Te Rauangaanga, was a chief of the Ngati Mahuta

Ngati Mahuta

Ngāti Mahuta is a sub-tribe of the Waikato tribe of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand ....

 hapu (subtribe) of the Waikato tribe

Waikato (iwi)

Waikato is a Māori iwi from the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Actually a confederation of smaller tribes, it is also part of the larger confederation of Tainui, consisting of tribes descended from Polynesian migrants who arrived in New Zealand on the Tainui canoe...

 and principal war chief of the tribes of the Waikato

Waikato

The Waikato Region is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District, and parts of Rotorua District...

 region of northern New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. He and his wife Parengaope

Parengaope

Parengaope was a high chieftainess of the Ngati Koura, a Māori tribe. She was the wife of Te Rauangaanga and mother of Te Wherowhero, the first Māori king. Parengaope was born at Te Rapa Pa near present day Hamilton...

, a high chieftainess of Ngati Koura

Ngati Koura

The Ngāti Koura are a sub-tribe or hapu of the Bay of Plenty tribes of Māori in the North Island of New Zealand.Two marae are traditionally associated with Ngāti Koura: Otenuku and Te Papakainga. Otenuku marae is the site of Te Tapuwae, a cemetery in which many tribal chiefs of the Tuhoe iwi are...

, were the parents of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero

Potatau Te Wherowhero

Pōtatau I, Māori King was a Māori warrior, leader of the Waikato tribes, the first Māori King and founder of the Te Wherowhero royal dynasty. He was first known as simply Te Wherowhero and took the name Pōtatau after he became king...

, the first Maori king.

He was regarded as a great military tactician mainly deriving from the successful defense of his lands from the Taua (war party) of Pikauterangi in the early 1790s.

Pikauterangi, of the coastal Tainui people, had formed a coalition of southern and eastern tribes to invade the Waikato. His army mustered some 10,000 warriors according to Maori oral tradition of the Waikato people. Te Rauangaanga was only able to muster some 3,000 warriors and yet was still able to defeat and repel the army facing him just south of Ohaupo, half way between present day Hamilton and Te Awamutu at what became known as the Battle of Hingakaka

Battle of Hingakaka

The Battle of Hingakaka was reputedly "the largest battle ever fought on New Zealand soil".A force of 7,000 to 10,000 warriors, led by a Ngāti Toa chief Pikauterangi, from the Marokopa district of the lower North Island invaded the Waipa District, to restore honour. He was aggrieved over the poor...

- considered to be the largest battle ever to have been fought on the New Zealand mainland.