Diriangén was a native Nicaraguan king who controlled land from

Diriamba Diriamba is a city and a municipality in the Carazo department of Nicaragua, with a population of 65,243 (2022 estimate). It is located 41 km south of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Geography The city's elevation (just above 500 mete ...

in Carazo to the Ochomogo river in Rivas, outside the boundaries of Macuilmiquiztli's

Nahua The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnicity and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as ...

chiefdom of Kwawkapolkan, as well as the Nahua chiefdom of Kakawatan, also located in Rivas, ruled by chief Wemak. Diriangen belonged to the Chorotegas, an

Otomanguean The Oto-Manguean or Otomanguean () languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of indigenous languages of the Americas. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean branch of th ...

people who arrived in Nicaragua in 800 AD after they migrated from central and southern Mexico in 600 AD.

Etymology

Diriangén was a portmanteau of the words ''Dirian'' ("people of the hills") — the tribe that he ruled — and ''gen'', an honorific title in the

Oto-Manguean languages The Oto-Manguean or Otomanguean () languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of indigenous languages of the Americas. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean branch of th ...

Biography

Early life

Diriangén was born in 1497. His mother encouraged him to learn swordsmanship and war tactics throughout his childhood.

Spanish contact

At the time of Spanish arrival,

Gil González Dávila Gil González Dávila or Gil González de Ávila (b. about 1480 – 21 April 1526) was a Spanish conquistador and the first European to explore present-day Nicaragua. Early career González Dávila first appears in historical records in 1508, w ...

traveled to western Nicaragua with a small army of just over 100 men made up of conquistadors and their

Tlaxcalteca The Tlaxcallans, or Tlaxcaltec, are an indigenous Nahua people who originate from Tlaxcala, Mexico. The Confederacy of Tlaxcala was instrumental in overthrowing the Aztec Empire in 1521, alongside conquistadors from the Kingdom of Spain. The T ...

allies. They explored the fertile western valleys and were impressed with the Nahua and Otomanguean civilizations for the vast amounts of food they had in addition to their flourishing markets, permanent temples, and trade network.Vida de González Dávila, Gil. Ávila, c. 1480 – 21.IV.1526. Descubridor y conquistador. et al., 2012 Before meeting Diriangén, Dávila met with Macuilmiquiztli who was the most powerful ruler in

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Nicaragua, and had welcomed the Spaniards and their Tlaxcalteca allies. Diriangén had been alerted of this contact as the Chorotegas had been in continuous wars with the Nahua chiefdoms of Kwawkapolkan and Kakawatan. In addition, Diriangén was cautious about the conquistadors and was skeptical about their intentions, which was the opposite reaction of his enemy Macuilmiquiztli.

Rebellion

Dávila and his army however, used the opportunity to gather gold and

baptize Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

some of the Nahuas to Catholicism along the way, much to the disapproval of Macuilmiquiztli. In response to this, Diriangén arrived with an entourage of five trumpeters, five flutists, five hundred men bringing ducks, and sixteen women with golden hatchets and plates. When the Spanish demanded Diriangén and the now skeptical chiefs Macuilmiquiztli, Wemak, and the King of Nicoya to be baptized, to renounce their pagan beliefs, and to hand over the rest of their gold and jewellery, Diriangén refused and promised to return in three days. In three days time, he returned with four thousand Dirian and Nagrandano soldiers and together with the now rebellious military forces of Kwawkapolkan and Kakawatan, forced Dávila and his men to retreat to Panama. This set the stage for what would become the

Spanish conquest of Nicaragua The Spanish conquest of Nicaragua was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish ''conquistadores'' and their Tlaxcaltec allies against the indigenous peoples of Nicaragua, natives of the territory now incorporated into the modern Central American rep ...

in 1524 CE.

Nahua-Chorotega alliance

Despite the enmity between the Chorotegas and Nahuas, Diriangén and Macuilmiquiztli made peace and agreed to team up against the Spanish and Tlaxcaltecas. This formed a triumvirate-style alliance between chiefs Diriangén, Macuilmiquiztli, and Wemak, all of whom fought together against the invaders with the military forces of their chiefdoms. The Indigenous alliance lost the war however, when Nicaragua was invaded on all sides by several Spanish forces, each led by a

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

. González Dávila was authorized by royal decree to invade from the Caribbean coast of Honduras.

Francisco Hernández de Córdoba Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...

at the command of the governor of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

invaded from

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, ''conquistador'', ''adelantado,'' governor and Captaincy General of Guatemala, captain general of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the c ...

at the command of

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

, came from

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

through

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

fought directly against the alliance, and by 1525 the alliance had completely collapsed. Diriangén escaped the Spanish onslaught and died between 1527-1529, Wemak was captured and executed in 1525 after the last of his Kakawatec forces were annihilated by the conquistadors and Tlaxcaltecas, and the fall of Kwawkapolkan in 1525 finalized their defeat.

Legacy and Martyrdom

Diriangén remains a popular figure in Nicaraguan nationalism and anti-colonialism. In addition, Diriangén as well as Macuilmiquiztli are credited with leading the resistance against the Spanish and Tlaxcaltecas, and are symbols of Indigenous resistance against imperialism. Furthermore, their alliance highlights a powerful lesson in teamwork between enemies who set aside their differences and came together to oppose a much greater threat.

References

16th-century Nicaraguan people {{Nicaragua-bio-stub