Nohea

Pekelo Nohea (1819 – 1888), known by his throne name Nohea, was a Telamonian nobleman who served as the thirteenth king of Manakapa, ruling from 1854 to 1858. He then served as king in exile until his death, also serving as prime minister of the Free Polybloxian Government in Exile from 1860 to 1873 and again from 1875 to 1886. He is now considered a national hero of the Telamon Islands due to the numerous reforms he attempted and his struggle against the colonists.

Life

Pekelo Nohea was born in 1819 into a noble family, a year after the Rogaulians suppressed the uprising. He was born in the capital, Malu City, although his family later moved to the countryside, in Lopako Province. His family had previously been one of the wealthiest in the Kingdom of Manakapa, but lost its status by supporting losing political parties. He was raised with a patriotic spirit, which influenced his later views. He received a good education, gaining admission to higher education institutions in Malu City. While studying, the August Uprising broke out. Although Nohea considered participating, he was unable to do so because the Telamonian nobles, whose loyalty to the colonists was uncertain, were essentially trapped in the city and unable to do anything for the entire two years of the uprising. After completing his education and the death of his father, he inherited estates in Malu and Lopako in 1844. He advocated for the modernization of the country and independence from the colonists. He therefore began modernizing his estates and freed the peasants working there from much of their labor. In the meantime, he attended many patriotic receptions for noblemen, making many acquaintances. With his growing popularity, he could count on increased support.

When Pika III died in 1854 without leaving a legitimate male heir, an election was decided to be held. Patriotic parties considered fielding a single candidate to prevent splitting the vote. Pekelo Nohea was proposed. He had certain advantages: he was educated, advocated for improving the situation in the country, was a good speaker, and had no ties to the colonists. The election took place on March 19, 1854, and surprisingly, Nohea won with 4,671 votes. On April 2, he took power in the Kingdom of Manakapa. He implemented numerous reforms, including a constitution that abolished slavery and established Telamonism as the state religion. This led to conflict with the Rogaulians and the outbreak of war. Initially modernized by Nohea, the army drove the Rogaulians from Manakapa by the spring of 1855. A General Treaty was also issued at that time, introducing further reforms. Only a year later Rogaulians send an army to the Telamon Islands, but it was unable to defeat the army of the Kingdom of Manakapa.

King Nohea, a brilliant orator, inspired the soldiers to fight for their country. However, the fight became untenable when the Rogaulians, Bloxians, and Netherbloxians formed a coalition against Nohea. The Kingdom of Manakapa defended itself until 1858. On June 14 of that year, the king issued a proclamation to the nation, encouraging soldiers to fight to save their lives and urging intellectuals to form exile factions to gain the support of other rulers. On November 6, he ordered all commanders to flee the country. He also stated that all soldiers could return home or emigrate as the war was lost and it would be senseless to expose innocent civilians to death as a result of the coalition's terror against the kingdom. That same day, he abdicated, hoping that the colonists would spare the inhabitants of Manakapa if he disappeared. The very next day, he went into exile. Shortly thereafter, his supporters were defeated by the coalition.

He reached the Luobu Empire, where he began to gather other independence activists around him. In 1860, in protest against the incorporation of the Kingdom of Manakapa into Rogaulia as a colony, he established the Manakapa Government in Exile, of which he became prime minister. The exile faction confirmed him as king, recognizing that he alone had the right to the throne. Throughout the 1860s, he took steps to support the rebels and gain support for the Telamonian cause among other nations. When the Great Famine began, he organized the smuggling of food to Manakapa. In late 1872, after gathering volunteers in exile, he landed an army on the southern part of the island, hoping to incite a revolt. In October, an uprising did indeed break out, though it was not a national uprising, but rather a spontaneous rebellion of desperate, starving robloxians that could not be organized. The uprising itself ended by February 1873, and Nohea was powerless to do anything about it, as his army failed to gain any support from the exhausted inhabitants of Manakapa. Consequently, he went into exile again.

However, he resigned as prime minister of the government in exile, a position he would not get re-elected until two years later. Throughout the second half of the 1870s and the first half of the 1880s, he continued to work for the cause, attempting to reach various monarchs and convince them of the need to support the Telamonians, but without any success. He had virtually no allies. The Eurobloxian empires had no interest in gaining independence for the islands. The Luobu Empire, however, was too weak to do anything. Meanwhile, the Neo-Japanese Empire also had no interest in supporting the cause. Nohea and his emigration faction were politically isolated. Due to health problems, he resigned as prime minister in 1886. He devoted the last years of his life to creative work, writing works encouraging the struggle for the islands' independence. He died in 1888 on Taiblox from illness, leaving the title of king in exile to his elder son, Pekelo Makia. News of his death was one of the factors that led to the revival of patriotic feelings among the Telamonians after the long period of the Black Terror.

Commemoration

King Nohea is currently commemorated as a national hero who, despite the unequal opportunities, fought against the colonists and was not really far from victory. Numerous monuments, streets, buildings, and various places in the Telamon Islands are named after him. King Nohea Stadium in Latapaville is an example. Currently, the regions where Nohea's commemoration is strongest are the central and eastern parts of southern Manakapa and the northern coast of the island, although it also exists in other regions of the country. In 2011, the magazine "Hae Hoku" included him among the 10 most outstanding Telamonians in history.