﻿Vol. 
  2] 
  COLONIAL 
  QUECHUA 
  — 
  KUBLER 
  367 
  

  

  water 
  their 
  own 
  few 
  cattle. 
  A 
  contemporary 
  observer 
  notes 
  that 
  the 
  

   Spanish 
  stock-breeding 
  industry, 
  made 
  possible 
  through 
  encomienda, 
  

   was 
  partly 
  to 
  be 
  blamed 
  for 
  the 
  great 
  losses 
  of 
  population 
  suffered 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  16th 
  century, 
  since 
  the 
  Indians 
  were 
  forced 
  to 
  move 
  their 
  fields 
  

   higher 
  and 
  higher, 
  in 
  barren 
  and 
  rocky 
  terrain, 
  where 
  the 
  yield 
  was 
  

   capable 
  of 
  sustaining 
  but 
  a 
  fraction 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  population 
  (Molina 
  

   of 
  Santiago, 
  1916, 
  p. 
  149). 
  

  

  The 
  same 
  general 
  effect 
  was 
  produced 
  by 
  the 
  foundation 
  of 
  towns 
  

   and 
  monastic 
  establishments. 
  In 
  Highland 
  Peru, 
  arable 
  valley 
  bot- 
  

   tomland 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  valuable 
  possession 
  in 
  Indian 
  society. 
  An 
  exqui- 
  

   site 
  balance 
  between 
  cultivated 
  land 
  and 
  population 
  density 
  had 
  been, 
  

   achieved 
  under 
  the 
  Inca 
  regime. 
  With 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  the 
  Spaniards, 
  

   however, 
  the 
  foundation 
  of 
  numerous 
  towns 
  on 
  bottomland 
  incapa- 
  

   citated 
  the 
  best 
  soil 
  for 
  agricultural 
  production. 
  The 
  Indians 
  previ- 
  

   ously 
  resident 
  upon 
  the 
  site 
  of 
  the 
  town 
  were 
  forced 
  to 
  emigrate 
  or 
  

   to 
  enter 
  Spanish 
  service 
  through 
  encomienda 
  (Lorente, 
  1867-72, 
  1:22; 
  

   Anonymous, 
  1889, 
  p. 
  183). 
  

  

  The 
  process 
  whereby 
  the 
  Indian 
  was 
  expelled 
  from 
  the 
  regions 
  of 
  

   arable 
  soil 
  was 
  further 
  accelerated 
  by 
  direct 
  purchase. 
  The 
  situation 
  

   was 
  such 
  that 
  the 
  Indians, 
  to 
  escape 
  the 
  heavy 
  labor 
  drafts 
  attendant 
  

   upon 
  encomienda 
  service, 
  sold 
  their 
  communal 
  lands 
  at 
  low 
  prices 
  

   (Montesinos, 
  1906, 
  1:254, 
  282). 
  At 
  all 
  times 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  land 
  by 
  

   Indians 
  to 
  encomenderos 
  was 
  subject 
  to 
  regulation, 
  but 
  by 
  1562 
  cheap 
  

   sales 
  had 
  become 
  so 
  numerous 
  that 
  further 
  transactions 
  were 
  forbidden 
  

   excepting 
  by 
  viceregal 
  license. 
  

  

  Another 
  pernicious 
  effect 
  of 
  encomienda 
  was 
  that 
  the 
  native 
  ani- 
  

   mal 
  resources 
  of 
  the 
  Highland 
  were 
  systematically 
  destroyed 
  to 
  make 
  

   room 
  for 
  European 
  stock. 
  All 
  the 
  colonists 
  participated 
  in 
  the 
  pro- 
  

   cess, 
  even 
  Negroes 
  and 
  Mestizos, 
  until, 
  in 
  1556, 
  the 
  herds 
  of 
  llamas 
  

   and 
  deer 
  were 
  so 
  few 
  in 
  the 
  once 
  rich 
  valley 
  of 
  Huamanga 
  that 
  serious 
  

   food 
  shortages 
  resulted 
  (Anonymous, 
  1889, 
  p. 
  187; 
  Montesinos, 
  

   1906, 
  1:243). 
  

  

  Corregimiento. 
  — 
  After 
  the 
  16th 
  century, 
  the 
  encomienda 
  was 
  dis- 
  

   placed 
  by 
  Crown 
  government 
  (corregimiento); 
  the 
  administration 
  

   of 
  Indians 
  by 
  private 
  beneficiaries 
  was 
  supplanted 
  with 
  the 
  institution 
  

   of 
  Crown 
  officials 
  called 
  corregidores 
  (Hg. 
  38). 
  Before 
  the 
  constel- 
  

   lation 
  of 
  Colonial 
  customs 
  associated 
  with 
  Crown 
  government 
  can 
  be 
  

   discussed, 
  however, 
  it 
  is 
  important 
  to 
  examine 
  the 
  main 
  events 
  in 
  the 
  

   decline 
  of 
  the 
  encomienda 
  system. 
  

  

  The 
  tenure 
  of 
  encomienda 
  was 
  never 
  made 
  permanent, 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  

   the 
  prolonged 
  agitation 
  by 
  encomienda 
  holders 
  and 
  missionaries. 
  

   (See 
  Zavala, 
  1935, 
  cap. 
  6, 
  pp. 
  183-223.) 
  Yet 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  encomi- 
  

   endas 
  rose 
  to 
  a 
  peak 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  century. 
  The 
  following 
  table 
  

   3 
  suggests 
  the 
  spread 
  of 
  the 
  institution 
  for 
  the 
  Viceroy 
  alty 
  of 
  Perti. 
  

  

  595682 
  — 
  46 
  26 
  

  

  