The Kingdom of Tahiti is founded by paramount chief Pōmare I, who, with the aid of English missionaries and traders, and European weaponry, unifies the islands of Tahiti, Moʻorea, Tetiaroa, Mehetia and at its peak includes the other Society Islands of eastern Polynesia.
Their leaders are Christian following the baptism of Pomare II.
Their progressive rise and recognition by Europeans allows Tahiti to remain free from a planned Spanish colonization, as well as English and earlier French claims to the islands.
The Kingdom is one of a number of independent Polynesian states in Oceania, alongside Raiatea, Huahine, Bora Bora, Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, Rarotonga, and Niue in the 19th century.
They are known for bringing a period of peace and cultural and economic prosperity to the islands over the reign of the five Tahitian monarchs.Tahiti and its dependencies are made a French protectorate in 1842, and largely annexed as a colony of France in 1880.
The monarchy is abolished by France shortly thereafter, though there are still pretenders and many Tahitians still wish for a return of the monarchy, some of whom claim that the act of abolishing the monarchy was either outright illegal, or outside of certain jurisdictions.
