October 12th Colonial Andean Legal History and Transatlantic Obligations

Vocabulary terms and historical concepts covering indigenous legal engagement in colonial Peru, Andean institutions, family dynamics, and Spanish imperial governance.

Cacique

An indigenous lord or community ruler, specifically denoting non-Inca native lords who governed native community units.

Ayllu

An Andean native community unit composed of a kin group related by blood ties and connected to a particular geographic location.

Huanca

A specific indigenous ethnicity located east of Lima, Peru (associated with regions such as Jauja and Palpa), known for exercising autonomy and utilizing the Spanish legal system.

Encomienda

A major Spanish royal grant consisting of a large gift of land with indigenous labor attached to it, generating wealth for the recipient.

Probanza

A Spanish legal petition process used to prove an individual's merit and worth to the king in order to secure rewards, property, and elite status.

Paullu

An Inca noble collaborator who converted to Christianity and successfully petitioned the Spanish crown for a coat of arms and confirmation of his encomienda in Cusco.

Felipe

A cacique who traveled to Spain using communal ayllu funds; he failed to secure his community's tribute exemption but privately obtained a coat of arms, a pension, and a plot of land.

Quipu (Kippus)

An indigenous recording system of knotted cords, used alongside grains and pebbles of various colors and sizes to divide obligations proportionately, audit records, and present evidence in lawsuits.

Mita

A system of tributary labor obligations that indigenous communities sought to regulate or reduce through community litigation in colonial courts.

Extirpation of Idolatry

A campaign in Peru during which Catholic priests destroyed indigenous quipus under the accusation that they constituted evidence of idolatrous religious practice.

Patria Potestas

A Spanish legal authority giving fathers legal control over their children, enabling Spanish men to transfer custody of children away from indigenous mothers via third parties.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement mediated by the pope that divided newly discovered overseas territories between Spain and Portugal to prevent armed conflict.

Requirement (Requerimiento)

A 1512 Spanish royal proclamation read to indigenous peoples asserting papal authority and demanding their submission to the Spanish crown upon penalty of war.

Mexico City Riot (1692)

A significant urban corn riot in New Spain described in an archival letter from an elite Spaniard to an admiral, used as a primary source for historical analysis.