King Country in the context of "Pā"

The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori between 1806 and 1845, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an intertribal arms race in order to gain territory or seek revenge for past defeats. The battles resulted in the deaths of between 20,000 and 40,000 people and the enslavement of tens of thousands of Māori and significantly altered the rohe, or tribal territorial boundaries, before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The Musket Wars reached their peak in the 1830s, with smaller conflicts between iwi continuing until the mid-1840s; some historians argue the New Zealand Wars were (commencing with the Wairau Affray in 1843 and Flagstaff War in 1845) a continuation of the Musket Wars. The increased use of muskets in intertribal warfare led to changes in the design of pā fortifications, which later benefited Māori when engaged in battles with colonial forces during the New Zealand Wars.

Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika in 1818 used newly acquired muskets to launch devastating raids from his Northland base into the Bay of Plenty, where local Māori were still relying on traditional weapons of wood and stone. In the following years he launched equally successful raids on iwi in Auckland, Thames, Waikato and Lake Rotorua, taking large numbers of his enemies as slaves, who were put to work cultivating and dressing flax to trade with Europeans for more muskets. His success prompted other iwi to procure firearms in order to mount effective methods of defence and deterrence and the spiral of violence peaked in 1832 and 1833, by which time it had spread to all parts of the country except the inland area of the North Island later known as the King Country and remote bays and valleys of Fiordland in the South Island. In 1835, the fighting went offshore as members of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama invaded and murdered the Moriori of Rēkohu in a genocide.

The Waikato (/ˈwaɪkɑːtɔː/) is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupō District, and parts of the Rotorua Lakes District. It is governed by the Waikato Regional Council.

The Waikato stretches from Coromandel Peninsula in the north, to the north-eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu in the south, and spans the North Island from the west coast, through the Waikato and Hauraki to Coromandel Peninsula on the east coast. Broadly, the extent of the region is the Waikato River catchment. Other major catchments are those of the Waihou, Piako, Awakino and Mōkau rivers. The region is bounded by Auckland on the north, Bay of Plenty on the east, Hawke's Bay on the south-east, and Manawatū-Whanganui and Taranaki on the south. Waikato Region is the fourth largest region in the country in area and population: It has a land area of 23,901.09 km (9,228.26 sq mi) and a population of 532,100 (June 2025).

Ngāti Rārua are a Māori tribe (iwi) of the Tainui tribal confederation.

Ngāti Rārua stem from the marriage of Rārua-ioio and Tū-pāhau and, like other Tainui tribes, had their original home in the Waikato, specifically on the west coast of the King Country region, at Kāwhia, Marokopa and Waikawau. In 1821 Ngāti Rārua moved southwards in a series of migrations (heke) led by Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa which saw the iwi relocate to Nelson and Marlborough in the upper South Island.

Kawhia Harbour (Māori: Kāwhia) is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southwest of Hamilton. Kawhia is part of the Ōtorohanga District and is in the King Country. It has a high-tide area of 68 km (26 mi) and a low-tide area of 18 km (6.9 mi). Te Motu Island is located in the harbour.

The settlement of Kawhia is located on the northern coast of the inlet, and was an important port in early colonial New Zealand. The area of Kawhia comprises 16 to 20 hectares (40 to 50 acres) and is the town block that was owned by the New Zealand Government. The government bought it from the Europeans in 1880 "not from the original Māori owners, but from a European who claimed ownership in payment of money owed by another European".

Kīngi Tāwhiao (Tūkaroto Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero Tāwhiao, Māori: [taːɸiao tʉːkaɾɔtɔ matʉtaeɾa pɔːtatau tɛ ɸɛɾɔɸɛɾɔ]; c. 1822 – 26 August 1894), known initially as Matutaera, reigned as the Māori King from 1860 until his death. After his flight to the King Country, Tāwhiao was also Paramount Chief of Te Rohe Pōtae for 17 years, until 1881. A rangatira, and a religious figure – a tohunga ariki – Tāwhiao amassed power and authority during a time of momentous change, to become de facto leader of the Waikato tribes. He was a member of the Ngati Mahuta hapū and the kāhui ariki, the Kīngitanga royal family.

The son of kīngi Pōtatau te Wherowhero, Tāwhiao was elected the second Māori King after his father's death in 1860. Unlike his unenthusiastic father, Tāwhiao embraced the kingship, and responded immediately to the challenge of ongoing Raukawa and Tainui support for Te Āti Awa during the First Taranaki War. In 1863, Tāwhiao was baptised into the Pai Mārire faith, taking his regnal name, before leading the response to the invasion of the Waikato. After the Kīngitanga suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Rangiriri and war crimes at the trading centre of Rangiaowhia, Tāwhiao led the exodus of Tainui to the land of Ngāti Maniapoto, establishing a secessionist state called Te Rohe Pōtae (the King Country). Warning all Europeans that they risked death if they crossed the border, he governed Te Rohe Pōtae as an independent state for almost twenty years. Tāwhiao's power began to decline significantly in the 1880s, as his relations with Raukawa ki Ngāti Maniapoto deteriorated. He formally sued for peace with George Grey at Pirongia on 11 July 1881, allowing the construction of the North Island Main Trunk railway line, which first opened the King Country up to the outside world. Attempts by Tāwhiao to regain personal sovereignty or establish co-governance in accordance with the Treaty of Waitangi failed, and the Kīngitanga began to lose its supporters. The king died suddenly in August 1894, and was succeeded by his son Mahuta Tāwhiao.