Garabito was an indigenous king of the Huetar ethnic group, who approximately between 1561 and 1574 was a monarch of the

Western Huetar Kingdom The Western Huetar Kingdom, also called Lordship of Garabito, Kingdom of Garabito or Cacicazgo of Garabito, was an Amerindian nation located in Costa Rica. It was one of the two great indigenous kingdoms of the central part of the country, the ot ...

and its surroundings, in the current territory of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. A 1566 document indicates that in 1561 he succeeded his grandfather, although given that in the indigenous kingdoms of the

Intermediate Area The Intermediate Area is an archaeological geographical area of the Americas that was defined in its clearest form by Gordon R. Willey in his 1971 book ''An Introduction to American Archaeology, Vol. 2: South America'' (Prentice Hall: Englewood ...

of Costa Rica, matrilineal succession prevailed, it is more likely that his predecessor was a maternal uncle.Bákit, Oscar, Garavito, nuestra raíz perdida, San José, Jiménez & Tanzi, 1981.Sáenz Carbonell, Jorge Francisco, El rey Garabito, defensor de la libertad, San José, Imprenta Nacional, 2016. At the time when he began to rule over the huetares, shortly after the arrival in Costa Rica of the mayor of Nuevo Cartago and Costa Rica Juan de Cavallón y Arboleda (1561-1562), his domains were located in the western region of the

Central Valley, Costa Rica The Central Valley () is a plateau and a geographic region of central Costa Rica. The land in the valley is a relative plain, despite being surrounded by several mountains and volcanoes, the latter part of the Central Range. The region houses al ...

, extending towards the Pacific in the basin of the Jesús María and Gamalotal rivers. According to a document of 1569, the domains of Garabito extended inland and included the places called Coyoche Valley, Pereira, Barva, Yuruste, Coboboci, Abacara and Chucasque; The chiefs or lord vassals of Garabito were called Cobobia, Abaçara, Barba and Yuruste. Other sources add three communities that were tributaries of Garabito, such as those of the botos, located in the plains of San Carlos, the tises and the catapas, located in the current cantons of Grecia and

Alajuela Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it i ...

. Its main settlement would have been in the Valle de la Cruz, in the current canton of San Mateo, on the banks of the Surubres River. In some publications of the 20th century, King Garabito is confused with Coyoche, another indigenous monarch who, despite being his contemporary, belonged to another ethnic group, of Mesoamerican culture. King Garabito was the most important leader of the indigenous resistance against Mayor Juan de Cavallón y Arboleda (1560-1562), and he also did not submit to the authority of Juan Vázquez de Coronado (1562-1565), his successor. Garabito is perhaps, along with Pablo Presbere, the best known of the indigenous kings of Costa Rica, mainly because he was the one who most resisted the conquest of the country by the Spaniards in the 16th century. Many legends have been woven around his figure, highlighting his fierce and untamed character.

References

{{authority control People from Alajuela Province 16th-century Costa Rican people Costa Rican politicians Indigenous peoples in Costa Rica