History
Guadalajara was founded in 1532, one of the fruits of a vicious campaign of Conquest by Nuno de Guzman - whose cruelty and corruption were such that he appalled even the Spanish authorities, who threw him into prison in Madrid, where he died. The city, named after his birthplace, thrived, was officially recognized by Charles V in 1542 and rapidly became one of the colony's most Spanish cities - in part at least because so much of the indigenous population had been killed or had fled during the period of Conquest and suppression by the Spaniards. Set apart from the great mining centres of the Bajio, Guadalajara managed to remain relatively isolated, developing as a regional centre for trade and agriculture. The tight reins of colonial rule restrained the city's development, and it wasn't until the end of the eighteenth century that things really took off, as the colonial monopolies began to crumble. Between 1760 and 1803 the city's population tripled to reach some 35,000, and a new university was established, as the city became famous for the export of wheat, hides, cotton and wool. When the empire finally fell apart, Guadalajara supported Hidalgo's independence movement and briefly served as his capital, becoming capital of the state when the break with Spain finally came. By the beginning of the twentieth century it was already the second largest city in the Republic, and in the 1920s the completion of the rail link with California provided a further spur for development. More recently, the exodus from Mexico City and attempts at decentralization have swollen numbers here still more
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