Census of Indians Living in the City of the Kings of Perú, 1613-1614. Commissioned by Don Juan de Mendoza y Luna, third Marquis of Monteclaros and XI Viceroy of Perú (1607-1615)


Registration Year: 2015
ID: 120/2015
Institution: Biblioteca Nacional de España

Related Documents

The census documents the presence in the city of Lima of Indians from different provinces of the Spanish and Portuguese empires (then under the same monarch, Felipe III of Spain, II of Portugal), both from the American continent and Asia. It contains records of 2,113 Indians who lived in the city of Lima in 1613-1614, not counting those in Cercado. 

The record includes the names of the indigenous people, age, occupation, properties, geographical origin, length of residence in Lima, names of their ethnic authorities (curacas, in the case of the Americas) and Encomenderos. Sometimes, it refers to patronymics and placenames in native languages. Likewise, it refers to public spaces such as streets, squares and buildings of Viceroyalty institutions. 

The census was ordered to be carried out by the eleventh Viceroy of Peru and the third Marquis of Montesclaros, Don Juan de Mendoza y Luna, as part of his project to reorganize the administration of his constituency at the beginning of the 17th century. The manuscript is comprised of 256 sheets in 32 x 23 cm format and bound in sheepskin. The cover is written by quill in black ink and with a light blue and gold background. It bears the coat of arms of the house of Montesclaros.