![]() The Royal Order of Kapi‘olani (seen above) was created in memory of Kapi‘olani the Great, the high chiefess for whom Kaläkaua’s wife was named. “I beg of you, Reverend Father,” Lili‘uokalani wrote Damien, “to accept the … Royal Order of Kalakaua as a testimony of my sincere admiration for the efforts you are making to relieve the distress and lessen the sufferings of these afflicted people.” At right: Knight Commander, the Royal Order of Kapi‘olani. His sister, Lili‘uokalani, conferred the order on fifteen, including the Belgian priest Father Damien, whom she visited in Kalaupapa where he cared for leprosy patients. The Royal Order of Kaläkaua had four classes (including the Grand Cross, seen on the opening spread), and the king conferred it on 239 people during his rule, both in Hawai‘i and abroad. Kaläkaua was a true citizen of the world, the first head of state in history to circumnavigate the globe, meeting, among others, PopeLeo XIII, QueenVictoria and Siam’s King Chulalongkorn. King Kaläkaua, who reigned from 1874 to 1891, created the Royal Order of Kaläkaua to mark his election to the throne it was given for distinguished services and merit rendered to the state or sovereign. The Hawaiian monarchs created five royal orders in total and conferred them right up until the overthrow of Queen Lili‘uokalani in 1893 the orders’ 833 recipients varied widely, encompassing everyone from Japan’s Emperor Meiji to the deputy sheriff of Ka‘ü. ![]() In 1865, taking a cue from a European tradition that stretched back to the Middle Ages, Kamehameha V created the kingdom’s first royal order, a mark of favor to be bestowed on friends of the kingdom both at home and abroad. At a time when colonial powers were snapping up countries, Hawai‘i’s rulers cultivated the kingdom’s independence, gaining international recognition as a nation in 1843 and establishing over a hundred diplomatic posts around the world. Kamehameha I was the first of eight monarchs to rule Hawai‘i as it forged ties with the wider world: From 1795 to 1893, Hawai‘i’s sovereigns presided over a country that would become one of the most active and progressive on the planet. But a new challenge had just arrived: Captain Cook had put Hawai‘i on the global map. When Kamehameha I united the Islands and declared himself king, the conflicts settled. Battles for land bred skilled warriors and expert diplomats. For centuries the islands of Hawai‘i were ruled by ali‘i nui, great chiefs who were sovereign over shifting kingdoms.
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