Mitma

Mitma was a policy of forced resettlement employed by the Incas. It involved the forceful migration of groups of extended families or ethnic groups from their home territory to lands recently conquered by the Incas. The objective was to transfer both loyalty to the state and a cultural baggage of Inca culture such as language, technology, economic and other resources into areas that were in transition.

The term mitma is a Quechua word meaning "sprinkle, distribute, spread". The term comes from the Quechua word "mitmat", which meant “man moved, transported” or “outsider”. It is related to another Inca word, "mit'a", which means labor taken in turns and is descended from the Quechua verb "mitmay". The Spanish also adopted the term "mit'a", and adapted the word to mean forced native labor during the Spanish colonial rule.

This policy moved entire communities hundreds of kilometers to create enclaves of settlers called mitmaqkuna. This policy was used over a long period of time in all border regions of the empire. Modern anthropological and linguistic studies suggest that about a quarter to a third of the population of the empire was resettled and is probably the largest single element of the Inca domination.

The strategic and political use of this policy might have also been related to transhumancy, when large herds of llamas, alpacas and vicuñas were managed by the state. The element of political stability is obvious as the new settlements depended on the Incas for defense, supplies and governance.

Because the ethnic Inca were outnumbered by the population they ruled over by 100 to 1, there were many political systems they employed to control their conquered people. The mitma policy was one method that involved planned transfers of entire populations to regions that were less developed or had a high degree of rebellions or uprisings. Provinces that were loyal were moved and resettled in new or hostile territories, while rebellious villages were moved to consolidated regions. By using such methods, the ethnic Inca were able to help diminish resistance to the Inca nobility. Outside of Cuzco, much of the Inca government consisted of Inca officials that supervised a hierarchy of hereditary ethnic lords who were drafted into state service. The mitma system was effective because instead of trying to invent new governments, they just shuffled about existing ethnic groups.

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