Popayan was founded by Sebastian Benalcazar in 1538 on the site of an Indian settlement, whose chief, Payan, had the unusual honour of having his name given to the usurping town.
The usurping successor of Hakam found it a politic step to request the most notable doctors of the sacred law to examine the royal library; and every book treating of philosophy, astronomy and other forbidden topics was condemned to the flames.
There was usurping of power by a new force from an older energy.