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Period: 1516 to 1524
1516: Conquistador Juan Díaz de Solís
He leads an unsuccessful expedition to explore the area later known as Paraguay. -
Period: 1524 to 1525
1524: Portuguese explorer Aleixo Garcia
He leads a Guaraní army of 200 across the Gran Chaco. -
Period: 1526 to 1526
1526: Navigator Sebastian Cabot
He sails up the River Paraná and establishes a settlement known as Sancti Spiritu. -
Period: 1530 to 1537
1530: Conquistador Don Pedro de Mendoza
He attempts to reach Sancti Spiritu, but fails at the banks of the River Plate. His second in command Juan de Ayolas sails up the River Paraguay and discovers Cabot's abandoned settlement. Domingo Martínez de Irala, another sailor, joins him and is appointed lieutenant to take charge of the region. Ayolas ventures into the Chaco and disappears. -
Period: 1537 to 1540
1537: Explorers Juan de Salazar de Espinosa and Gonzalo de Mendoza
They sail upstream to meet Irala, who guides them to a safe port. A fort is constructed on the riverbank on August 15 and named Asunción for the Catholic feast day. It becomes an outpost for goods being shipped across the continent and later the colony's capital. Settlers are given the right to elect leaders of the colony. -
Period: 1544 to 1555
Irala
He modernizes Paraguay by introducing agriculture and local industry. He repairs relations with the natives. -
Period: 1556 to 1556
Irala dies
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Period: to
Jesuits
Jesuits start their work on establishing Jesuit reductions for native Guaranis in the Governorate of Paraguay. -
Period: to
Jesuits lose the support of the Spanish Crown.
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1767: Suppression of the Society of Jesus, the last Jesuits are expelled from colonial Paraguay.
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Citation
Timeline of Paraguayan history. (2020). Retrieved 11 February 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Paraguayan_history