Wonderful job so far. Not done reading the update but I just have to go in and praise the quality.
Also, you're welcome. It was wonderful to help out.
Thank you, and glad you enjoyed what you read so far. Hope to hear more when you finish reading it.
Lovely to see this updated again- very interesting action in Hispaniola and helpful insights on Taino culture and language!
It's indeed great to have another update finally up. I just had to read two whole books and some academic articles to get all the info presented, which is what took me so long
. Obviously it paid off, and it's great to be able to show it all off, from the complexity of the Taino's ethinic and ligustic make up to Warokuya's Rebellion. Happy you enjoyed it.
Good to see this back, and I'm happy to have been of help.
Looks like this may be the last of the Native revolts but the first of the maroon revolts, with a syncretic Taino-Christian-Afro-Islamic society in the process of forming. Unfortunately it seems that there is internal conflict on the horizon, which may be why the rebellion doesn't succeed, but like the Jamaica and Surinamese maroons, these rebels could retreat to the mountains and hold out there a long time. And even if the rebellion fails, Valdes' decision could have many consequences for the future.
Even in OTL, Warokuya's Rebellion was both the last great indigenous rebellion and a bridge to the Maroon revolts. And indeed, the internal conflict, which is colored by both egos and religious differences, is going to come to head in how this situation is resolved, but I don't want to give too much away. Overall, the seeds for TTL's Caribbean having a much different course than OTL are planted here.
And big thanks for the help with Igbo and Akan. I'm going to go over the pronunciation guide you sent me with some more detail to make sure what's already posted is correct when I fix the formatting errors.
I, the artist formerly known as Novak, am happy to have been of some help.
The only thing on my mind is how is Madrid taking all of these revolts? Surely having Heathens successfully resist their rule, even on smaller islands, would infuriate officials.
Ah, I had no idea you changed your name, lol. And your help is very appreciated for this update, and just giving me access to the pure knowledge.
In this period, Toledo is actually the seat of the Spanish kingdom in this period. As for Emperor Charles's reaction, this will indeed infuriate him, and plays into why the mentioned "German Crusades" will come about. This in turn will also effect how Spain comes to deal with resolving the post-war situation in the Americas.
Excellent update. Good to see the ripples spreading, and I admit, I had thought the Taino more or less done for by this point in history and it is good to be proven wrong on that.
That said, my cynicism still is showing in that I can't help but think there's a lot of internal conflict and bloodshed coming between the Castillian-run reformers, old-style authorities, syncretic Christians, and the Islamic/pagan remnants. Seems like someone's going to come out as a loser in the chaos besides the old-style encomienda owners, and that's not going to be a happy situation.
Actually at this point Natives were still the largest population in the Greater Antilles. Focusing on Hispaniola, there was about 15 to 20 thousand Natives, of which the majority were Taino. Meanwhile, the African and other non-Indian slave labor was between 10 to 15 thousand; and those considered Spaniards were around 4,000. The often cited "600 remaining Taino" in the 1520s is taken from some really flawed census material that ignored swaths of the actual population counted in other records. By the demographics you can see why the Spanish feared a revolt, and why they didn't just ignore Warokuya even in OTL. If he could successfully hold them off, why couldn't other slaves?
As for the dynamics coming from within and without the factions in the Sankofa Rising, internal conflict, compromises, etc that will really effect the outcome, which won't be all rainbows and butterflies for everyone. Also internal conflict is unavoidable and realistic to expect, just from my own personal experience in activist movements, let alone studying other revolts and social movements in history. Going with my reply to Jonathan's comment, I don't want to spoil anything, but in the next update on the Caribbean, the resolution will be presented.
Thank you all again for the commentary. It's very appreciated.
The next update will be a co-joined one on Guatemala and Mexico, which will be moving closer to the finale of that theater of the Guerra del Indies as well.