A strong warrior, leader, and diplomat, King Kamehameha I is one of the most important figures in the history of the Hawaiians. Born around 1758, Kamehameha the Great was the founder and the first king of the Kingdom of Hawaii after uniting the Hawaiian Islands into a single royal kingdom following years of skirmishes. Destined for greatness from an early age, a Hawaiian legend predicted that light in the sky with feathers resembling a bird would signal the birth of a chief, and this was in reference to Halley’s comet that passed over Hawaii in 1758 – the year many historians believe Kamehameha was born. 

His birth name was Paiea and grew up in an isolated Waipio Valley to be far away from the warring communities. Once there was peace, Paiea come out of the secluded valley and was christened as Kamehameha, which means The Lonely One. From an early age, Kamehameha was trained to become a warrior, and at one time he overturned the famous Naha Stone to prove his legendary strength – a stone that is believed to have weighed around 2.5 to 3.5 tons. The Naha Stone is still there today in a place called Hilo. 

Kamehameha was brought up in his uncle’s royal court and he achieved prominence upon his uncle’s death in 1782, when he was given an important religious position under the new king as the custodian of the Hawaiian god of war. In addition, he was also given control over the district of Waipio Valley where he was hidden after birth. 

How he unified the islands 

When Kamehameha lifted the legendary Naha Stone, people believed that he fulfilled a prophecy although a selected number of chiefs including Kaewe Mauhili, Keoua, and the Mahoe, rejected that prophecy (prophesized by Ka Poukahi). But the Kona chiefs supported Kamehameha, including his father-in-law/grand uncle, his uncle, his warrior teacher, and his twin uncles. These five chiefs defended and supported Kamehameha as they saw him as the unifier Ka Na’i aupuni. Those who opposed Kamehameha – chiefs Keeaumoku and Keawe Mauhili – were genealogically the next in line for ali’nui. 

The prophecy included not just Hawai’i island, but it went across the Pacific Islands to Aotearoa (now New Zealand). 

Kamehameha was supported by his wife Ka’ahumanu, who become one of the most prominent figures in Hawaii. Kamehameha and his chiefs planned to unite the islands of Hawaii and thus formed alliances with the American and British traders who supplied them with guns and ammunition. Another factor that contributed to Kamehameha’s success as a ruler was the support from Kauai chief Ka’iana along with Captain Brown, who in the past was associated with Kaeo Okalani. Brown guaranteed Kamehameha an infinite gunpowder supply from China and even gave him a gunpowder formula so he could make his own gunpowder – charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter, which were abundant in Hawaiian islands. Last but not least, Kamehameha was also helped by John Young and Isaac Davis, who married Hawaiian women. 

Invasion of Maui 

Kamehameha and his army invaded Maui in 1790 with the assistance of Isaac Davis and John Young.  They used canons from a ship called Fair American, a ship they captured from Thomas Humphrey – an American maritime fur trader and son of renowned British-born fur trader Simon Metcalfe. Using these canons, Kamehameha defeated Maui’s army at the Battle of Kepaniwai, while Kahekili II was on Oahu. 

In the same year, Kamehameha advanced towards Puna, dethroning Chief Keawema’uhili. At the time, Keoua Ku’ahu’ula was exiled to Ka’u, Kamehameha’s home. But since Kamehameha was in Maui, Keoua took advantage of his absence to initiate an uprising, and when Kamehameha returned, he ran and hid at the Kilauea volcano, which would soon erupt and killed many warriors with the poisonous gas produced. 

In 1791, Kamehameha requested Keoua to meet him, and at the time, Keoua was very disappointed by the recent loss of his warriors from volcano eruption and even mutilated himself. As a result, to render him an inappropriate victim for sacrifice. As he walked towards the shore, one chief from Kamehameha camp threw a spear at him, and while he dodged it, he was struck by a musket. Since they didn’t expect this turn of events, Keoua’s bodyguards were also killed, and his supporters were captured, leading to Kamehameha becoming the undisputed ruler of Hawaii island. 

Battle with King Kalanikupule 

In 1795, Kamehameha set out in the company of 10,000 soldiers and 960 war canoes, to secure and defend the two islands of Molokai and Maui at the Battle of Kawela. After that, he moved to O’ahu, landing his army at Waikiki and Wai’alae. But one of his high-ranking commanders known as Ka’iana had joined the enemy – King Kalanikupule of O’ahu. Ka’iana helped with cutting indentations into the ridge at Nu’uanu Pali mountain, where they served as gunports for the enemy cannon. But Kamehameha’s troops pushed Kalanikupule’s men towards the Pali Lookout, where they were overpowered. But Kamehameha’s armies took heavy fire from Kalanikupule’s cannon, and thus he assigned two divisions of his most skillful troops to climb scale the Pali to hit the cannon from behind. The troops took control of the cannon, and with the loss of their potent ammunition, Kalanikupule’s warriors fell into disarray, making it easier for Kamehameha and his still-organized armies to overpower them. A bloody battle ensued at Nu’uanu, where Kamehameha’s troops formed an enclosing wall against King Kalanikupule and his men. Ka’iana was slain in this battle, while King Kalanikupule, believed to be the last king ever physically to battle with Kamehameha, was captured and later sacrificed to Kukailimoku. 

Kamehameha later years 

Up to 1812, King Kamehameha lived at Kamakahonu on the northern edge of Kailua Bay in Kailua-Kona on Hawaii Island. He had multiple wives and numerous children, as was the norm at the time, though he outlasted nearly half of them. But the exact number of wives and children since the documents with the official number of his wives were damaged. Historians have listed between 21 and 30 wives. A sizeable number of his wives did not bore any children, and his son through Keopuolani – his highest-ranking wife – succeeded him to the throne. 

Kamehameha’s death 

Kamehameha died on May 1819 aged 60-61 and his body was hidden from the public by his close friends Ho’olulu and Hoapili, in the ancient custom known as hunakele or “to hide in secret”. Following Hawaiian ancient traditions, Kamehameha’s body was buried in a secret location because of his sacred power. His final resting place is not known to this day, and one time his son Kamehameha III asked one of his trusted friends that hid his body, to show him where his father’s remains were buried, but on the way to the location, the friend (Hoapili) felt that they were being followed and thus they turned around. His family ruled the Kingdom until 1872 and after a succession of governments, Hawaii become a United States of America territory in 1900. 

Kamehameha legacy/statues 

Hawaii has two statues of their greatest leader of all time. The original one is located near his birthplace in Kapa’au in Kohala while the other one is located in front of Ali’iolani Hale. There is a third statue that was commissioned when Hawaii officially became a state and was revealed in 1969.

Kamehameha had unified all the islands except the islands of Niihau and Kauai, but in 1810, these two islands were ceded to him after peaceful negotiations, making Kamehameha the undisputed king of the entire group of islands. 

While he was tyrannical in principle, Kamehameha appointed governors to manage each island. He revived the traditional kapu system of laws and punishments, although he also promulgated “the law of the splintered paddle” or the mamalahoe kanawai, which protected the citizens against brutal aggressions from chiefs. Moreover, he also banned human sacrifice – rites common in the past regimes to increase the sacred power or mana of the king. 

Kamehameha was a known shrewd businessman, which led to him creating wealth for his empire through a government monopoly on sandalwood trade as well as via the imposition of port duties on ships. Applauded as the most important ruler in Hawaiian history, Kamehameha maintained his empire’s independence through the harshest era of European exploration and discovery of the islands. Although his family no longer rules Hawaii, Kamehameha achieved what no man had ever achieved in the history of Hawaii – uniting the Hawaiian Islands into a single viable and recognized political entity, thus saving his people from a rapidly changing world.