To better govern the large territory, the Tuʻi Tonga had their throne moved by the lagoon at Lapaha, Tongatapu.

The influence of the Tuʻi Tonga was renowned throughout the Pacific, and many of the neighbouring islands participated in the widespread trade of resources and new ideas.

[3][4] The finest mats of Samoa (ʻie tōga) are incorrectly translated as "Tongan mats;" the correct meaning is "treasured cloth" ("ie" = cloth, "tōga" = female goods, in opposition to "oloa" = male goods).

[9] Many fine mats came into the possession of the Tongan royal families through chiefly marriages with Samoan noblewomen, such as Tohuʻia, the mother of the first Tuʻi Kanokupolu, Ngata, who came from Safata, ʻUpolu, Samoa.

These mats, including the Maneafaingaa and Tasiaeafe, are considered the crown jewels of the current Tupou line[10] (which is derived matrilineally from Samoa).

In the 13th or 14th centuries, the Samoans had expelled the Tongans from their lands after Tuʻi Tonga Talakaifaiki was defeated in battle by the brothers Tuna, Fata, and Savea, progenitors of the Malietoa family.

This new dynasty was to deal with the everyday decisions of the empire, while the position of Tuʻi Tonga was to be the nation's spiritual leader, though he still controlled the final say in the life or death of his people.

[18] In Samoa, the high chief of Safata, Ama Lele married Soliʻai, a daughter of the Tui Manuʻa.

The first Europeans arrived in 1616, when the Dutch explorers Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire spotted Tongans in a canoe off the coast of Niuatoputapu,[20] followed by Abel Tasman who passed by the islands on 20 January 1643.

Modern chiefs who derive their authority from the Tuʻi Tonga are still named the Kau Hala ʻUta (inland road people), while those from the Tuʻi Kanokupolu are known as the Kau Hala Lalo (low road people).

[citation needed] Modern archeology, anthropology, and linguistic studies confirm widespread Tongan cultural influence ranging widely[22][23] through East ʻUvea, Rotuma, Futuna, Samoa, and Niue, parts of Micronesia (Kiribati and Pohnpei), Vanuatu, and New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands,[24] and while some academics prefer the term "maritime chiefdom",[25] others argue that, while very different from examples elsewhere, "empire" is probably the most convenient term.