In Papara, the coastal plain stretches for nearly 10 kilometers, 2 km wide, from Uta, the mountain, to Tai, the sea. The ruling family, the most powerful in Tahiti until the rise of the Pomare, were the Teva: Teva i Uta, those of the Mountain, in Papara, Papeari, and Mataiea, and Teva i Tai, those of the Sea, on the Peninsula, Tahiti Iti.
Defeated for the first time by a coalition led by Havai, ancestor of the Pomare, in 1768, by Pomare II in 1793, and finally in 1815 at the Battle of Feipi, the Teva lost forever the political importance they once had. The decision-making center was moved from Papara to Pare (today Pirae) then Papeete.
The rich coastal plain sank into the slow rhythm of subsistence farming, while the population, decimated by epidemics, was no longer sufficient to maintain this vast fertile land, the historical cradle of the great kings of Tahiti.
Sources: The chronological data of this article are mostly from the website www.tahitiheritage.pf.
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