Inca Empire and Spanish Colonization Practice Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the social, economic, religious, and intellectual transformations in the Inca Empire during Spanish colonization.

Caciques

Hereditary native nobility recognized by Spanish authorities who held civil and criminal jurisdiction over their subjects.

Redistributive economy

An economic system in the Inca Empire where crop production was controlled by the state and redistributed according to population needs.

Peninsulares

Individuals born in Spain who could hold the highest-ranking positions in colonial institutions.

Creoles

Descendants of Spaniards born in the Americas who were restricted from assuming leadership of colonial institutions.

Mestizos

Individuals of mixed descent from Spaniards (or Europeans) and Indigenous populations.

Mulattoes

Descendants of Spaniards and Africans who, by law, inherited the status of their mother.

'Indios'

The general classification used by Spaniards for all native inhabitants, overlooking their specific ethnic divisions and differentiation.

Audiencias

Courts where caciques had the right to have their cases tried, allowing them to bypass their immediate superiors, the corregidores.

Hidalgos of Castile

The Spanish noble class whose honors and privileges were similar to those granted to the Incan caciques.

Mit’a

A system of offering labour used by the Incas to pay taxes, as they did not have a form of currency.

Encomienda system

A labor system based on the medieval manorial system where an Indian worked land owned by a Spaniard in exchange for 'protection' and 'Christianization.'

Inti

The Incan God of the Sun and the counterpart to the Goddess of the Moon.

Goddess of the Moon

The Incan deity linked to femininity and the non-inferior counterpart of the Sun God, Inti.

Hanan

The male component of the Andean spatial hierarchy used to express male-female binaries.

Hurin

The female component of the Andean spatial hierarchy used to express male-female binaries.

Coya

The title for the principal wife of a Sapa Inca.

Reducciones

A resettlement program started in $1570$ aimed at moving native populations to Spanish-style towns for surveillance by authorities and priests.

Viceroy Francisco de Toledo

The colonial official whose organizational skills enabled the resettlement of at least $1.5 \times 10^6$ people under the Reducciones program.

Extirpación de Idolatrías

Campaigns supported by the Church and colonial authorities to force religious conversion through accusations, torture, and the destruction of Andean ritual sites.

Huacas

Andean ritual sites that were destroyed by Spanish authorities in an effort to uproot indigenous identity and religious practices.

Mercantilism

The Spanish economic policy that restricted colonial trade to Spanish territory and maintained a monopoly through specific institutions.

Casa de Contratación

An institution established in $1503$ to regulate mining imports and authorize trade voyages to the colonies.

Amalgamation refinery

A technological introduction in mining that reduced reliance on native metallurgy but gave Spaniards more control over silver operations.

El Callao

The port in Lima that operated under a monopolistic arrangement for handling silver exports and imports.

Tax rate for newly mined silver

The specific rate that remained at $21\,\%$ throughout the $16\text{th}$ century.

Consulado

A merchants' guild in Seville that held a monopoly on American colonial trade and could raise prices in response to costs.

Obrajes

Workshops used for cloth manufacturing that relied on indigenous labor and heritage skills.

Escuela Cuzqueña

The first artistic center in the colonies, founded in $1539$, which blended European techniques with Andean natural elements.

Mannerism

An artistic style first introduced by Bernardo Bitti that is characterized by the elongation of subjects.

Bernardo Bitti

An Italian priest and painter who introduced the mannerism style to the early paintings of the Escuela Cuzqueña.

Tertulias

Social gatherings where passages of novels were read aloud, helping to disseminate culture to the illiterate population.

Syncretism

The combination of Andean and European elements in spheres such as arts, festivals, and religious holidays.

Nicolas Monardes

A Sevillian physician who authored 'Historia medicinal,' which encouraged the use of American medicinal plants and herbs.

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala

A native administrator and scribe of noble descent who wrote a lengthy chronicle to the King of Spain criticizing colonial abuses.

El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno

A chronicle finished in $1615$ that detailed Incan traditions and advocated for government reform to prevent the downfall of Andean civilization.

Inca Garcilaso de la Vega

The first mestizo author to publish in Spanish, known for presenting a unique perspective on Incan and Spanish history.

Comentarios reales de los Incas

A work published in $1609$ that depicted Incan emperors as practitioners of 'peaceful imperialism' and dialogue.

Palla Chimpu Ocllo

The Incan princess who was the mother of the mestizo author Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.

Bartolomé De Las Casas

A Spanish theologian and former encomendero who became a lead advocate for the protective New Laws of $1542$.

Laws of Burgos (1512)

The first legal approach to the 'Indian question' which granted indigenous people the right to convert and advocates for right treatment.

New Laws (1542)

Legislative amendments influenced by De Las Casas that sought to end the enslavement of indigenous populations and unfair wages.

Valladolid debate (1550-1551)

The first formal discussion in European history regarding the rights and treatment of indigenous populations.

Taqui Onqoy

An indigenous movement where members performed ceremonies to renounce the Christian faith and European ways in the $1570\text{s}$.

Onqoy Mita

An Inca tradition involving the veneration of forebears' mummies, which coincided chronologically with the Christian festival of Corpus Christi.

Mallquis

The mummies of forebears that were at the center of the Incan tradition of Onqoy Mita.

Inquisition (1570)

The institution established in the viceroyalty to scrutinize Spanish colonist behavior, though it exempted indigenous populations.

Siete Partidas

Specific Spanish laws regarding the capture of property and kings that Francisco Pizarro was accused of overlooking during the execution of Atahualpa.

Visitador de idolatrias

An official appointed by the archbishop to travel to towns to interrogate and torture those accused of practicing ancient rites.

School of Caciques

An institution built to teach the descendants of native nobility to ensure their knowledge of colonial administration and alliance to the crown.

Natural slave

The Aristotelian concept used by many European settlers to justify the subjugation and forced labor of Amerindians.