House of Miskito

Places were the Miskito language is predominant.

The current territories of Gracias a Dios (Honduras) and the Autonomous Regions of the North and South Atlantic (Nicaragua) have been inhabited by ancestors of the Miskito ethnic group since times prior to the conquest of America, however the current territory of the Miskito coast was little explored by the Spanish conquerors due to its climate and deep jungles. The first conquest attempt was made by Hernán Cortes in 1525 after his landing in Honduras, after hearing rumors of the existence of human settlements and a large city, which experts say was what is today the archaeological site of Kaha Kamasa or white city.[1]

However, the efforts were in vain and the region remained almost free of Spanish presence. The Miskito tribes were guided through a political system of chiefdoms, however by the end of the 16th century a fusion of all the small chiefdoms was achieved and the kingdom of the mosquita was established, its first King being a monarch with an unknown name but if you have data that they referred to him as "The Leader" or "The King" or "Ta Uplika", as it is said in Miskito language.

It was this man who had the first contacts with the English sailors and in this way they decided to establish commercial relations with them. The closeness with the English was so great that he decided to send his son, the future King Oldman to be sent to England where he was received in audience by King Charles I. He was taken to England and was received in audience by Charles II "shortly after the conquest of Jamaica" (1655) in London, where, apart from giving him a crown, he was named Olman I of the Miskito coast, and as they say in his native language "Taura a Uplica" or heir to the king also called "Wihta Tara". In the return to America from his kingdom until 1687 during his mandate there were conversions to Anglicanism, although this had already begun some time before assuming the throne when English missionaries came to America, this faith soon became the state religion. After his death his successor was his son Jeremy I who was also educated in England.[2]

Bluefields in 1844.

The kingdom and the royal house remained relatively safe keeping his reign in peace, continuing their lineage without big problems until the 19th century when it started a series of changes starting from the independence of Central America from the Spanish crown and the first Mexican empire, which claimed the Miskito coast as part of its territory, and as this even appeared on the official maps of the Central American federation. However, with the disintegration of the federation from 1839 on August 12, 1841, the superintendent of Belize and the Miskito monarch landed in San Juan del Norte and informed the Nicaraguan authorities that this city and the rest of the Atlantic Coast belonged to the Miskito kingdom.[3]

King George Frederic II.

The Nicaraguan Independent state recalmed the territories of the kingdom as part of thieirs, so in 1844 the United Kingdom and Nicaragua stablished that the new borders of the kingdom would be from, El Cabo, Honduras to Rio san Juan, Nicaragua, something that the Miksito Royalty didn't recognize, due to reduction of his territory and gave Honduras many of its land that they reclaimed as theirs.[4]

William Henry Clarence I

Finally, in 1868 Honduras totally reincorporate his part of the Miskito coast to its territory creating the department of Gracias a Dios. This would result in the kingdom totally losing its legal claims to Honduran territory. For the following years the royal house would have a series of problems.

Robert II, was one of the last monarchs of America, he was also known in Spanish as "El ultimo rey miskito"

The Miskito kingdom would remain standing until it disappeared completely in 1894, the year in which the government of José Santos Zelaya reestablished the domain and sovereignty of Nicaragua through the so-called Reincorporation of the Mosquitia, despite an attempt to reestablish it by the British in July of that same year, but recovered by Nicaragua in August. The last Miskito monarch was King Robert Henry Clarence also known as Robert II, who died in 1908.

• Ta Uplika (1620-1650)
• Old Man I (1650-1687)
• Jeremy I (1687-1718)
• Jeremy II (1718-1729)
• Peter I (1729-1739)
• Edward I (1739-1755)
• George I (1755-1776)
• George II (1776-1801)
• George Frederic Augustus I (1801-1824)
• Robert Charles Frederic (1824-1842)
• George Augustus Frederic II (1842-1865)
• William Henry Clarence (1865-1879)
• George William Albert Hendy (1879-1888)
• Andrew Hendy I (1888-1889)
• Jonathan Charles Frederick I (1889-1890)
• Robert Henry Clarence II (1890-1894)