The wars raged in the Argentine Northwest, in what are now the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Catamarca and La Rioja.
In 1559, the gobernador Juan Pérez de Zurita founded the city of Córdoba de Calchaquí; he then expected local tribes to submit to the encomienda system of servitude, but these tribes resisted this attempt.
This last curaca accepted baptism as part of the negotiations, becoming then known under the Christian name of Juan Calchaquí.
[1] However, once Juan Calchaquí understood the unequal nature of the encomienda he rebelled and led attacks against the Spanish, evicting them of the three cities founded by Zurita: Córdoba de Calchaquí, Londres in present-day Catamarca Province and Cañete.
[3] This was a serious setback for the Spanish conquistadors and in historiography favourable to Spain the war has been labelled "one of the worst tragedies of our history".