Malani
Encyclopedia
Roko Malani was the eldest son of Rasolo
, the first Tui Nayau
(Paramount Chief of Fiji
's Lau Islands
), and of Laufitu
a high-ranking lady of Totoya
and Tonga
n descent. He succeeded to the title Roko Sau
, after engineering a successful coup d'état
and slaying his uncle, Matawalu
, the fourth Roko Sau, in battle. This kin slaying was the result of the latter’s dislike and plan to expel Tongan settlers from Lakeba
. As Malani was half Tongan, his hand was forced to remove his uncle from power and eliminate his followers as an effective force on the island. Roko Malani was later installed as Tui Nayau, and thus become the second holder of this title.
He is described by one of the early missionaries to Lakeba as being "a good looking muscular man", and he was responsible for establishing the kingdom of the Tui Nayau in the form which it was known to the first European observers. One of his earliest campaigns resulting in the extension of his domain was to lead a battle against Cicia
, then an independent island, in retribution for the earlier death of his cousin Nayacatabu. He ambushed the Tui Cicia, or overlord of Cicia, and his forces on Nayau and killed him. The ensuing bloodbath is still remembered by the place name where the battle occurred. This area on Nayau is called Sosoiwaidamudamu or the Swamp of Red Water. This battle brought Cicia from this point forward under the power of the Tui Nayau. In addition the islands of Komo
and Olorua were given to the Kabara
champion and his battle ally, Ravu, in recognition for Kabara’s contribution to the defeat of Cicia. These two islands still remain as part of the Kabara District today.
Roko Malani is considered the progenitor of the noble household, Matailakeba. Two of his descendants included Ratu
Sir
Kamisese Mara
, Fiji's first Prime Minister
(a direct male line descendant), and Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna
, Fiji's first modern statesman. Roko Malani’s principal wife was Ciri of Taqalevu, with whom he had a son, Vuetasau
. It is likely he had other wives and offspring but there is scant record to demonstrate this. Towards the end of his reign, the first Christian
missionaries arrived in Fiji in 1830. These were three Tahiti
an missionaries of the London Missionary Society
, sent to Lakeba to establish a church. Although it is recorded that he tolerated the early missionaries, and one of his sons Vaubula was an early convert and would later emerge as one of the first preachers amongst Fijians; he nevertheless remained faithful to the old religion. He died, as recorded by missionaries, a heathen in 1833.
Roko Malani was succeeded by his younger brother, Taliai Tupou
.
Roko Malani's namesake and great grandson and grand uncle of Ratu
Sir
Kamisese Mara
named the new birthed son of the Turaga na Gonesau
after him whilst stopping over in Nabukadra village, Nakorotubu
, Ra
in 1879 on his way to a church conference in Viseisei, Vuda. Roko Malani had vasu relatives in Nabukadra who were descendants of Moqei the Lady from Ceiekena, Lakeba
given to the Turaga na Gonesau
as the eighth wife as a token of appreciation for subduing the uprising in Kedekede, Lakeba in what is known as the "Puaka Loa" or Vuaka Loa (Black Boar) operation. The name Malani and Roko Malani has since been used as a surname by one of the Turaga na Gonesau
families in Ra.
Rasolo
Rasolo was the second son of Niumataiwalu, founder of the Vuanirewa dynasty or noble clan of the Lau Islands in Fiji.-Vuanirewa:Rasolo became the third Roko Sau of the Lau Islands and first installed holder of the title Tui Nayau. According to oral history, when Rasolo and the rest of his family...
, the first Tui Nayau
Tui Nayau
Tui Nayau is the title held by the Paramount Chief of the Lau Islands in Fiji and is synonymous with the title holders over lordship of these islands. When translated Tui Nayau means Lord of Nayau, an island north of Lakeba, the latter accepted by many to be the chiefly island in the Lauan...
(Paramount Chief of Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
's Lau Islands
Lau Islands
The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...
), and of Laufitu
Laufitu
Laufitu was a Tongan-Fijian chieftainess. She was the first wife of Rasolo, who was the third Roko Sau of the Lau Islands and first installed holder of the title Tui Nayau. She was by him the mother of Malani, the seventh Roko Sau and the second to hold the Tui Nayau title of the Vuanirewa dynasty...
a high-ranking lady of Totoya
Totoya
Totoya is a volcanic island in the Moala subgroup of Fiji's Lau archipelago. It occupies an area of 28 square kilometers, making it the smallest of the Moalas. Its maximum altitude is 366 meters. The main economic activity is coconut farming....
and Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
n descent. He succeeded to the title Roko Sau
Roko Sau
Sau Mai Kedekede is a title held, NOT in tandem with the title tui nayau, by the paramount chief of the Lau Islands in Fiji.-A brief history:...
, after engineering a successful coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
and slaying his uncle, Matawalu
Matawalu
Matawalu was the son of Niumataiwalu, first Roko Sau of Lau and Uma of Nukunuku. He became the fourth Roko Sau, ruler of the Lau Islands, after the death of his brother Rasolo, but never succeeded to the title Tui Nayau. He had been similarly exiled to Nayau like Rasolo by his elder brother...
, the fourth Roko Sau, in battle. This kin slaying was the result of the latter’s dislike and plan to expel Tongan settlers from Lakeba
Lakeba
Lakeba is an island in Fiji's Southern Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers. It is fertile and well watered, and encircled by a 29-kilometer road. Its closest neighbors are Aiwa...
. As Malani was half Tongan, his hand was forced to remove his uncle from power and eliminate his followers as an effective force on the island. Roko Malani was later installed as Tui Nayau, and thus become the second holder of this title.
He is described by one of the early missionaries to Lakeba as being "a good looking muscular man", and he was responsible for establishing the kingdom of the Tui Nayau in the form which it was known to the first European observers. One of his earliest campaigns resulting in the extension of his domain was to lead a battle against Cicia
Cicia
Cicia is a Fijian island of the Lau Group. One of the Northern Lau Islands, Cicia is volcanic and is composed of raised coral. Its area is 34 km²....
, then an independent island, in retribution for the earlier death of his cousin Nayacatabu. He ambushed the Tui Cicia, or overlord of Cicia, and his forces on Nayau and killed him. The ensuing bloodbath is still remembered by the place name where the battle occurred. This area on Nayau is called Sosoiwaidamudamu or the Swamp of Red Water. This battle brought Cicia from this point forward under the power of the Tui Nayau. In addition the islands of Komo
Komo
Komo may refer to:*Komo or Kommos , an ancient seaport on this Grecian island*Komo Department, Gabon*Komo, Burma*Komo people, an ethnic group who live along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border*Komo language, the language of that people...
and Olorua were given to the Kabara
Kabara
Kabara is an island of Fiji, a member of the Lau archipelago. With a land area of 31 km² , its population of some 700 lives in four villages.The islanders are noted for their craftsmanship in the area of wood carving...
champion and his battle ally, Ravu, in recognition for Kabara’s contribution to the defeat of Cicia. These two islands still remain as part of the Kabara District today.
Roko Malani is considered the progenitor of the noble household, Matailakeba. Two of his descendants included Ratu
Ratu
Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...
Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Kamisese Mara
Kamisese Mara
Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, CF, GCMG, KBE is considered the founding father of the modern nation of Fiji. He was Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the first Prime Minister from 1970 to 1992...
, Fiji's first Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Fiji
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji is the head of government of Fiji. The Prime Minister was appointed by the President under the terms of the now-suspended 1997 constitution....
(a direct male line descendant), and Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna
Lala Sukuna
Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, KCMG, KBE was a Fijian chief, scholar, soldier, and statesman. He is regarded as the forerunner of the post-independence leadership of Fiji...
, Fiji's first modern statesman. Roko Malani’s principal wife was Ciri of Taqalevu, with whom he had a son, Vuetasau
Vuetasau
Viliame Vuetasau was the son of Roko Malani, the seventh Roko Sau of Lau and second Tui Nayau and Ciri of Taqalevu. During the reign of his Uncle Taliai Tupou, third Tui Nayau, he was considered heir to the title...
. It is likely he had other wives and offspring but there is scant record to demonstrate this. Towards the end of his reign, the first Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
missionaries arrived in Fiji in 1830. These were three Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
an missionaries of the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
, sent to Lakeba to establish a church. Although it is recorded that he tolerated the early missionaries, and one of his sons Vaubula was an early convert and would later emerge as one of the first preachers amongst Fijians; he nevertheless remained faithful to the old religion. He died, as recorded by missionaries, a heathen in 1833.
Roko Malani was succeeded by his younger brother, Taliai Tupou
Taliai Tupou
Roko Taliai Tupou was the son of Rasolo the first Tui Nayau and Radravu of Totoya. He is the younger brother of Roko Malani. He was the 3rd person to be installed to the Tui Nayau title. He is considered the progenitor of the noble household, Vatuwaqa in the chiefly Vuanirewa clan and as such, was...
.
Roko Malani's namesake and great grandson and grand uncle of Ratu
Ratu
Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...
Sir
Sir
Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...
Kamisese Mara
Kamisese Mara
Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, CF, GCMG, KBE is considered the founding father of the modern nation of Fiji. He was Chief Minister from 1967 to 1970, when Fiji gained its independence from the United Kingdom, and, apart from one brief interruption in 1987, the first Prime Minister from 1970 to 1992...
named the new birthed son of the Turaga na Gonesau
Turaga na Gonesau
The Turaga na Gonesau is a chiefly title of the Fiji Islands and is viewed as a Paramount Chief of Fiji residing in the Nakorotubu District in the Ra Province on the Main Island of Viti Levu.-In Translation:...
after him whilst stopping over in Nabukadra village, Nakorotubu
Nakorotubu
Nakorotubu is a district in Fiji's Ra Province. It is made up seven sub-districts or Tikina makawa, namely,Kavula, Nakorotubu, Navitilevu, Bure-i-wai, Bure-i-vanua, Mataso, and Nakuailava.-Geography:...
, Ra
Ra
Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
in 1879 on his way to a church conference in Viseisei, Vuda. Roko Malani had vasu relatives in Nabukadra who were descendants of Moqei the Lady from Ceiekena, Lakeba
Lakeba
Lakeba is an island in Fiji's Southern Lau Archipelago; the provincial capital of Lau is located here. The island is the tenth largest in Fiji, with a land area of nearly 60 square kilometers. It is fertile and well watered, and encircled by a 29-kilometer road. Its closest neighbors are Aiwa...
given to the Turaga na Gonesau
Turaga na Gonesau
The Turaga na Gonesau is a chiefly title of the Fiji Islands and is viewed as a Paramount Chief of Fiji residing in the Nakorotubu District in the Ra Province on the Main Island of Viti Levu.-In Translation:...
as the eighth wife as a token of appreciation for subduing the uprising in Kedekede, Lakeba in what is known as the "Puaka Loa" or Vuaka Loa (Black Boar) operation. The name Malani and Roko Malani has since been used as a surname by one of the Turaga na Gonesau
Turaga na Gonesau
The Turaga na Gonesau is a chiefly title of the Fiji Islands and is viewed as a Paramount Chief of Fiji residing in the Nakorotubu District in the Ra Province on the Main Island of Viti Levu.-In Translation:...
families in Ra.