Gaspar de Carvajal facts for kids

Gaspar de Carvajal (around 1500–1584) was a Spanish Dominican missionary. He traveled to the New World (the Americas) and is well-known for writing about some of the first explorations of the Amazon River.

Biography

Early Life and Amazon Journey

Gaspar de Carvajal was born in Trujillo, Spain. After joining the Dominican order in Spain, he sailed to Peru in 1533. His main goal was to help convert the Native American people to Christianity.

In 1540, Carvajal joined an expedition led by Gonzalo Pizarro, who was the governor of Quito. They were searching for a legendary place called La Canela, or the "Land of Cinnamon," which was thought to be east of Quito.

The journey was very difficult. They crossed the Andes mountains and entered the Amazon jungle. This area had very little food. Pizarro then ordered his second-in-command, Francisco de Orellana, to follow the Napo River with fifty men. They hoped to find food and bring it back in their small boat. Orellana reached where the Napo and Trinidad rivers met, but he found no food. Because the river current was too strong to go back, he decided to keep going. He eventually reached the mouth of the Amazon River in 1542.

Carvajal's Famous Book: The Relación

Carvajal was one of the few people who survived this long journey. He wrote down everything that happened in his book called Relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famoso río Grande que descubrió por muy gran ventura el capitán Francisco de Orellana. This long title means "Account of the recent discovery of the famous Grand river which was discovered by great good fortune by Captain Francisco de Orellana."

In his book, Carvajal recorded the dates of the expedition. He also wrote many interesting notes about the native people living along the riverbanks. He described their sizes, how they lived, their war tactics, customs, and tools.

For a long time, this important book was not widely known. It was first published in 1895 by José Toribio Medina from Chile. Parts of Carvajal's Relación, along with interviews from Orellana and his men, were used by another historian, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo. He wrote his Historia general y natural de las Indias (General and Natural History of the Indies) in 1542, but it was not published until 1855. In 1934, Carvajal's Relación was published again, with many updates by H. C. Heaton. It is largely because of this book that Friar Carvajal is remembered in history.

For over 400 years, experts often didn't believe Carvajal's descriptions of large cities, well-built roads, huge buildings, fortified towns, and many people living in the Amazon. They thought the Amazon's soil couldn't support enough farming for such big civilizations. His writings were often seen as made-up stories. However, recent research published in 2022 has shown that Carvajal's reports were very likely true!

Later Work with Indigenous People

When Carvajal returned to Peru, he was chosen to be a leader (called a subprior) at the Convent of San Rosario in Lima. In 1544, he was asked to help settle a disagreement between the viceroy, Blasco Núñez Vela, and the auditors of the Real Audiencia (a high court). Sadly, his efforts to mediate did not work out.

After Peru became more peaceful, his superiors sent him as a missionary to Tucumán, an area that is now in Argentina. There, he was named the protector of the indigenous people.

He worked in this region for many years and helped convert most of the native people. In 1553, he became the prior of the convent of Huamanga and the provincial (a higher leader) of Tucumán. He brought many other Dominicans to the area. With their help, he founded several reducciones de indios (settlements for indigenous people) and nine Spanish towns.

In 1557, he was chosen to be the provincial of Peru. He spent two years organizing the province and the next two years visiting distant areas and starting new convents. There is a letter written by Carvajal to the king, telling him about the unfair treatment of indigenous people in the mines of Peru. He asked the king to help them. This shows that he cared about the native people, much like his fellow Dominican, Bartolomé de las Casas.

In 1565, Carvajal was chosen to represent his province to the Spanish court and the Pope. However, it is likely he never actually crossed the ocean. He passed away in Lima in 1584.

Without knowing it, Gaspar de Carvajal's expedition brought diseases from the Old World, such as smallpox, malaria, and yellow fever, deep into the Amazon. One writer estimated that in just 37 years (between 1615 and 1652), more than two million indigenous people living on the lower Amazon died because of these new diseases.

See also

In Spanish: Gaspar de Carvajal para niños