The production, exchange, and taxation of cotton from temperate climates to the Neogranadine Central Andes in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Abstract

During the colonization of the Neogranadine central Andes, the cotton mantas woven by the Indigenous communities became highly coveted by the Spanish and, as such, affected their dynamics of production, work and trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. An indispensable part of this activity was the raw material cultivated in temperate climates and traded in its natural form, without the seed or as thread. This article aims to understand how Indigenous groups in the cotton production areas were able to meet the demand; the effects on their production methods, social organization and daily life; and, finally, the changes that occurred in terms of the political and trade relations which existed between the two geographic areas since the pre-Hispanic era. Through the review and analysis of official documents, the author was able to follow up on particular cases, which account for the changes in the daily lives of natives, the expansion of their croplands, and the encomenderos control of the trade, among other consequences of the demand for the natural fiber.