Ecuador History

History

It is thought that the first settlers in the region we now know as Ecuador reached the area from Asia in around 12000 BC, but evidence of the first developed cultures cannot be found before 6000 BC. The history of these early settlers has not been well documented and history is often thought to begin with the expansion of the Inca Empire into the region in the late 1400s. Huayna Cupac was one of the most successful Inca Emperors, but when he died in 1526 he left the empire to two sons, one which ruled then north out of Quito, now in Ecuador and the other from Cuzco, now in Peru. The rivalry between these two brothers led to a great civil war within the Inca Empire so that when Atahualpa of Quito defeated his brother to once again unite the empire, it was a greatly weakened state that was formed. When the Spanish, who landed in northern Ecuador in 1526, marched on the empire at first the Incas believed that the canon-wielding, armour-clad, horse mounted warriors were Gods, and by the time they realized the truth, it was too late. The Inca Empire was to weak to defend itself and after the capture of their leader by a sneaky trick, the empire fell.

Rather than see their city in Spanish hands, the Incas of Quito razed the city - so that few Inca remains can now be found, and the Spanish founded the new city of Quito on 6th December 1534.

During the periods of colonial rule, Ecuador was administered out of first Lima, now Peru, and then Colombia. The eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries proved very profitable for those of European decent, while those of Indian and Mixed race were exploited along with their land and resources, as was the case across the 'Nuevo Mundo' of South America. Profit flowed out of the country back to Spain, leaving the indigenous populations with some of the poorest living conditions ever recorded by history.

Independence was achieved from the Spanish by Simón Bolivar in 1822 who dreamed of a united South America, and thus formed Gran Colombia, from what is now Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. This collapsed in 1830, at which point Ecuador became fully independent and subsequently the country went through a variety of leaders and political and economic systems. A long-standing border dispute with Peru, while officially ended in 1941 was not recognised by the Ecuadorian government until 1998.

Recent politics have not been much more stable with a spate of leaders taking rule in quick succession, each characterised by corruption or dispute, strikes are common. However, while the politics and economies have fluctuated, the culture of Ecuador as a modern South American nation is at last very much established.