Kazike

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the patron of the Spanish clientele system, see Kazike (Spain) , for the Argentine aircraft model, see Alaire AL.1 Cacique .

Kazike ( Spanish cacique ) is a name for indigenous leaders or nobles in Central and South America .

The word originally comes from the Taíno language common in the Caribbean . It is mentioned for the first time in writing in Christopher Columbus' log book of his first trip to the New World . The corresponding entry from December 17, 1492 reads:

"I saw one of them, the other cacique called, and I thought was the governor of the province, held a palm-sized gold leaf in hands and pretended he wanted to exchange it for something else."

The subsequent Spanish " explorers ", conquistadors and chroniclers adopted the term in a geographically broader context. Areas where a cacike ruled were called cacicazgo .

See also

• chief

Web links

Wiktionary: Kazike  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

• Caciques. Lexicon entry on the website of the Latin America Institute of the Free University of Berlin