Nuevo Reino de Galicia (''New Kingdom of Galicia'', gl, Reino de Nova Galicia) or simply Nueva Galicia (''New Galicia'', ''Nova Galicia'') was an autonomous kingdom of the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...

. It was named after Galicia in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Nueva Galicia's territory became the present-day

Mexican states The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate en ...

of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato,

Colima Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima i ...

, Jalisco,

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

and

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

History

Spanish exploration of the area began in 1531 with

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (Spanish) or ( Catalan) is a masculine given name of Latin origin (, , , and so on). Its Portuguese form is . Its patronymic is (). Already in the Middle Ages the name was being confused with the similar but distinct name Munio. The meaning of ...

's expedition. He named the main city founded in the area Villa de Guadalajara after his birthplace and called the area he conquered "la Conquista del Espíritu Santo de la Mayor España" ("the Conquest of the Holy Spirit of Greater Spain"). The name was not approved. Instead, Queen Joanna — at the moment the acting regent of Spain — named the area "Reino de Nueva Galicia." Guzmán's violent conquest left Spanish control of the area unstable, and within a decade full war had reemerged between the settlers and the Native peoples of the area. The

Mixtón War The Mixtón War (1540-1542) was a rebellion by the Caxcan people of northwestern Mexico against the Spanish conquerors. The war was named after Mixtón, a hill in Zacatecas which served as an Indigenous stronghold. The Caxcanes Although othe ...

, which lasted from 1540–1541, pitted an alliance of Coras,

Guachichil The Guachichil, Cuauchichil, or Quauhchichitl, are an Indigenous people of Mexico. Pre-contact, they occupied the most extensive territory of all the indigenous Chichimeca Nations tribes in pre-Columbian Central Mexico. The Guachichiles roamed t ...

s and

Caxcan The Caxcan were a partly nomadic indigenous people of Mexico. Under their leader, Tenamaztle, the Caxcan were allied with the Zacatecos against the Spaniards during the Mixtón Rebellion in 1540-42. During the rebellion, they were described as ...

s against the settlers. Nine years later the

Chichimeca War The Chichimeca War (1550–90) was a military conflict between the Spanish Empire and the Chichimeca Confederation established in the territories today known as the Central Mexican Plateau, called by the Conquistadores La Gran Chichimeca. Th ...

broke out, this time pitting mostly

Zacateco The Zacatecos (or Zacatecas) is the name of an indigenous group, one of the peoples called Chichimecas by the Aztecs. They lived in most of what is now the state of Zacatecas and the northeastern part of Durango. They have many direct descendan ...

s against their former allies, the Caxcan, who had now allied with the Spanish.

Nahuas The Nahuas () are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, a ...

from the Valley of Mexico moved into the region along with the Spanish as the area was settled. In the last decades of the sixteenth century

Huichol The Huichol or Wixárika are an indigenous people of Mexico and the United States living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, as well as in the United States in the states of California ...

s also arrived. Given the growing wealth of the region with the discovery of silver to the north, especially in

Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya ( ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Vizcaya; gad, Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya''; tl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Vizcaya ), is a landlocked province in the ...

, Guadalajara became the seat of the second mainland Audiencia of New Spain in 1548. The Audiencia of Guadalajara had oversight of all the northern mainland provinces of the Viceroyalty. The Audiencia at first was subordinate to the

Royal Audiencia of Mexico The Real Audiencia of Mexico or Royal Audiencia of Mexico ( es, Real Audiencia de México) was the highest tribunal (high court) of the Spanish crown in the Kingdom of New Spain. The Audiencia was created by royal decree on December 13, 1527, and ...

but was made independent in 1572, with a separate

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

or president. This enabled New Galicia to be ruled largely separate from the rest of the Viceroyalty. There are a number of published chronicles on colonial Nueva Galicia. A 1621 account by Domingo Lázaro de Arregui, ''Descripción de la Nueva Galicia'' gives considerable information about the indigenous peoples of the area.Domingo Lázaro Arregui, ''Descripción de la Nueva Galicia''. Edición y estudio por François Chevalier. Prólogo de John Van Horne. Seville 1946. In the late 18th century, as part of the

Bourbon Reforms The Bourbon Reforms ( es, Reformas Borbónicas) consisted of political and economic changes promulgated by the Spanish Monarchy, Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon, since 1700, mainly in the 18th century. The beginning of ...

, an Intendancy was established in Guadalajara. In 1824, after

Mexican independence The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...

was consolidated, the kingdom was transformed into the State of Jalisco and the Territory of Colima.

First territorial division

* Province of Nueva Galicia: Aguascalientes,

and Jalisco. * Province of Los Zacatecas:

. * Province of Colima:

Second territorial division

* Intendancy of Guadalajara: Aguascalientes,

, Jalisco and

. * Intendancy of Zacatecas:

References

External links

Worldstatesmen.org: Provinces of New Spain
{{Authority control New Spain Colonial Mexico Former provinces of Spain Former states of Mexico History of Aguascalientes History of Colima History of Jalisco History of Nayarit History of Zacatecas States and territories established in 1548 1548 establishments in New Spain States and territories disestablished in 1824 1820s disestablishments in New Spain 1820s disestablishments in Mexico

History

First territorial division

Second territorial division

See also

References

External links