Resettlement
vIn the 1570s Viceroy Toledo implemented a resettlement of Andeans from their widely dispersed hamlets into larger grid-patterned towns called reducciones. Each new reducción was a self-governing república de indios, where native hereditary lords the caciques now shared authority with a town council (cabildo) of elected commoners. Within reducciones, Spaniards reinforced elements of Andean social and political organization: ayllu members were settled together, the town’s elected officials were to rotate among the ayllus and the tax rolls were recorded by ayllu. As part of conversion, each town was assigned a patron saint with a confraternity (cofradía) to celebrate it. Documents related to resettlement, including a statement that Spanish invasion had rescued Andeans from Inca tyranny, were put in each town’s community chest (caja de comunidad). Spaniards argued that reducción failed because Andeans did not live in the towns full time, but Andeans returned regularly to fulfill their civil and religious duties.