Hispaniola
The primary indigenous group on the island of Hispaniola was the Arawak/Taíno people. The Arawak tribe originated in the Orinoco Delta, spreading from Venezuela. They travelled to Hispaniola around 1200 CE. Each society on the island was a small independent kingdom with a lead known as a cacique. In 1492, which is considered the peak of the Taíno, there were five different kingdoms on the island, the Xaragua, Higuey (Caizcimu), Magua (Huhabo), Ciguayos (Cayabo or Maguana), and Marien (Bainoa). Many distinct Taíno languages also existed in this time period. There is still heated debate over the population of Taíno people on the island of Hispaniola in 1492, but estimates range upwards of 750,000.
Dominican Republic–Spain relations
The first Europeans to arrive to what is now present day Dominican Republic was in December 1492 when explorer Christopher Columbus arrived to the island of Hispaniola. In 1493, Columbus built one of the first European settlements in the Americas and called it "La Isabela", named after Spanish Queen Isabella I of Castile. Soon after Columbus's arrival to Hispaniola, most of the native Taíno people of the island were wiped out by either diseases brought over from Europe or from direct slaughter by the Spanish. In 1493, the island of Hispaniola was governed under the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo and in 1521, it came under the greater Viceroyalty of New Spain based in Mexico City.