Bayano, also known as Ballano or Vaino, was an African enslaved by Spaniards who led the
biggest slave revolts of 16th century
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
. Captured from the
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
community in
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
, it has been argued that his name means ''idol''. Different tales tell of their revolt in 1552 beginning either on the ship en route, or after landing in Panama's
Darien province along its modern-day border with
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. Rebel slaves, known as
cimarrones, set up autonomous regions known as
palenque
Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...
s, many of which successfully fended off Spanish control for centuries using
guerrilla war and alliances with
pirates
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
, or indigenous nations who were in similar circumstances.
King Bayano's forces numbered between four and twelve hundred
Cimarrons, depending upon different sources, and set up a
palenque
Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...
known as Ronconcholon near modern-day
Chepo River
The Chepo River is a river of Panama in the Chepo District of Panama Province. It drains into the Pacific Ocean.
Course
The uppermost reaches of the Chepo is alternately called the Bayano River after the construction of the Bayano Dam that resu ...
, also known as Rio Bayano. They fought their guerrilla war for over five years while building their community. However, the most important primary source, written in 1581 by
Pedro de Aguado Friar Pedro de Aguado (1513 or 1538 – late 16th or early 17th century) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who spent around 15 years in the New Kingdom of Granada, preaching to the indigenous people. During this time he collected source material ...
, devotes space to their religious life, and describes the activities of a "bishop" who guided the community in prayer, baptized them, and delivered sermons, in a manner that Aguado believed to be essentially Christian. Bayano gained truces with Panama's
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
governor,
Pedro de Ursúa
Pedro de Ursúa (1526 – 1561) was a Spanish conquistador from Baztan in Navarre. He is best known for his final trip with Lope de Aguirre in search for El Dorado, where he found death in a plot.
He was born in Arizkun, Baztan, to a Beaum ...
, but Ursúa subsequently captured the guerrilla leader and sent him to Peru and then to Spain, where he died.
[All account of Bayano go back to Pedro de Aguado, ''Historia de Venezuela'', Book 9, chapter 9-13.] Bayano's revolt coincided with that of King
Miguel de Buría
Miguel I of Buría (Spanish: ''Miguel de Buría''; c. 1510 – c. 1555), also known as King Miguel (Spanish: ''Rey Miguel''), Miguel the Black (Spanish: ''El Negro Miguel'') and Miguel Guacamaya, was formerly enslaved in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and ...
(1551/52-1553/55) and was followed by
Luis de Mozambique
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
(1579-1582) and dozens more during the following century.
Bayano's name has become immortal in the Panamanian consciousness through the naming of a
major river,
a lake
This is a list of lakes in Nova Scotia.
Cape Breton Island
All Four Counties
* Bras d'Or Lake
Cape Breton Regional Municipality
*Anse aux Cannes Pond
*The Barachois
*Bear Cove Pond
*Bear Gulch Ponds
*Beaverdam Pond
*Belle Lake(Nova Sco ...
, a valley, a dam, and several companies after him.
See also
*
Bayano Wars
The Bayano Wars were armed conflicts in the Isthmus of Panama that occurred between the Bayano of Panama and the Spanish crown. The First War of the Bayano took place from 1548 to 1558, while the Second War took place from 1579 and 1582. Slavery, p ...
References
{{Reflist
Panamanian slaves
Panamanian Roman Catholics
Rebel slaves
16th-century slaves
16th-century rebels