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".[1] The term comes from the Quechua word "mitmat", which meant “man moved, transported” or “outsider”.[2] 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.[3]
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.[4]
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.
^(in Spanish) Topónimos del Quechua Yungay Archived 2009-02-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on November 29, 2007.
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...
They also arranged the transfer of groups of villagers under the system of mitma (forced resettlement): It gave them grounds to work and places for houses...
with distinct phonetics) in order to communicate with the Inca lords and mitma colonists, as well as the wider integrating society, but largely retained...
Áreas Urbanas | Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana". www.mitma.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2022. Municipal Register of Spain...
that offered resistance, a system called mitma. The Saraguros in Loja province may have their origin from mitmas relocated from other parts of the Inca...
Movilidad y Agenda Urbana" [Catalogue and evolution of the road network]. www.mitma.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 April 2021. "CEDR TR 2020/01: Trans-European...
20 April 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023. "Mitma retiene el megayate "Valerie" en el Puerto de Barcelona". mitma.gob.es (in Spanish). Ministry of Development...
valley of the Chili river, he didn't build cities. Instead, through the mitma policy, he forced the resettlement of his subjects to solidify control of...
1470 AD, Chan Chan fell into decline. the Incas used a system called the "Mitma system of ethnic dispersion" which separated the chimú civilians into places...
tearing down the Inca Empire, the Chankas, who had been enslaved under the mitma for over a hundred years and were already in the verge of extinction, heard...
unanimously accept Inca rule. The Incas appointed kurakas and established mitmas in the Chilean Diaguita lands. The Diaguitas took influences from the Incas...
parts of the Tawantinsuyu were sent to reinforce the loyalty to the empire (Mitma) also to teach them new techniques of agriculture, metallurgy, etc. The...
service. Yanakuna were sometimes given high positions in the Inca government. Mitma is a term commonly associated with yanakuna, but its meaning is different...
not change Otavalo culture much. Contrary to Incan practice, few if any mitma (people forcibly resettled outside their homelands by the Incas) were moved...
it was founded. Huanya Capac also brought in 2,000 outsiders, under the mitma system, to resettle and work on the estate. According to Spanish sources...
Chucuito was 20,080 of which 15,778 were Aymara. 4.129 were Uru, and 173 were mitma. This implies a population of about 100,000 people in total. The Lupaca...
Columbretes Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, on 10 October 2001" (PDF). www.mitma.gob.es. Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission. 2005-09-28...
Aconcagua zone and were well known for their pottery. Later, Quillota was mitma and the capital of Qullasuyu, the southern Inca Empire. Diego de Almagro...
dispersing possible opposition to their rule. The resettlement policy was called mitma. The numbers resettled were large, estimated to be up to 80 percent of the...
Llollehue valley, between the Maipo and Mapocho rivers, and decided to found a mitma and a pukara. It was Tala Canta who gave the name to the land which would...
specialists and craftsmen might be imported. Another Inca policy, that of mitma, was probably used to collect labor for the royal estate. Mitmaqkuna were...
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