The Guanches was the name of the indigenous population of the Canary Islands (Tenerife specifically, but the name came to encompass all Canary natives). Originally probably descended from several waves of Berbers who arrived from NA, over the 2 millennia or so that they’ve lived on the islands, they came into sparse and intermittent contact with the outside world. Eventually, they were gradually conquered by the Castilian crown, their culture was effectively eradicated, their homes colonized, and the Canary Islands became just another outpost within the massive Spanish empire. Although genetic studies show that modern Spanish Canarians are partly descended from the Guanches, the Guanches as a people-group didn’t survive to the present. However, I don’t think that’s inevitable. I can think of at least 3 possible PoDs:
1. A pre-colonization PoD. Some of the islands (specifically Tenerife, the largest one which was also last to be conquered) were sometimes united under a single ruler. Tenerife for example was unified by a king named “Tinerfe the Great” in the late 14th century, though it was split among his sons following his death. Contact with Europe started in the early 14th century, and several groups - Genoese, Majorcans, Portuguese, Castillians - had shown some interest in the islands. There were raiding expeditions, missions, and at some point an attempts at conquest during the 14th century. What if, at some point, Tinerfe or some other Guanche ruler becomes intrigued by the possibilities of the metal weapons and ocean-going vessels brought by the foreigners, and takes an interest in conversion to Christianity via one of the missionaries landing the islands? In exchange for some metal weapons and recognition from the Pope, he becomes a vassal of one of the European monarchs, and begins building an autonomous, Christian Guanche state. Perhaps this state is eventually conquered, or remains only a vassal under one of the European empires, but Guanche culture survives - the islands remain mostly populated by Guanches, speaking the Guanche language, and with the presence of a local Guanche elite which preserves indigenous culture and identity, with continuity to the modern day.
2. Betencurian PoD - in the early 15th century, a French mercenary named Jean de Bethencourt landed on the island of Lanzarote, and from there began the conquest of several islands in the Canaries. He was recognized by the pope as “king of the Canary Islands”, and had the King of Castille as his overlord. Eventually, the Castillians deposed his dynasty and annexed the islands directly, after his heir tried to sell the islands to the Portuguese and also sparked a native revolt. Following this, the rest of the islands were slowly conquered and subsumed into the Spanish empire. However, had Béthencourt and his heirs been more successful and wiser, and managed to unite the island without causing an incident with their overlord or revolt from the natives, I can see the Canaries surviving as a semi-autonomous state for several centuries. While the upper elite of the kingdom will be composed mostly of the descendants of the first French mercenaries, the majority of the population at the early stages will still be indigenous. IOTL the de Bethencourts weren’t great friends of the native, trying to enslave some of them, and ultimately they were still just foreign invaders in the eyes of the Guanches. However with Spain being only indirectly involved, it’s possible that the Kingdom would grow to rely on the Guanches for manpower and tax base, and eventually this would requires the European colonizers to recognize some of the rights of the Guanches, possibly elevating some Guanches into a sort of bureaucratic middle-class. The language could evolve into a sort of Franco-Spanish-Guanche creole. Economically, it would fund itself by trading sugar and wine, which iirc began to be cultivated on the Canaries soon after colonization.
3. Post-colonization PoD. Tenerife, which was conquered during the 1490’s, was divided between several kingdoms at the time of conquest, ruled by the descendants of King Tinerfe. Some of the local rulers supported the Spanish, while others resisted violently. Though the natives had some victories, they couldn’t hold on forever and in a few years were all subjugated, with many of their people killed or enslaved. Now I don’t think the Guanches can resist militarily for long, not at this stage at least, even if they’d been united against the Spanish. However, what if they did the opposite - united in support of them? Had they peacefully accepted Spanish rule, they might have 1. Avoided the physical destruction of many of them and 2. Retained some level of autonomy, with their own local elite who might eventually achieve recognition as Spanish nobility. In this case, the islands would still be colonized, however a distinct Guanche identity and culture would remain, and eventually I’d imagine a situation similar to modern day Peru or Bolivia, where Spanish culture is dominant but most of the population is still at least partly descendent from indigenous people and indigenous culture and language still survives in some places.
Some of the difficulties we have to address:
- the Guanches were in many ways at stone-age level of technology, with no things such as metallurgy, large urban settlements, or sailing. A small isolated group in these kinds of condition isn’t usually able to hold out very well against large invading empires.
- there was very little contact between the different islands. I believe they didn’t even have any boats to travel with between the isles (iirc). This means that when we talk about “surviving Guanches”, we’re talking about various different groups which wouldn’t necessarily be interested in maintaining their distinct identity.
-I have no idea how many Guanches there even were. Considering by the numbers they were reported to have been able to muster during the Spanish conquest of Tenerife, it seems that Tenerife alone was home to a few tens of thousands of people. But I don’t know how close of an estimate that is. Obviously, the smaller the pre-colonization population is, the easier it is to colonize and eradicate.
Thoughts?
1. A pre-colonization PoD. Some of the islands (specifically Tenerife, the largest one which was also last to be conquered) were sometimes united under a single ruler. Tenerife for example was unified by a king named “Tinerfe the Great” in the late 14th century, though it was split among his sons following his death. Contact with Europe started in the early 14th century, and several groups - Genoese, Majorcans, Portuguese, Castillians - had shown some interest in the islands. There were raiding expeditions, missions, and at some point an attempts at conquest during the 14th century. What if, at some point, Tinerfe or some other Guanche ruler becomes intrigued by the possibilities of the metal weapons and ocean-going vessels brought by the foreigners, and takes an interest in conversion to Christianity via one of the missionaries landing the islands? In exchange for some metal weapons and recognition from the Pope, he becomes a vassal of one of the European monarchs, and begins building an autonomous, Christian Guanche state. Perhaps this state is eventually conquered, or remains only a vassal under one of the European empires, but Guanche culture survives - the islands remain mostly populated by Guanches, speaking the Guanche language, and with the presence of a local Guanche elite which preserves indigenous culture and identity, with continuity to the modern day.
2. Betencurian PoD - in the early 15th century, a French mercenary named Jean de Bethencourt landed on the island of Lanzarote, and from there began the conquest of several islands in the Canaries. He was recognized by the pope as “king of the Canary Islands”, and had the King of Castille as his overlord. Eventually, the Castillians deposed his dynasty and annexed the islands directly, after his heir tried to sell the islands to the Portuguese and also sparked a native revolt. Following this, the rest of the islands were slowly conquered and subsumed into the Spanish empire. However, had Béthencourt and his heirs been more successful and wiser, and managed to unite the island without causing an incident with their overlord or revolt from the natives, I can see the Canaries surviving as a semi-autonomous state for several centuries. While the upper elite of the kingdom will be composed mostly of the descendants of the first French mercenaries, the majority of the population at the early stages will still be indigenous. IOTL the de Bethencourts weren’t great friends of the native, trying to enslave some of them, and ultimately they were still just foreign invaders in the eyes of the Guanches. However with Spain being only indirectly involved, it’s possible that the Kingdom would grow to rely on the Guanches for manpower and tax base, and eventually this would requires the European colonizers to recognize some of the rights of the Guanches, possibly elevating some Guanches into a sort of bureaucratic middle-class. The language could evolve into a sort of Franco-Spanish-Guanche creole. Economically, it would fund itself by trading sugar and wine, which iirc began to be cultivated on the Canaries soon after colonization.
3. Post-colonization PoD. Tenerife, which was conquered during the 1490’s, was divided between several kingdoms at the time of conquest, ruled by the descendants of King Tinerfe. Some of the local rulers supported the Spanish, while others resisted violently. Though the natives had some victories, they couldn’t hold on forever and in a few years were all subjugated, with many of their people killed or enslaved. Now I don’t think the Guanches can resist militarily for long, not at this stage at least, even if they’d been united against the Spanish. However, what if they did the opposite - united in support of them? Had they peacefully accepted Spanish rule, they might have 1. Avoided the physical destruction of many of them and 2. Retained some level of autonomy, with their own local elite who might eventually achieve recognition as Spanish nobility. In this case, the islands would still be colonized, however a distinct Guanche identity and culture would remain, and eventually I’d imagine a situation similar to modern day Peru or Bolivia, where Spanish culture is dominant but most of the population is still at least partly descendent from indigenous people and indigenous culture and language still survives in some places.
Some of the difficulties we have to address:
- the Guanches were in many ways at stone-age level of technology, with no things such as metallurgy, large urban settlements, or sailing. A small isolated group in these kinds of condition isn’t usually able to hold out very well against large invading empires.
- there was very little contact between the different islands. I believe they didn’t even have any boats to travel with between the isles (iirc). This means that when we talk about “surviving Guanches”, we’re talking about various different groups which wouldn’t necessarily be interested in maintaining their distinct identity.
-I have no idea how many Guanches there even were. Considering by the numbers they were reported to have been able to muster during the Spanish conquest of Tenerife, it seems that Tenerife alone was home to a few tens of thousands of people. But I don’t know how close of an estimate that is. Obviously, the smaller the pre-colonization population is, the easier it is to colonize and eradicate.
Thoughts?