Potosí's Compañía del Trajín de Azogues. A not yet known chapter on how South Andean indigenous repartimientos financed the development of colonial mining

  • Ana María Presta
Keywords: mining, Toledan reforms, cajas de comunidad (community coffers), amalgamation, Potosi, Huancavelica

Abstract

Potosí was Viceroy don Francisco de Toledo's greatest concern; he considered it to be the main source of income for Spain's royal treasury. To this end he developed his reform program, which consolidated colonial government while also guaranteeing the disciplining of an indigenous workforce and reorganization of ethnic groupings or repartimientos in order to supply the mining center with a constant flow of labor. Parallel to this was the supply of mercury to Potosí, another major concern for the viceroy, who knew very well how much the new amalgamation technology relied upon mercury's steady flow.By examining a judicial report made by the Indians of Moromoro (corregimiento of Chayanta, Charcas) it becomes clear exactly how Toledo resolved the problem of supplying mercury to Potosí. This study reveals the centrality of the indigenous repartimientos of Charcas in the financing of their own domination, as they became lenders of the capital upon which the Trajín de Azogues or Mercury Transport Company was founded.

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How to Cite
Presta, A. M. (1). Potosí’s Compañía del Trajín de Azogues. A not yet known chapter on how South Andean indigenous repartimientos financed the development of colonial mining. Boletín Del Instituto De Historia Argentina Y Americana Dr. Emilio Ravignani, (43), 31-58. Retrieved from http://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/boletin/article/view/6874
Issue
No 43 (2015): Julio-Diciembre
Section
Dossier

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