The End of an Era? The Aftermath of the General Insurrection of Indians in the Southern Andes, 1783–1809

My paper analyzes the southern region of the viceroyalty of Peru between 1783 and 1809. Currently, the historiography argues that the General Insurrection of Indians closed a long cycle of indigenous mobilization called Age of Andean Insurrection. The brutal repression and the so-called pacification of the region combined with the implementation of the Bourbon Reforms and the crisis of the cacique figure weakened indigenous peoples’ structure of authority and hindered their political mobilization. I will argue, however, that indigenous political activism persisted in Southern Peru in the aftermath of the rebellion. Indeed, a closer analysis of some indigenous communities in this region shows that they continued fighting for collective rights but cacicazgos underwent a significant change. Officials of the crown instituted a policy of removing ethnic caciques from tax collection duties effectively eliminating their role as intermediaries. Communities rejected the legitimacy and authority of these caciques by electing new authorities of their own choosing. Some communities chose new ethnic caciques, but others replaced them altogether with segundas personas or alcaldes de indios. Whatever choice they made, indigenous peoples remained active politically and continued fighting for self-government and political autonomy before the imperial crisis of 1808.