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Guayrá (initially called Gobernación del Guayrá) was a historical region of 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 ...
, located in the Governorate of Paraguay, within the colonial
Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...
. The region is located in present-day
Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
and Paraná. There are some conflicting etymologies for the origin of the name, with some claiming it was named after a
cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...
of the region whose name was Guayrá or Guayracá. Alternatively, the word might come from Guarani "kwa y ra" ("can not pass", "impassable") or even "guay ra" ("river that goes eyond).


Geography

The limits of Guayrá were the Iguazu River on the south, the
Paraná River The Paraná River ( ; ; ) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. ...
on the west, the Tiete (or Añemby) River to the north, and the line of the
Treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian (geography) ...
to the east. The Tiete also marked the boundary between the Tupi and Guarani Indians.


History

The town of Ontiveros was founded by
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Garcia Rodriguez de Vergara on orders from Domingo Martínez de Irala in 1554. It was located on the left bank of the Paraná, between the Iguazu and Pipiri-Guazu, which according to some sources was about north of Salto del Guairá, in the territory of the cacique Canendiyu. It was intended to serve as a connection to Portuguese
Colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil (), sometimes referred to as Portuguese America, comprises the period from 1500, with the Discovery of Brazil, arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves ...
. Ciudad Real del Guayrá, also referred to as Guayrá and the present day
Guaíra, Paraná Guaíra () is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Paraná (state), Paraná in the Southern Region, Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. The population is 33,310 (2020 est.) in an area of 560 km2. The eleva ...
, was founded by Captain Ruy Diaz Melgarejo in 1556. It is on the left bank of the Paraná at the confluence of the Pipiry-Guazu. Guayrá was covered with dense forest and many rivers, and by 1600, it had become a place of refuge for the Guarani from the '' encomenderos'' of Paraguay and the ''
Bandeirantes ''Bandeirantes'' (; ; singular: ''bandeirante'') were settlers in colonial Brazil who participated in expeditions to expand the colony's borders and subjugate Indigenous peoples in Brazil, indigenous peoples during the early modern period. T ...
'' or ''esclavistas'' of Brazil. Aleixo Garcia crossed the region in 1522. In 1542, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca travelled through its southern reaches on his way to
Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...
from Santa Catarina Island.


Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis

It was the main region occupied by the Spanish Jesuit reductions of the indigenous peoples, at the . However, it was destroyed by the
bandeirantes ''Bandeirantes'' (; ; singular: ''bandeirante'') were settlers in colonial Brazil who participated in expeditions to expand the colony's borders and subjugate Indigenous peoples in Brazil, indigenous peoples during the early modern period. T ...
from
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
in 1631.


See also

*
Guarani people Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guarani language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...
* Governorate of Paraguay * — World Heritage Sites * Governorate of the Río de la Plata *
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...


References

Colonial Argentina Colonial Paraguay Guaraní . Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata Geography of Misiones Province Geography of Paraguay Geography of Paraná (state) Geography of Rio Grande do Sul Regions of Paraguay 16th century in the Viceroyalty of Peru 17th century in the Viceroyalty of Peru Governorate of the Río de la Plata Regions of South America {{ParanáBR-geo-stub