilimoku|KukaTemplate:Okinailimoku]], as well as lay an aliTemplate:Okinai's body on it.

When the temple was completed the following, Kamehameha invited Keoua to meet with him. Keoua was no fool, and brought the greater part of his remaining army with him. As he stepped on shore, one of Kamehameha's chief's threw a spear at him. By some accounts he dodged it, but was then cut down by musket fire. Caught by surprise, Keoua's bodyguards were killed. With Keoua dead, and his supporters captured or slain, Kamehameha became [[ali'i nui|aliTemplate:Okinai nui]] of all HawaiTemplate:Okinai.

Image:Kamehamehawarcanoe.jpg

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Kamehameha's ambition

Kamehameha's dreams included far more than the island of HawaiTemplate:Okinai; with the council of his favorite wife [[Kaahumanu|KaTemplate:Okinaahumanu]], who became one of HawaiTemplate:Okinai's most powerful figures, he set about planning to conquer the rest of the Hawaiian Islands. Help came from British and American traders, who sold guns and ammunition to Kamehameha. Two westerners who were resident on HawaiTemplate:Okinai, Isaac Davis and John Young, trained Kamehameha's troops in use of the firearms.

With his new weapons, Kamehameha felt confident enough to move on the neighboring islands of Maui and [[Oahu|OTemplate:Okinaahu]], already weakened by a war of succession that broke out between King Kahekili's sons. Kamehameha may or may not have known that his rival, Kalanikupule, also possessed firearms, and was planning a move against Kamehameha when the aliTemplate:Okinai nui of HawaiTemplate:Okinai invaded the western islands.

In 1795, Kamehameha set sail with an armada of 1,200 war canoes and 10,000 soldiers - an incredible number for an island chain whose population had never exceeded 300,000. Kamehameha quickly secured the lightly defended islands of Maui and MolokaTemplate:Okinai, and moved on the island of OTemplate:Okinaahu, landing his troops at [[Waialae|WaiTemplate:Okinaalae]] and Waikīkī. What Kamehameha did not know was that one of his commanders, a high-ranking aliTemplate:Okinai named KaTemplate:Okinaiana, had defected to Kalanikupule. KaTemplate:Okinaiana assisting the cutting of notches into the [[Nu‘uanu Pali|NuTemplate:Okinauanu Pali]] mountain ridge; these notches, like those on a castle turret, would serve as gunports for Kalanikupule's cannon.

When Kamehameha moved on the Pali, his troops took heavy fire from the cannon. In desperation, he assigned two divisions of his best warriors to climb to the Pali. Converging on the cannons from behind, they surprised Kalanikupule's gunners and took control of the cannons. With the loss of their guns, Kalanikupule's troops fell into disarray, and many were driven off the cliffs of the Pali. KaTemplate:Okinaiana was killed during the action; Kalanikupule was captured some time later and sacrificed to KukaTemplate:Okinailimoku.

Kamehameha was now aliTemplate:Okinai nui of all of HawaiTemplate:Okinai east of OTemplate:Okinaahu, but the islands of [[Kaua'i|KauaTemplate:Okinai]] and [[Ni'ihau|NiTemplate:Okinaihau]] continually eluded him. When he attempted to invade the islands in 1796, his governor on HawaiTemplate:Okinai, Namakeha, led a rebellion against his rule, and Kamehameha was forced to return. In 1803 he tried again, but this time disease broke out among his warriors, and Kamehameha himself fell ill, though he later recovered. During this time, Kamehameha was amassing the largest armada HawaiTemplate:Okinai had ever seen - foreign-built schooners and massive war canoes, armed with cannon and carrying his vast army. [[Kaumualii|KaumualiTemplate:Okinai]], aliTemplate:Okinai nui of KauaTemplate:Okinai, watched as Kamehameha built up his invading force and decided he would have a better chance in negotiation than battle. He may also have been very influenced by foreign merchants, who saw the continuing feud between Kamehameha and KaumualiTemplate:Okinai as bad for the sandalwood trade.

In 1810, KaumualiTemplate:Okinai became a vassal of Kamehameha, who therefore emerged as the sole sovereign of the island chain of HawaiTemplate:Okinai.

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The first King of HawaiTemplate:Okinai

As king, Kamehameha took several steps to ensure that the islands remained a united realm even after his death. He unified the legal system and he used the products he collected in taxes to promote trade with Europe and the United States. Kamehameha did not allow non-Hawaiians to own land; they would not be able to until the Great Mahele of 1848. This edict ensured the islands' independence even while many of the other islands of the Pacific succumbed to the colonial powers.

In fact, the [[Kingdom of Hawai'i|Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai]] that Kamehameha established retained its independence, except for a five-month British occupation in 1843, until it was annexed by the United States in 1898. It was this legacy that earned Kamehameha the epithet "Napoleon of the Pacific."

Kamehameha also instituted the Mamalahoe, or "law of the splintered paddle". Its origins derived from before the unification of the Island of HawaiTemplate:Okinai, in 1782, when Kamehameha, during a raid, caught his foot in a rock. A local fisherman, fearful for his family, hit Kamehameha hard on the head with a paddle, which splintered. Kamehameha was stunned and left for dead, allowing the fisherman and his companion to escape. Chastened by this experience, Kamehameha declared, "Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety". This law, which provided for the safety of noncombatants in wartime, is estimated to have saved thousands of lives during Kamehameha's campaigns. It became the first written law of the Kingdom of HawaiTemplate:Okinai, and remains in the state constitution to this day.

Although he ended human sacrifice, Kamehameha was to the last a follower of the Hawaiian religion, executing his subjects for breaches of the kapu. Although he entertained Christians, he did not appear to take them seriously.

When Kamehameha died in 1819, his body was hidden by his kahuna. To this day his final resting place remains a mystery.

A statue of Kamehameha represents Hawaii in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol.

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Trivia

The name for the Kamehameha attack in the manga Dragon Ball was based on Kamehameha I. The move can also translate to Turtle Wave Blast, originating from the Muten-Rôshi, known as Kame-Sennin (Turtle Hermit).
In the manga Kinnikuman, there is an elder wrestler named Prince Kamehame from HawaiTemplate:Okinai, who teaches Kinnikuman his 48 Finishing Techniques. He later appears in costume similar to Kinnikuman, under the name Kinnikuman Great.
A film based on Kamehameha's life and starring The Rock was announced in 2002.

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