Indian reductions in the Andes

Except for Roman Catholic priests, Spaniards were forbidden from living among the Indians and the Spanish extracted tribute and labor from the Andean population through their indigenous leaders, the caciques or kurakas.

"[5] In order to achieve these economic and political goals efficiently, one of the measures Toledo proposed was to relocate the scattered indigenous populations of the Andes into larger settlements, called "reductions.

The selection of “appropriate” sites for the reducciones usually fell within “areas of proven or potential economic benefit to the Crown”,[6] which was often near mining zones and agricultural valleys.

[2] Before the construction of the relocation towns, indigenous peoples throughout the Andes lived in small, localized and dispersed villages, which were difficult for Spanish colonial authorities to oversee.

A primary motivation for the massive resettlement program "was to establish direct state control and facilitate the church's Christianization of the native population, while enhancing the collection of the tribute tax and the allocation of labor.

"[5] Toledo further justified the reducciones under the theory that they would protect natives from “being exploited by local landowners and miners, harassed by the colonial judicial system, and deceived by a false religion.”[6] Such paternalistic attitudes were common among Spanish authorities who perceived indigenous groups as volatile and prone to lawlessness if not placed under strict administration.

Many Spaniards viewed Christianity as an inseparable component of town building in the colonial era, believing that it was necessary for the proper functioning of civilized urban life.

[2] Though the caciques almost universally opposed the policy of resettlement, many of them took advantage of the opportunity to transition their positions of power into the reducciones and actively challenge Spanish authority.

Traditional family and kinship ties that existed for centuries were disturbed as small villages were forced to consolidate into poorly organized and often oversized settlements.