Lincoyan (c. 1519 Arauco - 1560 Cañete) was the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

toqui Toqui (or Toki) (Mapudungun for ''axe'' or ''axe-bearer'') is a title conferred by the Mapuche (an indigenous Chilean and Argentines, Argentinian people) on those chosen as leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parl ...

that succeeded

Ainavillo Ainavillo, Aynabillo, Aillavilu or Aillavilú, (in Mapudungun, ''ailla'', nine and ''filu'', snake) was the toqui of the Mapuche army from the provinces of "Ñuble, Itata, Renoguelen, Guachimavida, Marcande, Gualqui, Penco and Talcahuano." They t ...

in 1550 after the defeat at the

Battle of Penco The Battle of Penco took place on March 12, 1550, between 60,000 Mapuche under the command of their toqui Ainavillo with his Araucan and Tucapel allies and Pedro de Valdivia's 200 Spaniards on horse and afoot with many '' yanakuna'' including ...

. He tried to stop

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...

from invading and establishing fortresses and cities in their lands between 1551 and 1553 at the beginning of the

Arauco War The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities a ...

with no success. In 1551 he attacked Valdivia on the banks of the Andalien, but the neighboring fort resisted his assaults. During part of that year and in 1552 he continued fighting against Valdivia along Cauten River. In 1553, he was replaced by

Caupolicán Caupolicán (meaning ‘polished flint’ (queupu) or ‘blue quartz stone’ (Kallfulikan) in Mapudungun) was a ''toqui'' or war leader of the Mapuche people, who led the resistance of his people against the Spanish Conquistadors who invaded the ...

, but he was given the command of a division. In this year he took part in the capture of the fortresses of Arauco and

Tucapel Tucapel is a town and commune in the Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region, Chile. It was once a region of Araucanía named for the Tucapel River. The name of the region derived from the rehue and aillarehue of the Moluche people of the ar ...

. Soon after this battle he defeated a strong Spanish force that came to protect Imperial. He followed Caupolicán in all his victories and in all his battles until the death of that chief in 1558. Afterward he continued the war against the Spaniards until he was killed in the Battle of Cañete.

References

* * * People of the Arauco War 16th-century Mapuche people 16th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas Year of birth uncertain 1560 deaths {{Chile-hist-stub