History of Ecuador
The History of Ecuador covers human habitation in the region reaching back 8,000 years
During that period a diversity of cultures have influenced the people and the land that today make up the contemporary Republic of Ecuador. Indigenous tribes inhabited the area for millennia before being invaded and absorbed into the Inca Empire in the early fifteenth century.
The Incas themselves were conquered shortly afterwards by the Spanish led by Francisco Pizarro in the early 16th century. The region fell under the Viceroyalty of Peru although it was granted certain autonomy through the Quito Audencia established in 1563. In 1720, it was joined to the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
A rebellion in 1812 against the Quito Audencia was crushed early in the Spanish American wars of independence, but the struggle was revived in 1820 by a new rebellion originating in Guayaquil. The city was also the site of the Guayaquil Conference between Simon Bolivar and San Martin. Ecuador became independent initially as part of the Republic of Gran Colombia, before finally breaking away in 1830.
Ecuador would endure a period of civil war until the mid nineteenth century after which it would be dominated by caudillos, alternatively conservative and liberal. In the twentieth and twenty first centuries Ecuador would continue to struggle in achieving both economic and political stability.
Pre-Columbian Ecuador
During the pre-Inca period, people lived in clans, which formed great tribes, some allied with each other to form powerful confederations, such as the Confederation of Quito. But none of these confederations could resist the formidable momentum of the Tawantinsuyu. The invasion of the Incas in the 16th century was very painful and bloody. However, once occupied by the Quito hosts of Huayna Capac, the Incas developed an extensive administration and began the colonization of the region. The Pre-Columbian era can be divided up into four eras: the Pre-ceramic Period, the Formative Period, the Period of Regional Development and the Period of Integration and the Arrival of the Incas.The Pre-ceramic period begins with the end of the first ice-age and continued until 4200 BCE. The Las Vegas culture and The Inga Cultures dominated this period. The Las Vegas culture lived on the Santa Elena Peninsula on the coast of Ecuador between 9,000 and 6,000 BC. The earliest people were hunters-gatherers and fishermen. Around 6,000 BC cultures in the region were among the first to begin farming. The Ingas lived in the Sierra near present-day Quito between 9000 and 8000 BC along an ancient trade route.
People of the region moved from hunter-gathering and simple farming into a more developed society, with permanent developments, an increase in agriculture and the use of ceramics. New cultures included the Machalilla culture, Valdivia culture, and the Chorrera culture in the coast; Cotocollao and the Chimba in the sierra; and Pastaza and Chiguaza in the eastern region. The Valdivia culture is the first culture where significant remains have been discovered. Their civilization dates back as early as 3500 B.C. Living in the area near the Santa Elena Peninsula, they were one of the first Americans to use pottery. They navigated the seas and established a trade network with tribes in the Andes and the Amazon.
Succeeding the Valdivia, the Machalilla culture was a farming culture that thrived along the coast of Ecuador between the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. These appear to be the earliest people to cultivate maize in this part of South America. Existing in the late formative period the Chorrera culture lived in the Andes and Coastal Regions of Ecuador between 1000 and 300 BC.
Period of Regional Development
The period of Regional Development is identified by the emergence of regional differences in territorial or political and social organization. Among the main cultures of this period were the Jambelí, Guangala, Bahia, Tejar-Daule, La Tolita, Jama Coaque on the coast, Cerro Narrío Alausí in the sierras, and Tayos in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle.La Chimba, north of Quito, is the site of the earliest ceramics found in the northern Andes and is representative of the Formative Period in its final stage. Its inhabitants were in contact with villages on the coast and the mountains, in close proximity to the Cotocollao culture located on the plateau of Quito and its surrounding valleys. The Bahia culture occupied the area that stretches from the foothills of the Andes to the Pacific Ocean, and from Bahía de Caráquez to the south of Manabi. The Jama-Coaque culture inhabited areas between Cabo San Francisco in Esmeraldas and Bahía de Caráquez in Manabi, in an area of wooded hills and vast beaches which facilitated the gathering of resources from both the jungle and the ocean.
File:Tolita mythological figure in feathered costume IMJ B77.0161.jpg|thumb|upright|left|200px|Tumaco-La Tolita mythological figure in feathered costume. Between 100 BC and 100 AD. Found in Esmeraldas.
The La Tolita developed in the coastal region of Southern Colombia and Northern Ecuador between 600 BCE and 200 AD. A Number of archaeological sites have been discovered and show the highly artistic nature of this culture. Artifacts are characterized by gold jewelry, beautiful anthropomorphous masks and figurines that reflect a hierarchical society with complex ceremonies.
Period of Integration and the arrival of the Inca
Tribes throughout Ecuador integrated during this period. They created better housing that allowed them to improve their living conditions and no longer be subject to the climate. In the mountains Cosangua-Píllaro, the Capulí and Piartal-Tuza cultures arose, in the eastern region was the Yasuní Phase while the Milagro, Manteña and Huancavilca cultures developed on the coast.The Manteños
The Manteños were the last of the pre-Columbian cultures in the coastal region existing between 600 and 1534. They were the first to witness the arrival of Spanish ships sailing in the surrounding Pacific Ocean. According to archaeological evidence and Spanish chronicles the civilization existed from Bahía de Caráquez to Cerro de Hojas in the south.They were excellent weavers, produced textiles, articles of gold, silver spondylus shells and mother of pearl. The manteños mastered the seas and created an extensive trade routes as far as Chile to the south and Western Mexico to the north. The center of the culture was in the area of Manta which was named in their honor.
The Huancavilcas
The Huancavilcas constitute the most important pre-Columbian culture of Guayas. These warriors were noted for their appearance. Huancavilca of culture is the legend of Guayas and Quiles, which gives its name to the city of Guayaquil.The Incas
The Inca civilization expansion northward from modern-day Peru during the late 15th century met with fierce resistance by several Ecuadorian tribes, particularly the Cañari in the region around modern-day Cuenca along with the Quitu, occupants of the site of the modern capital; and the Cara in the Sierra north of Quito. The conquest of Ecuador began in 1463 under the leadership of the ninth Inca, the great warrior Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. In that year, his son Tupa took over command of the army and began his march northward through the Sierra.By 1500 Tupa's son, Huayna Capac, overcame the resistance of these populations and that of the Cara, and thus incorporated most of modern-day Ecuador into Tawantinsuyu, or the Inca empire. The influence of these conquerors based in Cuzco was limited to about a half century, or less in some parts of Ecuador. During that period, some aspects of life remained unchanged. Traditional religious beliefs, for example, persisted throughout the period of Inca rule. In other areas, however, such as agriculture, land tenure, and social organization, Inca rule had a profound effect despite its relatively short duration.
Emperor Huayna Capac became fond of Quito, making it a secondary capital of Tawantinsuyu and living out his elder years there before his death in about 1527. He willed that his heart be buried in Quito, his favorite city, and the rest of his body be buried with his ancestors in Cuzco. Huayna Capac's sudden death and the death days later of the Incan heir apparent from a strange disease, described by one source as smallpox, precipitated a bitter power struggle between Huáscar, whose mother was Coya Mama Rahua Occillo, and Atahualpa, whose mother was according to most sources of the panaka of Pachacuti, and who was his father's favorite. Huascar was chosen as emperor by the Inca nobles, but Atahualpa was very popular with the Inca armies stationed in the north. Huayna Capac had named another one of his sons, Ninan Cuyochi, as his heir. But Ninan Cuyochi died shortly after his father from smallpox. Huáscar ordered Atahualpa to attend their father's burial in Cuzco and pay homage to him as the new Inca ruler. Atahualpa, with a large number of his father's veteran soldiers, decided to ignore Huáscar, and a civil war ensued. A number of bloody battles took place until finally Huáscar was captured. Atahualpa marched south to Cuzco and massacred the royal family associated with his brother.
This struggle raged during the half-decade before the arrival of Francisco Pizarro's conquering expedition in 1532. The key battle of this civil war was fought on Ecuadorian soil, near Riobamba, where Huáscar's northbound troops were met and defeated by Atahualpa's southbound troops. Atahualpa's final victory over Huáscar in the days just before the Spanish conquerors arrived resulted in large part from the loyalty of two of Huayna Capac's best generals, who were based in Quito along with Atahualpa. The victory remains a source of national pride to Ecuadorians as a rare case when "Ecuador" bested a "neighboring country" by force.
Spanish discovery and conquest
As the Inca Civil War raged, in 1530 the Spanish landed in Ecuador. Led by Francisco Pizarro, the conquistadors learned that the conflict and disease were destroying the empire. After receiving reinforcements in September 1532, Pizarro set out to the newly victorious Atahualpa.Arriving at Cajamarca, Pizarro sent an embassy, led by Hernando de Soto, with 15 horsemen and an interpreter; shortly thereafter he sent 20 more horsemen led by his brother Hernando Pizarro as reinforcements in case of an Inca attack. The Incan emperor and his subjects alike were all captivated by the conquistadors' appearance and demeanour, specially due to their bearded faces, which recalled the legend of the Viracocha. In town Pizarro set a trap for the Inca and the Battle of Cajamarca began. The Inca forces greatly outnumbered the Spanish; however, the Spanish superiority of weapons and tactics and the fact that the most trusted Inca generals were in Cusco led to an easy defeat and the capture of the Incan Emperor.
During the next year Pizarro held Atahualpa for ransom. The Incas filled the Ransom Room with gold and silver awaiting a release that would never happen. On August 29, 1533, Atahualpa was garroted. The Spanish then set out to conquer the rest of Tawantinsuyu, capturing Cuzco in November 1533.
Benalcázar, Pizarro's lieutenant and fellow Extremaduran, had already departed from San Miguel with 140-foot soldiers and a few horses on his conquering mission to Ecuador. At the foot of Mount Chimborazo, near the modern city of Riobamba, he met and defeated the forces of the great Inca warrior Rumiñahui with the aid of Cañari tribesmen who served as guides and allies to the conquering Spaniards. Rumiñahui fell back to Quito, and, while in pursuit of the Inca army, Benalcázar encountered another, quite sizable, conquering party led by Guatemalan Governor Pedro de Alvarado. Bored with administering Central America, Alvarado had set sail for the south without the crown's authorization, landed on the Ecuadorian coast, and marched inland to the Sierra. Most of Alvarado's men joined Benalcázar for the siege of Quito. In 1533, Rumiñahui burned the city to prevent the Spanish from taking it, destroying the ancient pre-Hispanic city.
In 1534 Sebastián de Belalcázar along with Diego de Almagro established the city of San Francisco de Quito on top of the ruins of the secondary Inca capital, naming it in honor of Pizarro. It was not until December 1540 that Quito received its first captain-general in the person of Francisco Pizarro's brother, Gonzalo Pizarro.
Benalcázar had also founded the city of Guayaquil in 1533, but it had subsequently been retaken by the local Huancavilca tribesmen. Francisco de Orellana, yet another lieutenant of Francisco Pizarro from the Spanish city of Trujillo, put down the native rebellion and in 1537 reestablished this city, which a century later would become one of Spain's principal ports in South America.