In the sixteen century, New Granada (modern Colombia) attracted more European settlers than any region of Central America and, with the exception of Peru, more than any part of the mainland South America. This dissertation is the story of the first one hundred years of Spanish rule in the Province of Tunja in Colombia's Eastern Highlands, a period that in many ways was dominated by attempts to establish and maintain control over the region's most valuable resource, its people. And it is they who are the main subject of this work, how they responded and reacted to the various challenges and opportunities under Spanish rule, how their society changed, and how they helped influence the historical development of the province. It is a story of resistance and alliances, successes and failures, and change and continuity. As such, the main purpose of this study is to examine Tunja's Indian peoples as active participants in the evolution of colonial society, not simply as passive "objects" of colonial rule. It is based primarily on archival material from the Archivo General de Indians in Seville Spain, the Archivo General de la Nación in Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia, and the Archivo Regional de Boyaca in Tunja, Colombia. The arrival of the Spaniards ushered in a series of fundamental changes to the inhabitants of Tunja. But for those who survived the steady onslaught of deadly diseases, the transformation of colonial society was a gradual process, and did not always follow along the path envisioned by Spanish officials, <I>encomenderos</I> or priests. Furthermore, it was a transformation in which the Indians themselves played an active, and one might argue, more significant role.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:599170 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Francis, J. M. |
| Publisher | University of Cambridge |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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