THE INDIAN CASTE OF PERU, 1795-1940 — KUBLER 



43 



when its figures are mapped by provincial caste 

 majorities (maps 5, 7), reveals many new stresses 

 in the social composition of the country. Most 

 evident is the eastward colonization in the northern 

 provinces, with the appearance of mestizo ma- 

 jorities in the Provinces of Huallaga and San 

 Martin. Since 1876, the process of internal 

 colonization has spread to the easternmost limits 

 of the Republic. In 1876, however, the Marafi6n 

 River Basin, in Pataz and Luya Provinces, was 

 occupied by Indian provincial majorities, in such 

 fashion as to split the new eastern colonization of 

 mestizo character from the older enclave of non- 

 Indian majorities in the Departments of Cajamarca 

 and La Libertad. 



Another area in which mestizo or non-Indian 

 majorities appeared in 1876 for the first time in 

 recorded detail, was in the northernmost coastal 

 provinces. Tumbes, Paita, and Ayabaca appeared 

 with substantially smaller Indian percentages than 

 in previous generations. Farther south, Chancay 

 Province also attained a majority in the mestizo 

 population, in a gradual process whereby the entire 

 Peruvian coast, with rare exceptions, came ulti- 

 mately to be occupied by non-Indian groups. The 

 Province of Castilla briefly appeared with a non- 

 Indian majority, which it lost again by 1940. As 

 this province was created in 1854, its "racial" 

 composition had never before been recorded 

 separately from the larger territorial unit of 

 Condesuyos, from which it was carved, and for 

 which demographic data are still lacking in the 

 period 1826-54 (map 3). 



In the central and southern highlands, two new 

 enclaves of mestizo majority appeared in 1876. 

 One is the Province of Huanta, concerning which 

 we have nothing after the census of 1795 until 

 1876. In 1876 the census takers variously re- 

 ported the total population as 15,322 and as 30,479 

 inhabitants. Geographically the province was a 

 frontier upon the undeveloped montana between 

 the Apurimac and Urubamba Rivers. The un- 

 certainty about its population may arise from the 

 uncounted selvatic peoples in this region: if so, its 

 mestizo majority may offer a southern parallel to 

 the northern internal colonizations of Huallaga 

 and San Martin Provinces. 



The block of territory covered by Abancay, 

 Aimaraes, and Antabamba Provinces likewise ap- 

 peared briefly in 1876 with non-Indian majorities. 

 Both before and since 1876, these provinces have 



been heavily Indian. Their brief respite from 

 Indian dominance may be compared to that of 

 Andahuaylas at the end of the eighteenth century. 

 The provinces lie immediately east of Anda- 

 huaylas, and, with Andahuaylas, compose the 

 Department of Apurimac as created in 1873 

 (Tarazona, 1946, p. 471). 



DISTRIBUTION IN 1940 



John Rowe has refined the concept of the 

 "Indian" as it was used by the census takers of 

 1940. He distinguishes "Indian" as defined by 

 language from "Indian" as defined by subjective 

 impression (Rowe, 1947, p. 214). Here, and to 

 conform with the data for earlier periods, we shall 

 use only the undifferentiated concept of the 

 Indian. The map showing caste majorities by 

 provinces in 1940 reveals three areas of Indian 

 dominance: the central and southern highlands, 

 from northern Ancash to the Bolivian border; 

 the Province of Alto Amazonas; and the Province 

 of Piura (maps 7, 8). Only Piura and Pisco, on 

 the south coast, had Indian majorities among 

 coastal areas in 1940. Alto Amazonas is a thinly 

 populated region of selvatic tribes. The real 

 geographical center of the Indian world of Peru 

 is clearly and sharply defined in the great highland 

 block. The unity of this block is all the more note- 

 worthy when it is considered that the processes of 

 provincial subdivision, attendant upon population 

 increase, yield far more provinces, with smaller 

 and smaller areas for statistical consideration. 



The mestizo territories are predominantly on 

 the coast and in the northern highlands. On the 

 coast the incursion of the non-Indian majorities 

 into highland areas is noticeable, especially in the 

 Provinces of Aija, Bolognesi, Cajatambo, and 

 Yauli; in Moquegua and in Condesuyos. The 

 tendency is for the mestizo majority to move 

 steadily into the mountains from coastal or 

 montana bases. In the perspective of a century 

 and a half, the sharp definition and geographical 

 segregation of caste-identified territories (mestizo 

 coast and montana: Indian highland) has become 

 a political reality only in the years before 1940. 



CASTE PERCENTAGES 



The foregoing discussion shows only schematic 

 relations of majority dominance at several mo- 

 ments during the past century and a half. Taken 

 together the majorities at various moments reveal 



