Philip, ‘King’ (c. 1639–1676)

American chief of the Wampanoag people. During the growing tension over Indian versus settlers' land rights, Philip was arrested and his people were disarmed 1671. Full-scale hostilities culminated in ‘King Philip's War’ in 1675, and Philip was defeated and murdered in 1676. Although costly to the English, King Philip's War ended Indian resistance in New England.

Born in Rhode Island, Metacomet was the son of Wampanoag chieftain Massasoit. In 1662, after the death of his father and elder brother, he assumed power and was called ‘King Philip’ by the English colonists.