Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Legacy of Potosí
By the time Diego Huallpa revealed his earth-shattering discovery of silver at Cerro Rico
in Potosí in 1544, Spanish conquerors had already firmly implanted their customs on the
remnants of the Inca empire. Taking a page from the Inca book, they left the local
cacique
(chieftain) leadership and
mita
structure in place within the indigenous communities. This
provided a local system of governance and an ongoing labor supply. The best conquista-
dors were granted
encomiendas
, vast swaths of land and the peasant labor that went with
it.
Potosí was officially founded in 1545, and in
1558 Alto Perú gained its autonomy from
Lima with the placement of an Audiencia
(Royal Court) in present-day Sucre. Transport-
ation hubs, farming communities and other
support centers sprung up, centered on Potosí.
And while some other Bolivian cities such as
La Paz and Sucre were coming to life, the fo-
cus in the region was on Potosí. Potosí's mine was the most prolific in the world and its
silver underwrote Spain's international ambitions, enabling the country to conduct the
counterreformation in Europe, and supporting the extravagance of its monarchy for at
least two centuries. But not all wealth left the region, and cathedrals sprung up across the
Altiplano, eventually giving rise to a local school of design, and later the establishment of
Bolivia's place in the fields of arts, politics and literature.
Missionaries showed up in the 18th and 19th centuries in the areas around Santa Cruz
and Tarija, altering the cultural landscape of the region. Increased conflict between new
Spanish arrivals and the elite of Potosí in the late 17th century triggered a broad economic
decline in the 18th century.
Between 1780 and 1782 an indigenous revolt led by
Tupac Amaru extended from Peru into Bolivia.
During this time, the indigenous nobility lost much
of their power, creating the framework for complete
domination by Spanish- descendent interests.
