[1] Although he accepted the throne reluctantly and reigned only briefly, he has been credited with establishing a number of historical precedents for the Kīngitanga that survive today, as well as more broadly for the rise of pan-Māori identity.

Te Rau-angaanga defeated a much larger coastal Tainui and Taranaki force of about 7,000 warriors led by Ngāti Toa chief Pikauterangi in the battle of Hingakaka near Ohaupo.

Te Wherowhero grew up in a period of relative peace for the Waikato tribes, following his father's victory over Ngāti Toa in the battle of Hingakaka.

Some of the Waikato and Maniapoto besiegers did not want to see Ngāti Toa exterminated, so they were permitted to give up their territory at Kāwhia and migrate to northern Taranaki.

[2] Early in 1822 the Waikato forces suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Ngāti Toa and their allies at Motunui in north Taranaki.

The intervention of Te Rauparaha saved him, but subsequently he had to engage a number of enemy chiefs in single combat, armed with only a digging implement.

Te Wherowhero returned to the Waikato that year in time to take command in an unsuccessful defence of his tribe at Matakitaki (Pirongia) against Ngāpuhi, armed with muskets and led by Hongi Hika on their great rampage through the North Island of 1818 to 1823.

Te Wherowhero lived at Orongokoekoea on the upper Mokau River, where his wife Whakaawi gave birth to their son Tāwhiao.

In 1831 Te Wherowhero led an immense war party against the Taranaki Māori and killed many hundreds of the Ngatiawa tribe, whose lands more than ten years later he claimed by right of conquest.

Captain William Symonds brought a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi to Manukau for chiefs to sign, but Te Wherowhero refused.

Initially Te Wherowhero favoured the Pākehā arrivals in his territory: his daughter, Tiria, married the trader John Kent.

In May 1844 Te Wherowhero hosted a large intertribal gathering at Remuera, near Auckland, with the view mainly of impressing Governor Robert FitzRoy with the power of Northern Māori.

[1] Between 1847 and 1852 Governor Grey arranged for 861 retired British soldiers called fencibles and their families to establish a number of military villages at Howick, Panmure, Otahuhu and Onehunga.

In April 1849 Te Wherowhero signed an agreement with Governor George Grey to provide Auckland with military protection on the same basis as the fencibles.

Grey had learnt the importance of having the support of kūpapa, Māori who sided with the Crown, during that campaign to restore law and order and assert government authority.