CONQUISTADOR LAND GRANT

MS 2927/4
MS Short Title CONQUISTADOR LAND GRANT
Text ENCOMIENDA TO FRANCISCO ALVAREZ BY HERNANDO DE ZARATE, DEPUTY OF THE VICEROY DE TUCUMAN Y RIO DE LA PLATA, COVERING THE CACIQUE CAULAJAI OF THE TUCUELPHEHEY VEGUAY NATION AND OTHER CACIQUES. SIGNED 14 MAY 1594, CONFIRMED BY ALONSO DIAZ DE ORTIZ AND ALVAREZ, 2 AUGUST THE SAME YEAR
Description MS in Spanish on paper, Buenos Aires, 1594, 3 pp., 30x20 cm, single column, (26x18 cm), 28 lines in a rounded cursive documentary script.
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Context
Provenance 1. H.P. Kraus, New York.
Commentary MSS 2927/1-6 are a group of unpublished and uncalendared colonial Argentine documents from the earliest period of the final foundation of Buenos Aires, signed by the first governors, lieutenants and conquistadors of the province of Rio de la Plata. Very few such documents survive from the 16th c., even in the local archives. The grants of land were made to those who accompanied the founder, Juan de Garay (1527-1583), in 1580 in payment for their services to the crown. The settlement of the region was one of the most difficult efforts of Spanish colonial policy due to fierce native resistance. In the encomienda system, the Indian chief, cacique, and his nation living in the conquered area, were apportioned to the settlers as labourers. In return the settler was required to defend them, support them and provide them with an education in the Christian faith. This relationship usually lasted for 2 generations.
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Place of origin Buenos Aires
Dates 1594 AD