ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Chichimeca war 1550-1590

Synopsis
Name given to the resistance of various nomadic or semi-nomadic indigenous peoples – designated by the Spaniards with the common term 'chichimecas' – in a vast region that covered large part of the semi-desert plateau in north-central Mexico, a region that was delimited to the south by the San Juan del Río-Guadalajara axis and to the north by the towns located south of the current Mexican states of Coahuila and Durango. This resistance began to be noted from the beginning of the government of Viceroy Luis de Velasco, a period of Spanish expansion in the rich mining area of Zacatecas. The rebellion mainly presented a political and economic dimension, as it was motivated by the refusal of the indigenous people to settle – as the Spaniards intended – in Indian towns (pueblos de indios), pay tribute to the crown and be forced to serve in the silver mines that began to proliferate in the area. The proverbial Chichimeca bellicosity, the rapid domestication of the horse, the ancestral knowledge of desert survival skills and the lack of chiefs among many Chichimeca nations who could be enticed by the Spanish authorities, caused the war to last half a century. At the end of the 16th century, the pacification of the region would only be achieved, apart from military actions, through the delivery of arable land, livestock, food and clothing to indigenous peoples, as well as exempting them from taxes and the obligation to work in the mines.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 40 years. Name in sources: Guerra Chichimeca. Location: Current Mexican states of Zacatecas, Durango, and Coahuila. Country (current): Mexico. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Indigenous. Number of participants: >500. Main reasons & motivations: Anti-colonial, Resistance to conquest. Leadership: Unknown, multiple. Relevance: high.

Further reading
CARRILLO CAZARES, Alberto (2000). El Debate sobre la guerra chichimeca, 1531-1585, 2 vols. Zamora: El Colegio de Michoacán-El Colegio de San Luis. JACKSON, Robert H. (2013). Conflict and conversion in sixteenth century central Mexico: the Augustinian war on and beyond the Chichimeca frontier. Leiden: Brill. POWELL, Philip W. (1975). La Guerra chichimeca (1550-1600). México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Cite this entry

(2023) "Chichimeca war 1550-1590", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. (accessed on ).