Descending from the Wharepuhunga ranges he challenged the might of the Waikato tribes.
He at first overran the lands on the mid-reaches of the Waikato river from the foot of Maungatautari to the junction with the Waipa river, and finally clashed with the powerful Ngati Mahuta near the Taupiri Gorge.
Under the shadow of the fortified Taupiri pa of Te Putu, the patriarchal high chief of Ngati Mahuta, Ngatokowaru and his army were overwhelmed.
One hundred severed heads (rau angaanga) of his leading warriors were displayed on the battle-field, and he himself was a captive of Tawhia ki te rangi, the son of Te Putu, and the field commander of the victorious Ngati Mahuta.
Ngatokowaru expressed a wish to gaze upon the face of the Te Putu the Great, before being killed.
As a Waikato prisoner, Ngatokowaru gained immortality by stabbing Te Putu, and then as the blood gushed forth he covered himself with the sacred blood of the priestly high chief, at the same time exclaimming, "ko te tete a Ngatokowaru tena e rangona, tena e rangona! (The dagger of Ngatokowaru will be famous, 'twill indeed be famous!)
He was immediately killed, but escaped the cooking ovens because of the blood he had smeared over himself.
In a previous battle against the powerful Te Arawa tribe at Te Tumu near Maketu (Bay of Plenty), Ngatokowaru had rewarded the Waikato fighting adventurer, Te Huaki, for his services by "filling the calabash" and handing over his favourite daughter, Toreheikura, as wife.
The breach between the Raukawa tribe, and the Ngati Mahuta was healed when Te Atairangikaahu, the grand daughter of Te Huaki and Toreheikura, married Tawhia ki te rangi, the son of Te Putu, and the captor of Ngatokowaru.
From this union descends the line of Maori Kings, as follows:
Ngatokowaru
I
Toreheikura
I
Te Kara a tai whakaea Te Putu
I I
Te Atairangikaahu Tawhia ki te rangi
Tuata
I
Te Rauangaanga
I
King Potatau
I
King Tawhiao
I
King Mahuta
I
King Te Rata
I
King Koroki
I
Queen Te Atairangikaaku
I
King Tuheitia
- PAOA - The famous ancestor, after whom the tribe of the same name has been called and who now occupy the western shores of the Hauraki Gulf, at one time lived on the banks of the Waikato river near Taupiri mountain.