Uchicho
| Uchicho | |
|---|---|
| King of the Afro-Bolivians | |
| Coronation | 1823 |
| Predecessor | Monarchy established |
| Successor | Bonifaz Pinedo |
| Born | Kingdom of Kongo |
| House | Pinedo |
Uchicho was the first King of the Afro-Bolivians. He was captured and brought to Bolivia as a slave toward 1820. He was crowned as Afro-Bolivian king in 1832.
Biography
[edit]Uchicho was born in the Kingdom of Kongo into the royal family. He was captured and enslaved and brought to Upper Peru, a province of the Spanish Empire, toward 1820.[1][2] He was enslaved in the mines of Potosí and then in 1823 by Manuel Ignacio de Pinedo y Bilbao la Vieja at the hacienda Santa Gertrudis in the region of Mururata.[3]
Uchicho bore tribal marks only held by royalty, and was therefore recognized by other slaves as a prince.[4]
Uchicho was crowned King of the Afro-Bolivians by the slave community in 1832.[2][1] A year before in 1831 slavery had been abolished in Bolivia. Uchicho was succeeded as king by Bonifaz, who later adopted the surname Pinedo from the plantation owner.[1]
Legacy
[edit]The Royal Order of Merit of Prince Uchicho, the Afro-Bolivian monarchy's official dynastic order of merit founded in 2012, is named after him.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Web Oficial de la Casa Real Afroboliviana". www.casarealafroboliviana.org.
- ^ a b Rodríguez, Andrés (November 14, 2016). "The last king of the Americas". EL PAÍS English.
- ^ Rodríguez, Andres (January 19, 2018). "El retorno del rey negro boliviano a sus raíces africanas". El País – via elpais.com.
- ^ Busqué, Jordi (11 March 2021). "Bolivia's little-known tribal kingdom". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
- ^ "Real Orden del Mérito". Afro-Bolivian Royal House. Retrieved 3 May 2024.