The House of Kamehameha (Hale O Kamehameha), or the Kamehameha dynasty, was the reigning Royal Family of the Kingdom of Hawaii, beginning with its founding by Kamehameha I in 1795 and ending with the death of Kamehameha V in 1872 and Lunalilo in 1874. The kingdom continued for another 21 years, until its overthrow in 1893 with the fall of the House of Kalakaua. Origins of the Kamehameha dynasty Originating lines The origins of the House of Kamehameha stems from the progenitor, Keōua Kalanikupuapa`ikalaninui who was the sacred father of Kamehameha I and by the royal court of his brother Kalaniʻōpuʻu who later became king and gave his war god Kuka'ilimoku to Kamehameha I and he became the king by conquest, uniting all the Hawaiian islands into one kingdom under his undivided rule. Kalaniʻōpuʻu's father was Kalaninuiʻīamamao and Keōua's father was Kalanikeʻeaumoku, both were sons of Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku. They shared a common mother, Kamakaʻīmoku. Both brothers served Alapaʻinui, the ruling King of Hawaiʻi island at the time. Contemporary Hawaiian genealogy notes that Keōua may not have been Kamehameha's biological father, and that Kahekili II might have been the figure's real father. But official genealogies of the chiefs as well as the rulers confirm that Keoua was the true father. Kamehameha I's mother was Kekuʻiapoiwa II, a granddaughter of Keawe. The traditional mele chant of Keaka, wife of Alapainui, indicates that Kamehameha I was born in the month of ikuwā (winter) or around November. Alapai had given the child, Kamehameha to his wife Keaka and her sister Hākau to care for after the ruler discovered the boy had lived. Samuel Kamakau, in his newspaper article writes "It was during the time of the warfare among the chiefs of [the island of] Hawaii which followed the death of Keawe, chief over the whole island (Ke-awe-i-kekahi-aliʻi-o-ka-moku) that Kamehameha I was born". However, his general dating has been challenged. Abraham Fornander writes in his publication, "An Account of the Polynesian Race: Its Origins and Migrations": "when Kamehameha died in 1819 he was past eighty years old. His birth would thus fall between 1736 and 1740, probably nearer the former than the latter". "A brief history of the Hawaiian people" By William De Witt Alexander lists the birth date in the Chronological Table of Events of Hawaiian History" as 1736. He would be named Paiea but would take the name Kamehameha, meaning "The lonely one" or