Cacicazgo of Maguana

The Cacicazgo of Maguana was one of the five Taino chiefdoms of the island of Hispaniola, occupying the island's central region and bordered by the cacicazgos of Marien and Magua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the south, Magua and Higuey to the east, and Marien and Jaragua to the west, entirely within what is now the Dominican Republic. Described as the principal cacicazgo of the island, it was ruled by the cacique Caonabo, husband of Anacaona of Jaragua, from a seat at what is now Corral de los Indios in San Juan province, and was divided into 21 nitainos. Caonabo resisted the earliest Spanish presence on the island, destroying Christopher Columbus's fort of La Navidad and later attempting to attack another Spanish fortress, before Spanish commander Alonso de Ojeda captured him; he was sent toward Spain to be presented to the royal court but died during the voyage, and his chiefdom did not survive as an independent power afterward.