ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Taino rebellion 1511

Synopsis
The Taíno people of Borikén (present-day Puerto Rico), under the command of grand cacique (chief) Agüeybaná II the Brave, began a widespread rebellion against the Spanish oppression, killing around eighty people in different parts of the island. Among them was soldier Diego Salcedo, killed by the cacique Urayoán and his warriors at the beginning of the insurrection on the banks of the Guaorabo river. In the sequence of events, Cristóbal de Sotomayor was also killed and in June 1513 hundreds of Taínos attacked Villa de Caparra, the seat of colonial government, looted and burned the church and destroyed almost all the houses in the town. In August 1515, the Taínos rebelled again in the island's east coast under the command of chiefs Humacao and Daguao. To take refuge from the Spanish counteroffensive, the Taínos then moved inland to the mountains, sustaining a true guerrilla war there throughout the first decades of the 16th century.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 4 years. Name in sources: Rebelión de los Taínos . Location: Island of Berikén or Puerto Rico Country (current): Puerto Rico. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Indigenous. Number of participants: >500. Main reasons & motivations: Anti-colonial, Labour conditions. Leadership: Agüeybana II, Humacao, Daguao, and other caciques. Relevance: medium.

Further reading
INSTITUTO de Cultura Puertorriqueña (2011). 5º Centenario de la rebelión Taína 1511-2011. Puerto Rico: Fundacion Cultural Educativa. RODRÍGUEZ, Miguel (2010). Crónicas Taínas (Cuatro ensayos de lucha e identidad). San Juan de Puerto Rico: Editorial Nuevo Mundo. VAN MIDDELDYK, R. A. (1903). The History of Puerto Rico: From the Spanish Discovery to the American Occupation. New York: D. Appleton.
Cite this entry

(2023) "Taino rebellion 1511", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. (accessed on ).