Diriangén was a native Nicaraguan king who controlled land from Diriamba in Carazo to the Ochomogo river in Rivas, outside the boundaries of Macuilmiquiztli's Nahua kingdom. Diriangen belonged to the Chorotega[es] people, a branch of the Oto-Mangueans.[1]
Etymology
editDiriangén 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.[2][3]
Biography
editEarly life
editDiriangén was born in 1497. His mother encouraged him to learn swordsmanship and war tactics throughout his childhood.[4]
Rebellion
editSpanish explorer Gil González Dávila had arrived in Nochari in April of 1523 with a fleet of soldiers, with whom he converted the Nahuatl people of Ochomogo, Gotega, Mombacho, Morati, and Nandapia to Catholicism. In response to this, Diriangén arrived in Gotega 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 then subservient chiefs of Nicaragua and Nicoya to be baptized and to renounce their pagan beliefs, Diriangén refused and promised to return in three days. In three days time, he returned with four thousand Dirian and Nagrandano soldiers and forced the Spanish troops to flee southwards. The Spanish regrouped soon after, and destroyed Diriangén's rebel army in less than a day.[4][5]
Martyrdom
editDiriangén remains a popular figure in Nicaraguan nationalism and anti-colonialism.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Diriangén 1496 or 1497–1530s".
- ^ Molina, Héctor Octavio Argüello (2007). Caciques y conquistadores en Diriamba (in Spanish). Editorial Herbal. p. 49.
- ^ "Diria culture".
- ^ a b Urtecho, Mario (20 April 2002). "Diriangén, Caique de Diriamba". El Nuevo Diario. Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
- ^ "About Nicaragua: History up to 1979". www.nicaraguasc.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
- ^ Briceño, Don Carlos (11 Nov 1954). "Dirianghen Símbolo de Patriotismo". PROGRESO. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
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