Proclamation to Take Away the Mita from the Corregidores

Source: José Gabriel Condorcanqui was a cacique (hereditary chief) in southern Peru. He was descended from the last Inca ruler, Túpac Amaru, and took the name Túpac Amaru II. Born around 1740, he continued to identify with his Inca heritage in spite of having received a formal Jesuit education. In 1780 he arrested and executed a corregidor (colonial administrator), charging him with cruelty in the way that he ran his mita. This action led to the last general Indian revolt against Spain, which at first was supported by some creoles (Spaniards born in America). The revolt spread throughout southern Peru and into Bolivia and Argentina before Túpac Amaru II and his family were captured and executed in March 1781. In this document, officials were concerned with neutralizing indigenous sympathy for the rebellion as much as they could, and with making appeals to mestizos and other castas to support the loyalist effort.

I, Dn. Fernando Ynclan y Valdes, Knight of the Order of Santiago, Lieutenant Captain General, Corregidor and Justicia Mayor of this great city of Cuzco and its jurisdiction, for the sake of your I say: As it is of the utmost importance to sustain by any means available to us the Catholic Faith that we all profess due to God's almighty mercy, as good Christians we profess to live and die by it [our faith] ... worshiping the Divine Cult and sacred images that, as we all know, have been desecrated by José Gabriel Túpac Amaru and his allies. [This] fact can be verified by the events that took place in the Church of the Pueblo of which with disrespect and notorious irreverence was set on fire even while the Sacred Sacraments were there and it was polluted with all the blood of those who were inside and in its Doors and Cemetery and were wounded or killed on the 18th of said month, by a multitude of people who attacked the Spaniards.... This being a crime of detestable nature and therefore banned and punished by Canonic and Royal Laws with heavy penalties, which said Túpac Amaru ... is deserving, as well as those who collaborated in the sacrilegious activities.... [Bearing in mind that said Túpac Amaru has raised the Pueblo of Tungasuca in rebellion and conspired against our Lord the King (God save him), his operations give ample proof of his criminal actions.... [He also] put Corregidor Dn. Antonio Arriaga to death and is planning to execute others. Hidden behind the mask of piety, he has offered to free the Indians of that Province from tributes, and sales customs and other contributions, without having the authority to do so, and using the supposition that he has superior orders for which he has not produced any proof nor will be able to do so.

Painting of Tupac Amaru II by an anonymous artist c. 1784-1806. Unveiled in 2015, it is the oldest image known to date of the indigenous rebel.

Therefore I should order, and I do order, that this Edict be published as a Notice of War so that the news reach everybody, not only in this City and District but in all Provinces subject to its Royal Treasury, doing this in the name Of the King our Lord, so that all Indios and other provincials will defend, as is expected, the Dominions against the Rebel and his followers by any means available so as to make clear their loyalty and faithful adherence to the Sovereign. And taking into consideration the piety and benevolence with which these Indians have been treated by our Catholic King, as his Laws and Royal Ordinances attest, we protest in his Royal Name that their privileges are being punctually and exactly safeguarded through the compliance of His Majesty's decision of not having them pay the tithes [religious offerings/taxes] in this episcopate. This was done in accordance with the rulings of the ... Royal Audiencia [court used to hear complaints against royal officials] of Lima and later confirmed by His Majesty, and as it is attested in the books of this municipal council. Moreover, they will also be free immediately from the Corregidores' repartimientos [mita] and will not need to pay for anything those Corregidores have distributed to them, and will not, under any circumstance, be imprisoned in Obrajes [workshops].... [T]he Mestizos promised the benefit of not having to pay taxes, nor custom charges, and that they will benefit from this freedom and exemption as well as their children and their children's descendants.

A depiction of Native Americans working in Tucumán (Argentina).

. . . [T]hose who cooperated in the present excesses are pardoned and given general Amnesty. They will not be prosecuted in any way and will not be treated as rebels, but those who label themselves as rebels will pay with their lives. finally, they [the Indians] will be given a new distribution of lands and they will be given enough land so as to be able to support themselves, having experts supervising the distribution and assisted by appointed Protectors. All this will be approved by our Excellency the Viceroy of these Kingdoms, the Lords of the Royal Audiencia, and the Visitador General without any discussions. And this will be confirmed by our Lord the King as his royal intention is to benefit his Subjects from whom he expects them to show their courage and strength to catch the Rebels so that our armies have the laurel of victory, for our glory, the good of the nation, and in service to God and our King. And this edict will be made known to the Royal Officials so that they will not, under any circumstance, charge taxes or custom duties to the Indians and Mestizos. They (the Indians and Mestizos) can bring their loads and commercial products coming from their harvests, husbandry, and farming so that they can sell them. The Guards of the Visita [passes] and Camineros [roads] are to be made aware of what has been agreed to so that they allow these loads to come in freely, without causing or charging the most minimal expenditure under penalty of death. Thus, I, the present Corregidor, have provided, ordered, and signed with the approval of the members of the War Council who also signed it in the said City of Cuzco on the 20th of November of 1780, which I attest. And in this situation the said Corregidor, after consulting with the Council also ordered it to be published that all those Mestizos and other peoples who would enlist under the Banners of the King be paid a daily salary of two reales or more, depending on the rank they are given, as is being done with all those who are presently working for them and in the service of the King.

Source: The Túpac Amaru and Catarista Rebellions: an Anthology of Sources / edited and translated by Ward Stavig and Ella Schmidt, 2008.