Mexican War of Independence who then made his elder brother Joseph king. The same year, the ayuntamiento (city council) of Mexico City, supported by viceroy José de Iturrigaray, claimed sovereignty in the absence of the legitimate king. That led to a coup against the viceroy; when it was suppressed, the leaders of the movement were jailed. Despite the defeat in Mexico City, small groups of rebels met in other cities of New Spain to raise movements against colonial rule. In 1810, after being discovered, Querétaro conspirators chose to take up arms on September 16 in the company of peasants and indigenous inhabitants of Dolores
Direct colonial rule Direct colonial rule Direct colonial rule is a form of colonialism that involves the establishment of a centralized foreign authority within a territory, which is run by colonial officials. According to Michael W. Doyle of Harvard University, in a system of direct rule, the native population is excluded from all but the lowest level of the colonial government. Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani classifies direct rule as centralized despotism: a system where natives were not considered citizens. The opposite of direct colonial rule is indirect rule, which integrates pre-established local elites and native institutions into the administration of the colonial government.