ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Guazapari rebellion 1632

Synopsis
The Guazapari Indians lived in a mountainous area of the Sierra Madre Occidental, in the southwest of the current Mexican state of Chihuahua, where in 1628 a silver deposit was found. The entry into operation of these silver mines, caused the arrival of Spanish settlers and Jesuit priests, giving rise to a conflictive coexistence between the newcomers and the natives. The discontent of the natives was initially appeased, but it soon led to a rebellion, which is part of the socio-religious movements of the 16th and 17th centuries in Mexico. The rebellion was led by the indigenous chief Cobameai, accused of being a sorcerer by the Jesuits, who achieved an alliance with the Tepehuanes. The most striking event of this uprising was the attack on the Jesuit mission of Varohio in January-December 1632, when the church was set on fire and two priests and a dozen people were killed. According to Jesuit reports, the repression that followed against the rebellious nations of Guazapari and Varohio, led by a Spanish military force with the support of allied Indians, was extremely violent, resulting in the death of around 800 people from those small indigenous nations.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 1 week. Name in sources: Rebelión de Guazaparis. Location: Chinipas Valley, Chihuahua Country (current): Mexico. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Indigenous. Number of participants: >500. Main reasons & motivations: Anti-colonial, Religion. Leadership: Cobameai. Relevance: low.

Further reading
ALEGRE, Francisco Javier (1958). Historia de la Provincia de la Compañia de Jesus de Nueva España, Tomo II, libros 4-6 (años 1597-1639), pp. 430-438. Roma: Institütum Historicum. BAKEWEL, P.J (1971). Silver Mining and Society in Colonial Mexico. Zacatecas, 1456-1700. Cambridge: CUP. DURAND ALCÁNTARA, Carlos (2009). “Hacia un Memorial de agravios. La vindicación agraria indígena como epicentro de la independencia de México”. Alegatos, 73, pp. 467-488.
Cite this entry

(2023) "Guazapari rebellion 1632", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. (accessed on ).