Agüeybaná (The Great Sun)
| Agüeybaná | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "The Great Sun" |
| Born | Puerto Rico/"Borikén" |
| Died | 1510 Puerto Rico/"Borikén" |
| Rank | Cacique |
| Commands held | Taínos of "Borikén" |
| Relations | Brother of Güeybaná (better known as Agüeybaná II) |
Agüeybaná (died 1510) was one of the two principal and most powerful caciques (chiefs) of the Taíno people in "Borikén" (Puerto Rico) when the Spanish first arrived on the island on November 19, 1493.
Agüeybana, which has been interpreted by 19th and 20th century authors as meaning "The Great Sun", was the hereditary title shared by the family that ruled the theocratic monarchy of Borikén, govering the hierarchy over the rest of the regional chiefs or caciques. Like other nobiliary recognitions within Taíno culture, it was passed down through the maternal bloodline. The Spanish Hispanicized the title to be the equivalent of the European concept of kings, with contemporary writers such as Juan de Castellanos and Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés employing the title of Rey Agüeybana (literally meaning "King Agüeybana") when referring to the second monarch to lead the Taíno during the 1510s. By the 1800s, the terms "king" and "cacique" were used exchangeably by both local and Spanish authors, but a resurgence in the interest concerning Taíno history during the 20th century led to the popularization of native words and the latter term gained more lexical prominence.
Agüeybaná received the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León upon his arrival in 1508. According to an old Taíno tradition, Agüeybaná practiced the "guatiao," a Taíno ritual in which he and Juan Ponce de León became friends and exchanged names. Ponce de León then baptized the cacique's mother into Christianity and renamed her Inés.
The cacique joined Ponce de León in the exploration of the island. After this had been accomplished, Agüeybaná accompanied the conquistador to the island of La Española (what today comprises the nations of the Dominican Republic and Haiti), where he was well received by the Governor Nicolás de Ovando. Agüeybaná's actions helped to maintain the peace between the Taíno and the Spaniards, a peace which was to be short-lived.
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