The
New Kingdom of Granada () was the name given to a group of 16th century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the
Audiencia of Bogotá, an area corresponding mainly to modern
Colombia, and parts of
Venezuela. Originally part of the
Viceroyalty of Peru, it became part of the
Viceroyalty of New Granada first in 1717 and permanently in 1739. After several attempts to set up independent states in the 1810s, the kingdom and the viceroyalty ceased to exist altogether in 1819 with the establishment of the
Republic of Colombia.
History
Discovery and settlement
In 1514, the Spanish first permanently settled in the area. With
Santa Marta (founded on July 29, 1525 by the Spanish
conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas) and
Cartagena (1533), Spanish control of the coast was established, and the extension of colonial control into the interior could begin. Starting in 1536, the
conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada explored the extensive highlands of the interior of the region, by following the
Magdalena River into the
Andean cordillera. There his force defeated the powerful
Chibcha people and founding the city of Santa Fé de Bogotá (
c. 1538, currently
Bogotá) and naming the region
El nuevo reino de Granada, "the new kingdom of Granada", in honor of the
last part of Spain to be
recaptured from the Moors. Quesada, however, lost control of the province when
Emperor Charles V granted the right to rule over the area to rival...
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