When, not long afterwards, Tiku's father died, Tiku became leader of Pangala'. As a leader, Tiku worked to strengthen the economy with an increase in the coffee trade and strategic alliances with predominantly Buginese lowlands groups. The economic success this brought led nearby rulers to respect and envy Tiku. Fearing competition from the kingdoms of Luwu and Bone to the north and Sidareng and Sawitto to the south, Tiku worked on reinforcing his country's defences. The kingdoms eventually reached several trade agreements. However, Buginese encroaches led to renewed tensions between the states, climaxing in the Coffee War () in 1889. Tiku sided with the Buginese-influenced southern kingdoms. The Bone military leader Petta Panggawae and his Songko' Borrong soldiers invaded Pangala' and sided with Pong Maramba', a minor lord. Panggawae overtook Tiku's capital at Tondon and razed the city, leading Tiku and the civilian population to abandon the area. Tiku, having sided with the Sidenreng leader Andi Guru, was able to retake the remains of the capital that night. The war ended in 1890, after Dutch scouts – representing the colonial government on Java – reached Bone. However, the remaining states soon began another series of struggles over the arms and slave trade, where states would exchange weapons for slaves; Tiku also participated in the trade. Tiku eventually formed an alliance with nearby Buginese leaders, which reduced tensions and improved trade; he also learned the group's writing system and language, allowing him to easily correspond with Buginese leaders. By this time Tiku had captured numerous lands. To avoid a repetition of the raze of Tondon, Tiku began construction of seven fortresses in his lands, as well as several surveillance outposts and storeholds. The Torajan fortresses were designed to prevent entry to the valleys leading to population centres, and Tiku's were divided between the eastern and western parts of his land. He instituted a tax system to fund these defensive measures: owners of rice fields were obligated to tax two thirds of their produce, while other farmers were taxed ten per cent. By 1905 the previously fragmented Buginese and Torajan lands had united into four major areas, one of which was under Tiku. In July of that year the king of Gowa, a nearby state, began collecting soldiers to fight off the invaders and prevent the remainder of the Torajan lands from conquest.