The discovery and conquest of Ecuador by…

1528 CE to 1539 CE

The discovery and conquest of Ecuador by Spanish forces in the early sixteenth century are adjuncts to the history of the conquest of Peru, the richest of the New World prizes won for the Spanish crown.

The central figure of that history is Pizarro, an illiterate adventurer from Trujillo in the Spanish region of Extremadura, who had accompanied Vasco Nunez de Balboa in his crossing of the Isthmus of Panama to discover the Pacific in 1513.

Eleven years later, Panamanian governor Pedro Arias de Avila ("Pedrarias") authorized Pizarro, in partnership with an equally questionable character, a Castilian named Diego de Almagro, and a priest named Hernando de Luque, to explore southward down the west coast of South America.

Their first two voyages, in 1524 and 1526, end in failure; not until the third voyage, launched in 1531, will the Peruvian prize be won and the Inca be conquered.

The first European to set foot on the territory of modern-day Ecuador is probably Bartolome Ruiz de Estrada, the pilot for Pizarro on his second voyage, who pushes southward while Pizarro explores the Colombian coast and Almagro returns to Panama for supplies.

Pizarro himself lands on the Ecuadorian coast later during his exploratory voyage and travels as far as Tumbes in the extreme north of present-day Peru, in defiance of official orders to return to Panama.

Having thus lost the favor of the king's representatives in Panama, Pizarro is forced to return to the royal court in Spain to petition King Charles I personally for authorization of a third voyage.

Flush with the success of Hernán Cortés in Mexico and tantalized by the gold pieces brought by Pizarro from Tumbes and growing fables of great wealth in the South American interior, Charles grants Pizarro authorization and much more: the titles of governor and captain-general of Peru, a generous salary, and extensive territorial concessions.

Almagro is granted important, although less generous, titles and privileges; his resentment of this slight will affect relationships for the rest of the conquest.

At the time that Charles grants various titles to Pizarro and Almagro, he names de Luque Bishop of Tumbes.

Before returning to Panama in 1530, Pizarro recruits for the conquest several immediate family members, including two full brothers named Gonzalo and Juan as well as two half-brothers.

The participation of so many of Pizarro's relatives further strains relations between the two partners in conquest.

Pizarro now embarks from Panama with some one hundred and eighty men while Almagro remains there to gather additional recruits.

After thirteen days at sea, Pizarro lands once again on the coast of Ecuador, where he procures some gold, silver, and emeralds, which are dispatched to Panama and put to good use in Almagro's efforts.

Although the capture of the Inca stronghold of Tumbes is Pizarro's first objective, he is forced to spend several months in Ecuador, first nursing a rash of ulcers, then fighting the fierce warriors of the island of Puna.

By the time the conquerors arrive in Tumbes, it has been destroyed by the Puna warriors and its population dispersed.

Just to the south, they found the first Spanish settlement in Peru, San Miguel de Tangarara.