Africans of Esmeraldas, Ecuador: A Look at the 1599 Painting of Don Francisco de Arobe and His Two Sons

Painting: Mulatos de Esmeraldas: Quito Equador Don Francisco de Arobe and his two sons, circa 1599.

In 1599, the painting was created by a Mative American painter by the name of Adrián Sánchez Galque. Like many original, fine works of art of this time, the painting is last known to exist in the collection of a European museum in Spain, the Museo de América de Madrid. When we first came upon this image from 1599, we became curious about the story behind the painting and the subsequent history of those Africans who continue at that placed called Esmeralda, Ecuador more than 400 years after the painting was commissioned.

Map of South America, noting location of Esmeraldas, Ecuador off Pacific Ocean coast.

We were not surprised that this painting may be located in Madrid. In 1599, the history of Madrid was not far removed from a time when the area was under complete ruler of the Moors. The Moors migrated from Northern Africa and settled the current city we call Madrid today. In fact, the historical record indicates that forts and a wall were built by the Moor around Madrid as early as 865 A.D. Before the city fell under Castillian rule in 1083, under leadership of Alfonso VI of Castile, the city was called Magerit by the Moors. From 1083, the time of Castillian rule, to 1599, the date the painting was created --was 516 years. From 1599 to 2014 is 415 years -- both periods being relatively short historical time spans. This is illustrated only to provide the reader a historical perspective. In 1544, Ecuador was reportedly under Spain's colonial rule. By 1564, Ecuador was dealing directly with Madrid.

Who are these three men in the painting? The historical accounts indicate the center figure is Don Francisco (de) Arobe. The other two men are his sons, Don Domingo, at the right, and Don Pedro, at the left. Each man holds a spears and wears an elaborate combination of Native American (indigenous) and Ibero-Spanish inspired clothing. On the actual painting, each man is identified by the title Don, a sign of respect in Latin-Hispanic culture at the time. It is evident from the gold jewelry and the title as Dons that the men were of high standing in the Esmeralda of 1599. The painting's inscription states as follows: "Doctor Juan del Barrio de Sepulveda, judge of the Real Audiencia of Quito, commissioned and paint for the painting, to your Majesty Phillip, Catholic King of Spain and the Indies in the year of 1599."

The three men are also described by the painter as mulatos. This description may have been more of a reflection of the caste hierarchy distinction that existed in South America after the Europeans arrived, which created status based on the amount of European heritage held by an individual. Upon review of this painting, an argument can be made that a more appropriate title for these men would have been the Spanish term for Afro-Indian men, zambos, or for African men, negro.

Like the Spanish word negro, which mean black, the Spanish word zambos would creep into the Euro-English lexicon as "sambos." Unfortunately, the Anglo-European cultural baggage who translate the word into a negative connotation for people of African descent. But as we can see from this 1770 painting, zambos represented a further racial classification among the Europeans.



Painting: Top inscription states "from a black man with a mulata produces a sambo," Indian school, circa. 1770.

In the book No Longer Invisible: Afro-Latin American Today, we are given some additional insights on the history of the region of Esmeraldas:

"Regional blackness as a force of self-liberation in Ecuador begins in Esmeraldas, and its origin occurs during a violent tropical storm and a movement of African rebellion. The documented history of Ecuador establishes the beginnings of Afro-Hispanic culture in what is now Esmeraldas, Ecuador, where a Spanish slaving ship ran aground in 1553. There a group of twenty-three Africans from the coast of Guinea, led by a black warrior named Antón, attacked the slavers and liberated themselves. Not long after, this group, together with other blacks entering the region, led by a ladino (Hispanicized black person) named Alonso de Illescas, came to dominate the region from northern Manabí north to what is now Barbacoas, Colombia. At this time (late sixteenth century) intermixture with indigenous peoples, to whom black people fled to establish their palenques (villages of self-liberated people - some fortified, some not), was such that their features were described as zambo (black-indigenous admixture), synonyms of which were negro (black) and mulato (mixed or hybrid black-white). ...

... By 1599 black people were clearly in charge of what was called "La República de Zambos" or "Zambo Republic". Zambo refers to people of colour who are descendants of Native Americans and African Americans. In that year a group of Zambo chieftains, said to represent 100,000 or more Zambo people of Esmeraldas, trekked to Quito to declare loyalty to Spain. An oil painting of these chiefs from the emerald land of the Zambo Republic is portrayed by the "Indian artist" Adrián Sánchez Galgue [sic]; it is reportedly the earliest signed and dated painting from South America."
By 1599, the date of this painting, we know that populations of settled Africans were residing in Esmeralda, Equador.  region. Let's take a look back in time.

What of Esmeraldas, Ecuador now -- the home of our three Dons? This coastal city is in northwestern Ecuador and is one of the few predominantly black provinces, reportedly at 70 percent. It has the highest concentration of people of African descent in all of Ecuador. In terms of preserving its African cultural heritage, Esmeraldas' isolation may have been its saving grace.

The best online video documentary we could find about the existing Afro-Latino community in Ecuador is in Spanish only (sorry to my English-only audience), but the images alone speak volumes. If you have ever visited this Esmeraldas, Ecuador region, do share your experience with our readers in the comments here.



Further reading resources:

No Longer Invisible: Afro-Latin Americans Today. Minority Rights Group, ed. Minority Rights Publications (1995)

The African Experience in Spanish America: 1502 to the Present Day. Leslie B. Rout, Jr. Cambridge Univ. Press (1976)

Hannibal Barca of Carthage, North Africa

Image: Coin bearing the image of Hannibal and his famed battalion of elephants.

In 247 B.C., the year Hannibal Barca was born, the Carthage empire was about 500 years old. Known as one of the greatest strategist in military history, the battles of Hannibal would strike a turning point in the history of the continent that would be called Africa.

Carthage had been settled by Phoenicians as a city-state in North Africa near the current Tunis. In his 1961 work, French Historian Gabriel Audisio comments that he considered "Hannibal to be neither a Phoenician, nor a Carthaginian, nor a Punic, but a North African... The majority of the Punic populace seems to have had African, indeed Negroid, ancestry." Whether described as Carthaginians, Phoenicians, or Punics of North Africa, according to Audisio's research they were certainly a mix of aboriginal North Africans that included the native Berbers, Moors and other groups. 

The Phoenicians were a Semitic language people. English writers and speakers can thank the Phoenicians for the current English phonic system. The English Alphabets were borrowed from the Phoenician script. Their cultural influence was wide throughout the Mediterranean Sea nations. They were known as skilled sea merchant traders. They ruled in pre-Roman and pre-historic Iberia (currently Spain and Portugal nations on the Iberian Peninsula), until losing against Rome in the Third Punic War. The city of Carthage was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC.

There is no picture of Hannibal in existence today. The coin above is frequently presented by commentators as a representation of Hannibal and his legacy of tamed elephants. While this writer was not able to find an academic source for this coin to confirm its date -- which was more than 2,000 years ago. The existence of such coinage during some point during our common age is no surprise in light of Hannibal's historical legacy.

What we do have are descriptions of Hannibal by commentators of his time. According to the Roman historian Levy of the first century of our era, Hannibal was "fearless, utterly prudent in danger, indefatigable, able to endure heat and cold, controlled in eating habits, unpretentious in dress, willing to sleep wrapped in military cloak, a superb rider and horseman." He was the son of the Carthage general Hamilcar Barca. There is no knowledge of his mother in the history records, not even her name. He had two brothers: Hasdrubal resided in Spain and Maharbal was captain of Hannibal's calvary.

Carthage and Rome were at war during the First Punic War (264-241 B.C.). Both empires were seeking supremacy over the Mediterranean. Hannibal's father, Hamilcar Barca, general of the Carthaginian mercenaries, was infuriated about the western Mediterranean losses of Sicily and Sardinia. When Hannibal was 17 years old, however, his father was killed in an ambush in Spain, which was primarily under the rule of the North African empire. Hannibal would son step fully into his military career.



Map of Carthage empire and Roman empire

In October 218 B.C., during the Second Punic War, Hannibal had arrived at the Alps. His soldiers are said to have stretched for more than eight miles at the Alps, the foothills of the Roman Empire. Hannibal's army of 100,000 men would trek and fight 1,500 miles to arrive at the Alps from Spain. Hannibal armies included Numidians, North Africans from an area roughly where Algeria now draws its boundaries. The Numidians were known as master horsemen who could guide their horses with their knees, leaving their hands free to use swords and throw javelins.They had fought attacks from European tribes like the Gauls.

Hannibal is said to have given this speech to the army of men who had survived and crossed the swift-flowing Rhone river:

"Why are you afraid?... The greater part of our journey is accomplished. We have surmounted the Pyrenees; we have crossed the Rhone, that mighty river, in spite of the opposition of thousands of Gauls and the fury of the river itself. Now we have the Alps in sight. On the other side of those mountains lies Italy.... Does anyone imagine the Alps to be anything but what they are--lofty mountains. No part of the earth reaches the sky, or is insurmountable to mankind. The Alps produce and support living things. If they are passable by a few men, they are passable to armies."

Hannibal lost half of his army in the first two weeks into the Alps. Landslides were touched off by mountain tribes. Men died during hand battle with tribesmen. Starvation and disease were also companions of the embattled lot. Polybus, a Greek historian and contemporary to Hannibal, described Hannibal's arrival to the Po Valley with about 26,000 men. At the Po Valley, Hannibal is said to have made this speech:

"Soldiers! You have now surmounted not only the ramparts of Italy, but also Rome. You are entering friendly country inhabited by people who hate the Romans as much as we do. The rest of the journey will be smooth and downhill, and, after one, or at most a second battle, you will have the citadel and capital of Italy in your possession."

Commentators have speculated on why Hannibal spoke these words because the men were about to face the most difficult part of the journey. Friends did not await in the Po Valley. Here, the Roman army would meet the men in battle. In retrospect, considering how far the men had come, there really was no going back at this point. The Carthaginians believed that Rome was considering an invasion of Africa. Hannibal believed he had to act through an overland attack on Roman to save Carthage. He would spend 15 years in Italy, winning many battles -- such as the Battle of Cannae where he lost 6,000 troops to Rome's 70,000 troops.

We know Hannibal did not succeed, but are astonished by how close he came to success. The second of the Punic Wars was over. When Hannibal eventually retreated with his army to Carthage, his army was defeated by Scipio Africanus in the Battle of Zama.  Always sought by the Romans, when Hannibal was about the age of 64 and to be taken prisoner, he took poison and is recorded to have stated:

"Let us now put an end to the great anxiety of the Romans who have thought it too lengthy and too heavy a task to wait for the death of a hated old man."

Hon. Dr. John Henrik Clarke on Carthage

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