The Calchaquí Wars () were a series of military conflicts between the Diaguita Confederation and the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

in the 1560–1667 period. The wars raged in the

Argentine Northwest The Argentine Northwest (, NOA) is a geographic and historical region of Argentina comprising the provinces of Catamarca Province, Catamarca, Jujuy Province, Jujuy, La Rioja Province, Argentina, La Rioja, Salta Province, Salta, Santiago del Estero ...

, in what are now the provinces of

Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

, Tucumán, Catamarca and

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

First War

In 1559, the gobernador

Juan Pérez de Zurita Juan Pérez de Zurita (1516 – c. 1595) was a Spanish conquistador, the son of Alonso Díaz de Zurita, native of Cañete de las Torres and Inés Fernández de Córdova. In 1536 he began his military career. In 1548 he was in Granada and in 1550 ...

founded the city of

Córdoba de Calchaquí Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

; he then expected local tribes to submit to the

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

system of servitude, but these tribes resisted this attempt. Spanish Captain Julián Cedeño captured a

curaca A ''kuraka'' ( Quechua for the principal governor of a province or a communal authority in the Tawantinsuyu), or curaca (Hispanicized spelling), was an official of the Andean civilizations, unified by the Inca Empire in 1438, who held the role of ...

known as Chumbicha, and Zurita used him to negotiate with his brother who was the curaca del of the town of Tolombón. This last curaca accepted

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

as part of the negotiations, becoming then known under the Christian name of

Juan Calchaquí ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

. However, once Juan Calchaquí understood the unequal nature of the encomienda he rebelled and led attacks against the Spanish, evicting them of the three cities founded by Zurita: Córdoba de Calchaquí,

Londres Londres may refer to: Locations * London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wi ...

in present-day

Catamarca Province Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 429,556 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, f ...

and Cañete. After the Omaguacas also revolted and destroyed ciudad de Nieva, now known as

San Salvador de Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

, the whole Spanish population of Tucumán was forced to concentrate in

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

further east. This was a serious setback for the Spanish conquistadors and in historiography favourable to Spain the war has been labelled "''one of the worst tragedies of our history"''.''Jornada histórico-genealógica del Tucumán y Cuyo'', 2002
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References

{{reflist Diaguita Governorate of the Río de la Plata Indigenous rebellions against the Spanish Empire Spanish conquests in the Americas 16th century in the Captaincy General of Chile 17th century in the Captaincy General of Chile Wars involving Argentina Wars involving Chile Wars involving Spain Viceroyalty of Peru Wars involving Indigenous peoples of South America