Ecuador Travel

Inside Matriz de Guaranda church

The history of Ecuador is a history of the indigenous. Stretching back 11,000 years, Ecuador's history involves the confluence of various ethnic groups and varying developments among cultures, and the central Andes has been the focal point of indigenous life. Of the many theories regarding how Ecuador became populated, the dominant theory is that migrants came from Asia via the land bridge across the Bering Sea. Another popular theory is that the first peoples of what would eventually be known as Ecuador migrated across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The earliest cultures in Ecuador were hunter-gatherer by nature, and resided on the coast and, primarily, in the central Andes (also known as the Sierra or highlands). The central Andes remains the region most heavily populated by indigenous groups in Ecuador. Over time, the migratory hunter-gatherer societies in the Andes became more sedentary and developed social systems and such cultural attributes as early forms of language. Later on, these cultures diversified and specialized further, developing agricultural methods, metallurgy, and weaving and pottery practices.

It was around 800 AD when indigenous cultures were larger and more organized than they had ever been. Indigenous societies in the central Andes were, overall, the most organized in agriculture and commerce. Groups such as the Pasto, Cara, Panzaleo, Puruhua, Cañari and Palta were the biggest groups in the highlands; each possessed their own distinct language. These indigenous cultures were sedentary and ruled by chieftains. They lived on mountainsides and in valleys and relied on agriculture for survival, practicing terrace farming of crops, and using irrigation and a system of year-round irrigation.

The central Andean region became known as the Kingdom of Quito in 980 AD, when the Caras tribe, a coastal indigenous group who had migrated inland, conquered the Quitu, from which the name Quito, Ecuador's capital, is derived. The Kingdom of Quito ruled the highlands for over four centuries, before being absorbed by the Inca empire after years of battles, and later, by the Spanish, after which it was referred to as the Real Audencia, before becoming Quito.

The Caras and Quitus combined to become the Quitu-Caras, or Shyris, and the fusion of the two groups involved an exchange of language and customs. This led to a more stable way of life, including higher productivity, a better political system and a stronger military. The Shyris expanded their territory and met the Puruahaes when they expanded south. The Shyris formed pacts with the Puruhaes and the Cañaris, who lived further south. The Puruhuas were well organized, with laws and a hereditary monarchy. The daughter of the Puruhua's leader, Duchicela, married the daughter of the leader of the Shyris. The Shyris were the most powerful Andean group in Ecuador until the 14th century, when the Puruhua became more dominant. The Cañaris were the third most powerful group in the Andes during that period.

More about "Central Andes Human History"