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Province of Charcas
Province of Charcas Governorate of Charcas, Province of the Charcas | |||||||||||||
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| 1538–1782 | |||||||||||||
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| Status | Part of the Spanish Empire Viceroyalty: Peru (1542–1776) Río de la Plata (from 1776) Real Audiencia (judicial district): Lima (until 1559) Charcas (from 1559) | ||||||||||||
| Capital |
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| Common languages | Spanish | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Catholic | ||||||||||||
| Government | Governorate | ||||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||||
| Historical era | Spanish conquest of America Spanish Monarchy: 16th, 17th and 18th centuries | ||||||||||||
• Constituted as a province | 1538 | ||||||||||||
• Dissolved by the intendancy system | 1782 | ||||||||||||
| Currency | Spanish real | ||||||||||||
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Tenencia de gobierno until 1546 and then divided into corregimientos dependent on the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1776 | |||||||||||||
The Province of Charcas, or Governorate of Charcas, was an overseas territory forming part of the Spanish Empire from 1538, which belonged to the Viceroyalty of Peru between 1542 and 1776, when it passed to the new Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, until the ordinance of intendancies was implemented in 1782.
The name refers to the group of corregimientos that were under the direct government of the Viceroy of Peru until 1776 and afterwards of the Viceroy of the Río de la Plata until the implementation of the intendancy system in 1782. A large part of the territory was the core upon which Bolivia was constituted in 1825.
In a judicial sense, the "Province of Charcas" may correspond to part of the jurisdictional district of the Real Audiencia of Charcas, which had its seat in the city of La Plata (today Sucre). Except in exceptional situations, the President of the Real Audiencia of Charcas—who was a robed magistrate—had no governing functions over the provincial territory, which remained divided into corregimientos in the charge of administrators who served as governors of their districts under the direct jurisdiction of the Viceroy. He acquired governing functions when the office of Governor Intendant was created in 1782.
History
Tenencia de gobierno of Charcas
In 1538, about 100 Spaniards led by Gonzalo Pizarro, together with thousands of allied Indians, entered the territories of the Yamparas, the Cara-caras and the so-called Charcas Indians. Gonzalo, exploring the terrain, determined that the comarcas should form the "Province of the Charcas" and that they lay within the Spanish Empire. Gonzalo reported to his brother Francisco Pizarro, who was persuaded to undertake a foundation in the said Province of Charcas. On April 16, 1540, the present-day city of Sucre was founded under the name of "Villa de La Plata" or "Villa de La Plata de la Nueva Toledo" by Pedro Anzúrez de Camporredondo—Peranzúrez, Peranzules or Pero de Anzúres—on the basis of an Indigenous comarca or settlement that was called Chuki-Chaca (Aymara) or Chuquiochata (Puquina), in compliance with the orders of Francisco Pizarro.
While Gonzalo reported to his brother, he left Diego de Rojas as the person in charge, or Lieutenant Governor, of the Province of the Charcas; Rojas, with the help of the Indigenous people, confronted the Chiriguanaes, achieving successes over the Chiriguanaes. Later Diego de Rojas set out toward the southeast to penetrate the lands of the Chiriguanaes and meet Pedro de Candia; in order to advance toward the Chunchos, Rojas left Francisco de Aguirre as Lieutenant Governor at the end of 1539, and Aguirre then followed Rojas's paths, thus setting out toward the Chiriguanaes of the southern valley. Diego de Rojas was the first Lieutenant Governor of the Province of the Charcas, then Francisco de Aguirre for a few months, then Pedro Anzúrez de Camporredondo in 1540, who was appointed Lieutenant Governor after the foundation of La Plata, after him Captain Diego de Reyes from 1542,[1] and the fifth in the Charcas, who was placed there by the de facto Peruvian governor Gonzalo Pizarro, was General Francisco de Almendras, from October 28, 1544, to July 16, 1545. He was succeeded by the last Lieutenant Governor, Alonso de Mendoza, from 1545 to 1546, since in that year the territory was divided into corregimientos; Juan Polo de Ondegardo was appointed to the now-downgraded Corregimiento of Charcas until 1549, and the aforementioned Mendoza to the new Corregimiento of La Paz, from 1548 to 1549.
The Real Audiencia of Charcas and its corregimientos
On September 18, 1559, King Philip II established the Real Audiencia of Charcas, thereby shaping the first territory of the Province of Charcas in the judicial sense. The territorial limits over which this Real Audiencia exercised jurisdiction varied over time, according to the distribution made by the Spanish Crown. At first it was restricted to the territories that the Viceroy the Count of Nieva designated on May 23, 1561: "the said city of La Plata with more than one hundred leagues of land around it on every side".
Extension of the Real Audiencia to the governorates
On August 29, 1563, the territory of the Real Audiencia was extended to include the territories between La Plata and the city of Cuzco inclusive (Cuzco and part of these territories were reincorporated into the Real Audiencia of Lima in 1568, and the remainder were incorporated into the province), the Province of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and the Governorate of Tucumán. On October 1, 1566, it also came to include the Governorate of the Río de la Plata and Paraguay.
Ecclesiastical jurisdiction
In June 1552 Pope Julius III erected the Diocese of La Plata, with jurisdiction over the Province of Charcas, part of Chile, Tucumán and the Río de la Plata. Its first bishop was the Dominican friar Tomás de San Martín, who never took possession of his see owing to his sudden death; his successor and fellow Dominican, friar Domingo de Santo Tomás, was the first resident bishop (1564–1570). From this bishopric the Diocese of Santiago de Chile was later separated in 1563, and the Diocese of Tucumán on May 14, 1570.
In 1605 Pope Paul V created the bishoprics of Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Chuquiago) and of San Lorenzo de la Barranca or Santa Cruz de la Sierra, with jurisdiction over what was later called Moxos and Chiquitos. In 1609 the bishopric of La Plata was raised to an archbishopric, its suffragans being the bishoprics of La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Tucumán, Paraguay and Buenos Aires.
Corregimientos
Between April and May 1565 the Governor of Peru, Lope García de Castro, established the corregimientos in the viceroyalty, among them the Corregimiento of Potosí. In 1574 the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo organized the corregimientos.
In 1578 the province comprised the following corregimientos:
- Corregimiento of Spaniards of the City of La Plata and of the Villa Imperial de Potosí, to which the following corregimientos were subordinate:
- Corregimiento of Spaniards of the Villa of Santiago de Tomina
- Corregimiento of Spaniards of the Villa of San Bernardo de Tarija (owing to disagreements with Potosí, it governed itself or also depended for the most part on Paraguay and Tucumán, even until 1785)
- Corregimiento of Indians of Porco
- Corregimiento of Indians of Mizque and Pocona
- Corregimiento of Indians of the Yamparáez y Villaverde
- Corregimiento of Indians of the Province of Chayanta
- Corregimiento of Indians of Paria
- Corregimiento of Spaniards of the Villa de Oropessa del Valle de Cochabamba
- Corregimiento of Indians of Atacama y los Lípez y Condes
- Corregimiento of Indians of the Carangas
- Corregimiento of Spaniards of the City of La Paz, to which the following corregimientos were subordinate:
- Corregimiento of Indians of Caracollo or Sicasica
- Corregimiento of Indians of the Yungas and the Province of Larecaja
- Corregimiento of Indians of Paucarcolla or Puno
- Corregimiento of Indians of the Pacajes or Berenguela
- Corregimiento of Llacxa of the province of Omasuyo
- Government of Chucuito (personal encomienda of the King)
- Corregimiento of Spaniards of the City of Cuzco (it was not part of the province), to which the following corregimientos were subordinate:
- Corregimiento of Indians of Urcosuyo in the Collao or Cabana and Cabanillas or Lampa
- Corregimiento of Indians of Collasuyo in the province of the Collao or Asillo and Azángaro
- Corregimiento of Indians of Carabaya
Subsequently, changes took place among the corregimientos:
- Yungas and Larecaja were separated
- Atacama and Lípez were separated
- San Felipe de Austria de Oruro was separated from Paria in 1612
- Pilaya and Paspaya, or Zinti, separated from Tarija and Chichas
- Pomabamba, separated and later reunited with Tomina by royal decree of December 25, 1773
- Apolobamba, created and later reunited with Larecaja by royal decree of December 25, 1773[2]
- Yamparáez was united with the City of La Plata, which was separated from Potosí by royal decree of December 25, 1773
- Chulumani, separated from Sicasica in 1780
In 1619 the priest Gerónimo Pallas wrote Misión a las Indias. De Roma a Lima: la "Misión a las Indias", 1619 (razón y visión de una peregrinación sin retorno), in which he drew up a list of the corregimientos of Peru then in existence:
The Imperial city of Cusco is the head of fifteen other corregimientos, which are: (...) Asillo and Sangaro, (...) Omasuyos, Cavana and Cavanilla, (...) Caravaya.
The city of La Paz, of six other corregimientos: Caracoleo, Larecaxa, Pauparcolla, Pacaxes, Omasuyo, and the governorate of Chucuyto.
The city of La Plata, or the Charcas, where another Chancery and archiepiscopal see also reside, is the head of eleven other corregimientos, and they are: Paria, Carangas, Cochabamba, Porco, Amparaes, Misque and Pocona, Tomina, Chinchas, and Tarixa, Chayanta, Atacama, and the Lypes.
After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1768, the corregimientos of Moxos and Chiquitos were created in 1772; in 1777 they became governments subordinate in some respects to the audiencia.
The creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata caused the territory of the Province of Charcas to pass to this new administrative area in 1776.
In 1782 the following corregimientos existed within the jurisdiction of the Province of Charcas: Lampa, Azángaro, Carabaya, Potosí, Oruro, Paria, Carangas, Chayanta, Cochabamba, Porco, 'Tarija', Chichas, Tomina, Yamparáez and La Plata, Lípez, Atacama, Pilaya and Paspaya or Sinti, La Paz, Larecaja, Sicasica, Pacajes, Omasuyos, Chucuito, Paucarcolla, Mizque, Chulumani, and the governments of Moxos and Chiquitos created in 1777.[3]
Intendancy of Puno
On January 28, 1782, King Charles III promulgated the "Royal Ordinance for the establishment and instruction of intendants of army and province in the Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires", and the territories ("partidos") of Paucarcolla, Chucuito, Lampa, Azángaro and Carabaya were included in the Intendancy of La Paz.
At the end of the Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II, and on the proposal of December 31, 1783, of the Viceroy Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo and the superintendent Francisco de Paula Sanz, the King created the Intendancy of Puno, separating from the "Intendancy of La Paz" the partidos (or subdelegations) of Chucuito, Lampa, Azángaro, Carabaya and Paucarcolla. With the last of these, the capital of the intendancy was formed, with its seat in the Villa San Carlos de Puno, later raised to the status of city on October 14, 1805. The main reason the Intendancy of Puno was created was that La Paz covered a very extensive territory.
When the Real Audiencia of Cuzco of the Viceroyalty of Peru was created in 1787, the partidos of Lampa, Azángaro and Carabaya became part of its district. Finally, a royal decree of February 1, 1796, incorporated the last partidos of the Intendancy of Puno into the Viceroyalty of Peru; thus the territories of Chucuito and Paucarcolla passed to the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Cuzco, separating forever from the Real Audiencia of Charcas and the Viceroyalty of La Plata.[4]
The territories of Puno thus remained for 20 years in the Viceroyalty of La Plata, with the exception of the westernmost Partidos, Lampa, Azángaro and Carabaya, which were there for 11 years. Today they lie within the jurisdiction of the Republic of Peru.
Intendancy of Chuquisaca
The Intendancy of Chuquisaca—whose governor was at the same time President of the Real Audiencia of Charcas—was created by the Royal Ordinance of Intendants of Army and Province of January 28, 1782, partially on the basis of the Province of Charcas.
(...) another in the City of La Plata, whose district shall be that of the Archbishopric of Charcas, except the Villa of Potosí with all the territory of the Province of Porco in which it is situated, and those of Chachanta or Charcas, Atacama, Lípez, Chichas and Tarija, for these five Provinces are to make up the exclusive district of the remaining Intendancy, which is to be seated in the aforesaid Villa (...)
Independence of Bolivia
The independence of Bolivia arose from the revolutions of Chuquisaca (Sucre), of May 25, 1809, and of La Paz, of July 16 of that year, the first two cries for freedom to occur in the Spanish colonies. The territory of Bolivia was the place where the pro-independence struggle in the region began, but the country was the last to achieve its independence, in 1825. After the May Revolution of 1810 in Argentina, the Junta of Buenos Aires advanced on Córdoba de Tucumán and the Province of Charcas. However, there was no effective administration of Upper Peru beyond the military occupation by the Army of the North. On July 13, 1810, the Viceroy of Peru José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa provisionally added the territory of the Province of Charcas and that of Córdoba de Tucumán to his viceroyalty. The Viceroy clarified in the decree of annexation that he did so: until His Excellency the Viceroy of Buenos Aires, and the other legally constituted authorities, are restored to their legitimate command, since only royal authority could definitively detach territory from the Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires.[5][6] From then on, a series of military campaigns followed one another until the definitive abandonment of the Auxiliary Expeditions to Upper Peru. Rural guerrillas, known as Republiquetas, kept up the insurgency within the country.
Pedro Antonio Olañeta, a Spanish absolutist and prominent local caudillo, rebelled against the authority of the Viceroy of Peru, and, in communication with Bolívar, indirectly favored the defeat of La Serna in the campaigns of Junín and Ayacucho; but he himself was subsequently defeated and killed the following year at the Battle of Tumusla while attempting to resist the pro-independence advance in Upper Peru. Antonio José de Sucre, under the direction of Bolívar, convened a sovereign national congress that would decide in favor of the independence of Bolivia. The Congress met on July 10, 1825, and on August 6 of the same year signed the act of independence.
References
- ↑ Castillo Lara, Lucas G.; in "La asombrosa historia de doña Catalina de Erauso, la Monja Alférez, y sus prodigiosas aventuras en Indias, 1602-1624" (p. 129, Ed. Planeta Venezolana, 332 pp., 1992).
- ↑ Cuestión de límites entre Bolivia y el Peru sobre la region de Caupolicán ó Apolobamba, p. 95. Author: Abel Iturralde. Publisher: Imp. de "El Telegrafo,", 1897
- ↑ Miguel LUQUE TALAVÁN (1999). "La Intendencia de Puno: de circunscripción colonial a departamento de la República del Perú (1784-1824)". Revista Complutense de Historia de América (in español). Madrid: Universidad Complutense de Madrid. ISSN 1132-8312. [1].
- ↑ Miguel LUQUE TALAVÁN (1999). Revista Complutense de Historia de América (in español). Universidad Complutense de Madrid. [2].
- ↑ Historia de España en sus documentos: siglo XIX, Volume 5, p. 80. Historia. Serie Mayo Series. Historia (Cátedra).: Serie mayor. Author: Fernando Díaz-Plaja. Editor: Fernando Díaz-Plaja. Compiled by Fernando Díaz-Plaja. Publisher: Cátedra, 1983. ISBN 8437603900, 9788437603902
- ↑ Documentos para la historia argentina, Volumes 39-41, p. 182. Author: Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas. Published in 1965
Bibliography
- BARNADAS Josep M., Charcas (1535-1565). Orígenes históricos de una sociedad colonial, La Paz 1973.
- Es muy sencillo: llámenle Charcas. Sobre el problema de los antecedentes coloniales de Bolivia y de su histórica denominación. Author: Josep María Barnadas. Publisher: Librería Editorial "Juventud", La Paz 1989.
