Māori history The Māori name for the area from Panmure south-west towards the Manukau Harbour area was Tauoma
Te Tō Waka and
Karetu, two of the traditional
portages between the
Waitematā Harbour and the
Manukau Harbour were near here. 4.6 km up the
Tāmaki River Māori would beach their waka (canoes) at the end of a small creek (that now passes under the
southern motorway) and drag them overland (where
Portage Road is now) to the Manukau Harbour. In the mid to late 18th century, land along the Western shores of the Tāmaki River were given as a
tuku (strategic gift) by Te Tahuri, daughter of Te Horetā of the
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei hapū
Ngā Oho, to the Hauraki Gulf iwi
Ngāti Pāoa. Te Tahuri's sister Te Kehu had been married to Te Putu, an important figure within Ngāti Pāoa, for which Te Tahuri was derided and called foolish by people concerned by what the outcomes of such a
tuku would cause. By the time missionaries
Samuel Marsden and
John Gare Butler visited the isthmus in 1820, there were thousands of inhabitants living along the shores of the Tāmaki River at Mokoia. During the
Musket Wars in late September 1821, Mokoia and Mauināina pā were attacked by a
Ngāpuhi taua led by
Hongi Hika,
Pōmare I (Ngati Manu) and Tuhi (Te Ngare Raumati of Pāroa), during a time when the
Tāmaki isthmus was relatively unprotected, as many Ngāti Whātua warriors were touring the lower North Island on the
Āmiowhenua war party expedition. Three thousand men with up to 100 muskets took part in the defense of the pā but after a close and bitter battle were defeated by the combined northern alliance who had between 500 and 1000 muskets. Mokoia and Mauināina pā were destroyed, and the land became
tapu for Ngāti Pāoa due to the large number of deaths, and was not resettled. It was only with the explosive growth of suburbia around it after World War II, and better bridges to
Pakuranga that Panmure relatively suddenly started to grow significantly, and become a commercial centre. ==Local government==