Nicaragua COLONIAL PERIOD, 1522-1820
Central Square in Leon
Courtesy Nicaraguan Tourism Institute
The Spanish Conquest
Nicaragua's Caribbean coast was first seen by Spanish
explorers in 1508. It was not until 1522, however, that a
formal
military expedition, under Gil González Dávila, led to the
Spanish conquest of Nicaraguan territory. González
launched an
expedition from Panama, arriving in Nicaragua through
Costa Rica.
After suffering both illness and torrential rains, he
reached the
land governed by the powerful chief Nicoya, who gave
González and
his men a warm welcome. Soon thereafter, Nicoya and 6,000
of his
people embraced the Roman Catholic faith. González
continued his
exploration and arrived in the next settlement, which was
governed by a chief named Nicaragua, or Nicarao, after
whom the
country was named. Chief Nicaragua received González as a
friend
and gave him large quantities of gold. Perhaps to placate
the
Spanish, Nicaragua also converted to Roman Catholicism, as
did
more than 9,000 members of his tribe. All were baptized
within
eight days. Confident of further success, González moved
on to
the interior, where he encountered resistance from an army
of
3,000 Niquiranos, led by their chief, Diriagén. González
retreated and traveled south to the coast, returning to
Panama
with large quantities of gold and pearls.
In 1523 the governor of Panama, Pedro Arias Dávila
(Pedrarias), appointed Francisco Hernández de Córdoba to
lead the
Nicaraguan conquest effort. Hernández de Córdoba led an
expedition in 1524 that succeeded in establishing the
first
permanent Spanish settlement in Nicaragua. He quickly
overcame
the resistance of the native peoples and named the land
Nicaragua. To deny González's claims of settlement rights
and
prevent his eventual control of the region, Hernández de
Córdoba
founded the cities of León and Granada, which later became
the
centers of colonial Nicaragua. From León, he launched
expeditions
to explore other parts of the territory. While the rivalry
between Hernández de Córdoba and González raged, Pedrarias
charged Hernández de Córdoba with mismanagement and
sentenced him
to death. González died soon thereafter, and the Spanish
crown
awarded Pedrarias the governorship of Nicaragua in 1528.
Pedrarias stayed in Nicaragua until his death in July
1531.
Spain showed little interest in Nicaragua throughout
this
period, mostly because it was more interested in
exploiting the
vast riches found in Mexico and Peru. By 1531 many Spanish
settlers in Nicaragua had left for South America to join
Francisco Pizarro's efforts to conquer the wealthy regions
of the
Inca Empire. Native Nicaraguans settlements also decreased
in
size because the indigenous inhabitants were exported to
work in
Peruvian mines; an estimated 200,000 native Nicaraguans
were
exported as slaves to South America from 1528 to 1540.
Many
Spanish towns founded in Nicaragua during the first years
of the
conquest disappeared. By the end of the 1500s, Nicaragua
was
reduced to the cities of León, located west of Lago de
León
(today Lago de Managua), and Granada, located on Lago de
Nicaragua.
Data as of December 1993
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