You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in French. (February 2012)Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Royaume de Bora Bora]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|fr|Royaume de Bora Bora}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

Kingdom of Bora-Bora Royaume de Bora-Bora
Early 19th century–1895
Flag
Capital	Nunue Vaitape
Common languages	Tahitian French
Religion	Tahitian,Christianity
Government	Monarchy
Monarch
• 1778–1812	Tapoa I(first)
• 1873–1895	Teriimaevarua III(last)
History
• Established	Early 19th century
• Annexed by France	19 March 1888
• Abdication of Teriimaevarua III	21 September 1895
Currency	French franc Pound sterling
Succeeded by French Polynesia

TheKingdom of Bora Bora was established during the early 19th century with the unification of the island ofBora Bora and official recognition byFrance and theUnited Kingdom in 1847 through theJarnac Convention. It was one of a number of independentPolynesian states in theSociety Islands, alongsideTahiti,Huahine andRaiatea in the 19th century, which all shared a similarlanguage andculture and whose rulers were interrelated by marriage. Besides Bora Bora, the Kingdom encompassed the islands ofTupai,Maupiti,Maupihaa,Motu One, andManuae. The Kingdom was finally annexed to France in 1888 and its last queenTeriimaevarua III was replaced by a French vice-resident in 1895.^[1]: 211

The history of Bora Bora is marked by the rivalry of two clans: one based nearFaanui, consisting of families attached to themarae Farerua, and the other consisting of the families ofNunue andAnau around themarae Vaiotaha, which was long among the most importantmarae of Polynesia.

There was also a rivalry between Bora Bora andRaʻiātea for religious power. Initially, there was a similarity between the institutions of Bora Bora and Raiatea, which suggests that the two islands exercised joint religious and political authority over the otherLeeward Islands. However, Raiatea ultimately became the center of religious power, while Bora-Bora retained a particularly strong military power, expressed both in internal wars and in wars with rival islands.

According toTupaia, who came from Raʻiātea, Bora Bora was originally a place of exile for thieves and other wrongdoers. These outcasts eventually became pirates, who raided the other islands. In the 18th century a great chief, Puni (Teihotu Matarua), succeeded in dominating the island's other clans. He then conqueredTahaa and attacked Raʻiātea, which he conquered in 1763 after a three-year campaign. In 1769, whenJames Cook landed at Tahaa and Raʻiātea, the islands were still dominated by Puni and his Bora Bora warriors.^[2]

At Puni's death, his nephewTapoa I, paramount chief of Bora Bora, Raiatea and Tahaa, settled at Raʻiātea, leaving local power to the chiefs Mai and Tefaaora, originally of Nunue and Anau, and members of themarae of Vaiotaha.

The first clear mention of the island was by the Dutch explorerJakob Roggeveen in 1722.^[3] James Cook saw it in 1769 and landed there in 1777.

While in Tahiti, the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century were marked by the missionary and colonial aims of France and England, Bora Bora remained for a long time relatively distant from the power struggles of the two European powers. However, their influence was felt, particularly through the evangelization of the island.

In the 1810s, Chief Mai and 262 warriors joinedPomare II in his fight against the Teva clan. In 1815, the battle of Fe'i Pi atPunaauia (on the island of Tahiti) marked the victory of the Protestant party (Pomare II having converted in 1812) against the traditionalist party. Christianity thus became the religion of the victors, and on their return to Bora Bora in 1816, the warriors shared their knowledge of this new religion with the rest of the population. The success was such that in 1818, the inhabitants asked the missionaries of Moorea and Huahine for books and pastors for the island.Reverend Orsmond came there for the first time the same year, and settled in Bora Bora in 1820.

On May 12, 1820,Tamatoa III, head of Raiatea, put in place a code of missionary obedience of 25 articles inspired by the code of Tahiti (thePomare code) and providing for the modes of application of justice. The same year, Chief Mai introduced this code of laws to Bora Bora and extended it to Maupiti. In 1822, the Church of Bora-Bora was inaugurated inVaitape, in the district of Nunue.

At the end of the 1820s, a large part of the population of Bora Bora joined theMamaia movement. This millennial movement, born on the island of Raiatea, merged old beliefs and new religion and challenges the authority of missionaries. When in 1826, the main leaders of the movement were banished from Raiatea, the heresy spread to all the Leeward Islands, including Bora Bora. The Mamaia sect gained such influence over Tahaa and Bora Bora that in 1833 the two islands joined forces to engage in a war against Raiatea and Huahine, which had remained loyal to the missionaries.Tapoa II, leader of the alliance and Grand Chief of Tahaa was however defeated, and his wife,Pomare IV, Queen of Tahiti, separated from him in 1834. He then settled in Bora Bora as Grand Chief of the island, at the request of the Mai and Tafaaora clans. Tapoa II, however, remained on good terms with Pomare IV, his ex-wife, and in 1845 he adopted one of her daughters,Teriimaevarua, whom he designated as heiress.

When theKingdom of Tahiti became a Frenchprotectorate in 1842, Bora Bora was not concerned, and the island did not suffer the troubles that followed either. However, Bora Bora benefited from the fallout from thePritchard affair, since, to put an end to the Franco-British quarrel,Louis Philippe ratified theJarnac Convention of June 19, 1847, which recognized the independence of the Leeward Islands, including Bora Bora. The two great colonial powers undertook not to take possession of these islands, nor even to place them under protectorate. Thus, Tapoa II reigned over an independent island until his death in 1860.

On July 30, 1860, his adopted daughter Teriimaevarua II was crowned Queen of Bora Bora byReverend Platt. She reigned over the island until her death in 1873. Teriimaevarua having no children, the crown then passed to her niece,Teriimaevarua III, daughter ofTamatoa V, king of Raiatea and granddaughter of Pomare IV. On January 9, 1884, she married PrinceHinoi, also a grandson of Pomare IV.

Under the reign of Teriimaevarua III, the international situation changed. Indeed, the Jarnac Convention, which guaranteed the independence of the Leeward Islands, only committed its two signatories, France and Great Britain. However, from 1878,Germany seemed to take a close interest in the Leeward Islands. In 1879, the Germans tried to forge alliances with Raiatea and Bora Bora. Both islands refused, and Teriimaevarua III informed the French government of the German attempt. For France, this made it urgent to repeal the Jarnac Convention, in order to prevent the installation of a rival power at the gates of its colony, especially since with the expected opening of thePanama Canal, the Society Islands would assume great strategic importance.

To cope with these German attempts, Raiatea and Tahaa also requested the protection of France in 1880. Between 1880 and 1887, these two islands were placed under the provisional protectorate of France. Initially, the chiefs and the Queen of Bora Bora declared themselves ready to accept the French protectorate, subject to a British agreement, but then they showed themselves hostile to a challenge to their independence by France. Meanwhile, France and England were negotiating the repeal of the Jarnac Convention. This was done in October 1887, and with theannexation of the Leeward Islands by France on March 19, 1888, Bora Bora became a French territory. Unlike the inhabitants of the former kingdom of Tahiti, the inhabitants of Bora Bora were not granted French citizenship. Like the other inhabitants of the Leeward Islands, they had the status of French subjects, subject to therégime de l'indigénat.

• States and territories established in the 19th century
• States and territories disestablished in 1888
• Former monarchies of Oceania
• Former kingdoms
• History of Bora Bora
• History of Tahiti
• History of French Polynesia
• French Polynesia-related lists
• 19th century in French Polynesia
• 19th-century establishments in Oceania
• 1888 disestablishments in Oceania

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia