﻿Vol.2] 
  COLONIAL 
  QUECHUA 
  — 
  KUBLER 
  339 
  

  

  eastward 
  flight 
  of 
  the 
  laborers 
  to 
  new 
  settlements 
  in 
  the 
  uncharted 
  

   Montana. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  unlikely 
  that 
  a 
  substantial 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  population 
  

   of 
  the 
  western 
  marches 
  of 
  the 
  18th 
  century 
  Viceroyalty 
  of 
  Buenos 
  

   Aires 
  consisted 
  of 
  such 
  fugitives 
  from 
  Peru. 
  In 
  any 
  case, 
  in 
  Chucuito 
  

   Province, 
  whence 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  mitas 
  was 
  levied 
  for 
  the 
  mines 
  of 
  

   Potosi, 
  the 
  Indian 
  population 
  shrank 
  by 
  two-thirds 
  between 
  1628 
  and 
  

   1754. 
  

  

  Finally, 
  the 
  Indian 
  rebellion 
  of 
  1780, 
  associated 
  with 
  the 
  person- 
  

   ality 
  of 
  Tupac 
  Amaru, 
  broke 
  out 
  among 
  these 
  provinces 
  of 
  the 
  

   Audiencia 
  of 
  Charcas 
  where 
  great 
  population 
  increases 
  are 
  defined. 
  

   Sicasica, 
  Larecajes, 
  and 
  Cochabamba 
  were 
  among 
  the 
  focal 
  centers 
  

   of 
  the 
  rebellion. 
  (See 
  pp. 
  350-353 
  below.) 
  

  

  Unrecorded 
  movement. 
  — 
  The 
  main 
  events 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  associated 
  

   with 
  great 
  Indian 
  population 
  losses 
  are 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  rebellion 
  of 
  

   Manco 
  Inca 
  in 
  1536-37. 
  High 
  mortality 
  was 
  one 
  component 
  of 
  these 
  

   losses, 
  but 
  the 
  factor 
  of 
  massive 
  dispersals 
  away 
  from 
  the 
  area 
  held 
  by 
  

   by 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  must 
  also 
  be 
  reckoned 
  with. 
  Throughout 
  Inca 
  

   Peru, 
  a 
  state 
  of 
  flux 
  prevailed 
  until 
  after 
  1550. 
  To 
  what 
  extent 
  the 
  

   disruption 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  economy 
  produced 
  food 
  crises 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  

   guessed 
  from 
  the 
  occasional 
  references 
  to 
  famines. 
  Great 
  epidemic 
  

   incursions, 
  as 
  indicated 
  before, 
  are 
  not 
  recorded, 
  and 
  probably 
  did 
  

   not 
  take 
  place. 
  Yet 
  two 
  possibilities 
  may 
  be 
  ruled 
  out: 
  Peruvian 
  pop- 
  

   ulation 
  neither 
  remained 
  static 
  between 
  1531 
  and 
  1561 
  nor 
  did 
  it 
  in- 
  

   crease, 
  for 
  neither 
  stability 
  nor 
  increase 
  is 
  a 
  phenomenon 
  charac- 
  

   teristic 
  of 
  the 
  cultural 
  shock 
  of 
  conquest. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  assumed, 
  therefore, 
  that 
  population 
  density 
  decreased 
  

   after 
  1531, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  continued 
  a 
  decline 
  which 
  probably 
  charac- 
  

   terized 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  warfare 
  between 
  Huascar 
  and 
  Atahuallpa 
  before 
  

   1531. 
  How 
  great 
  was 
  this 
  decline? 
  If 
  in 
  30 
  years 
  the 
  pre-Conquest 
  

   population 
  was 
  halved, 
  no 
  violent 
  change 
  of 
  direction 
  needs 
  to 
  be 
  

   imposed 
  upon 
  the 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  curve 
  projected 
  backward 
  from 
  

   1561. 
  If, 
  however, 
  it 
  is 
  assumed 
  that 
  the 
  total 
  population 
  was 
  

   reduced 
  by 
  two-thirds 
  or 
  three-fourths, 
  as 
  indicated 
  in 
  figure 
  33, 
  

   then 
  disruptive 
  factors 
  of 
  far 
  greater 
  magnitude 
  than 
  those 
  suggested 
  

   by 
  the 
  historical 
  record 
  must 
  be 
  invented 
  and 
  introduced. 
  The 
  

   writer 
  inclines 
  to 
  the 
  hypothesis 
  that 
  population 
  was 
  no 
  more 
  than 
  

   halved 
  in 
  1531-61. 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  noted 
  that 
  if 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  case, 
  Inca 
  

   Peru, 
  excluding 
  the 
  provinces 
  of 
  Quito, 
  can 
  have 
  had 
  a 
  total 
  popula- 
  

   tion 
  no 
  greater 
  than 
  3,000,000. 
  If, 
  however, 
  it 
  be 
  assumed 
  the 
  pop- 
  

   ulation 
  was 
  reduced 
  by 
  three-fourths 
  before 
  1561, 
  the 
  total 
  population 
  

   at 
  the 
  moment 
  of 
  the 
  Conquest 
  cannot 
  have 
  exceeded 
  6,000,000. 
  

   The 
  traditional 
  estimates 
  of 
  10,000,000 
  or 
  12,000,000 
  thus 
  become 
  

   impossible, 
  even 
  when 
  the 
  Inca 
  populations 
  of 
  Quito 
  are 
  included. 
  To 
  

   fill 
  out 
  such 
  estimates, 
  Quito 
  would 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  assigned 
  between 
  4,000,- 
  

   000 
  and 
  6,000,000 
  inhabitants 
  in 
  1531. 
  (See 
  also 
  Rowe, 
  this 
  volume, 
  

   pp. 
  184-185.) 
  

  

  