Masaya in some Nicaraguan exploits

Abstract

At the beginning of the Hispanic conquest of Nicaragua, the region was under the rule of Chorotega, Maribio and Nicaraguan lordships. After the conquest, the indigenous communities were forced to pay taxes for the benefit of encomenderos and the Spanish crown itself. Upon the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, Masaya and the rest of Los Pueblos were part of one of the Chorotega lordships, that of the Dirianes, established about five centuries before. The most representative theatrical work that existed in the Kingdom of Guatemala during the colonial period was El Güegüence or Macho Ratón, a comedy by an unknown author, written in Masaya (Nicaragua) around 1673, a time when the main economic activity was the production of indigo dye, an activity that made transportation flourish. Patachos and trains, led by muleteers, traveled all the royal roads of the Kingdom of Guatemala, carrying loads of indigo, silver, gold and remittances from the royal estate to the Golfo Dulce, in Guatemala, or to the port of Veracruz, in Mexico, and bringing on his return wine, olives, plums, cloth, weapons. During the colonial period, encomenderos, landowners, magistrates and religious authorities committed multiple abuses against the indigenous population of Masaya through the tribute they had to pay twice a year, as well as through the seizure of their communal and ejidal lands, and through of distribution and personal services that forced them to work on estates and stately homes.