Karotu
Karotu was a Gilbertese ruler who appears in oral tradition. His father conquered Abemama, Kuria, and Aranuka on behalf of their clan, Tuangaona. Karotu became a powerful landowner and warrior recognized as the islands' ruler. He consolidated his power over the three islands, forming the State of Abemama. Karotu abdicated in the 1840s in favour of Tewaia, his son.
Life
Karotu was one of the many children of Namoriki, an I-Abemama warrior. Karotu was the grandson of Tetabo, the first warrior to unify Abemama; their utu, Tuangaona, was named for Tetabo's birthplace. Although Tetabo was eventually exiled, his sons, led by Namoriki, conquered Abemama, Kuria, and Aranuka.Reign
Karotu shrewdly began acquiring land, which proved a profitable enterprise. He also gained influence as a famous warrior. In Robert Louis Stevenson's In The South Seas, his great-grandson, Binoka, remembers seeing Karotu as a child. Binoka described the elderly Karotu as tall, lean, walking as if he were a young man, and unlike every other man from his era completely unscarred. Stevenson wrote that Karotu was both "feared and hated", and was deadly in battle. He was allegedly arrogant to the mronron of unimane that governed from the maneaba, which he reappropriated after becoming recognized as the uea.By the reign of Karotu, Abemama, Kuria, and Aranuka had been sighted by Europeans. In 1821, whalers started frequenting the area. Although the I-Abemama attacked a foreign crew in 1827, they began bartering with European ships in the early 1830s. In 1835, the I-Abemama established a bêche-de-mer trading station and built curing and drying sheds on Abemama's reef.
Most information about Karotu came from oral tradition. A possible contemporary account of him came from John Kirby, the first beachcomber in his territory. Kirby deserted the Admiral Cockburn, a whaling ship, on Kuria in 1838; he was picked up by the USS Peacock of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1841. Kirby mentioned Tetalau, the king of Abemama, Kuria, and Aranuka, whose daughter Kirby said was his native wife. H. E. Maude identifies Tetelau as Karotu, using his grandfather's name as a title.
Karotu consolidated his power over the three islands, forming the State of Abemama's first government. There was only one revolt. While Karotu was visiting Kuria, the village of Kenna rebelled and conquered Abemama. Forming an army from the I-Kuria and I-Aranuka, Karotu retook Abemama. The rebels fled to Kuria, terrorizing its warrior-deprived population, before leaving the State of Abemama. Most of the insurgents died at sea, but their leader reached Tabiteuea. In 1839, the islands' warriors took up arms for six months after Karotu received a warning of an imminent attack from Tabiteuea. Karotu went unopposed for the remainder of his reign.