Polo de Ondegardo facts for kids

Polo Ondegardo (born around 1520 in Valladolid, Spain – died 1575 in Ciudad Rica de La Plata, now Bolivia) was an important Spanish official, lawyer, and thinker during the early years of the Spanish rule in South America. He was born into a noble family in Valladolid, which was then the capital of Castile.

Polo spent his adult life in what is now Peru and Bolivia. He helped manage the Spanish colony and learned a lot about the Native Americans in the southern Andes. He worked as an encomendero (a Spaniard in charge of a group of Native Americans), an inspector general (visitador), and a district governor (corregidor) in areas like Charcas (today Bolivia) and Cusco. His reports were well-known and are still important for studying the history of the Andes today.

Biography

Family and early life

Some old records sometimes add "Juan" to his name, but new research shows his name was just Polo. He always signed his papers as "the licentiate Polo" (el licenciado Polo). A "licentiate" was like having a master's degree in law.

We don't know his exact birth date or when he studied at the University of Salamanca. But in 1550, he said he was over 30, so he was probably born around 1520.

Polo was the oldest of seven children. His father, Diego López de León Ondegardo, was a nobleman who managed money for the Inquisition in Granada. This was an important job, appointed by the king. His mother, Jerónima de Zárate, came from a family of court officials. Her brother, Agustin de Zárate, was a financial auditor in Peru and later wrote historical accounts.

Polo's father died in 1534. Polo got his law degree in 1538. His mother's family, the Zárate's, helped pay for his education. Polo also received money to finish his studies at the University of Salamanca.

At Salamanca, Polo likely learned from Francisco de Vitoria. Vitoria was a founder of the School of Salamanca, which discussed human rights. This school believed that Native Americans had rights to their land and to govern themselves. Polo's later ideas were similar. He believed in treating Native Americans fairly and respecting their culture. But he also supported the king's economic and political goals.

Peru civil war

In 1543, Polo, now a lawyer, traveled to South America. He went with his uncle Agustín de Zárate. They sailed with Blasco Núñez Vela, the first viceroy (a ruler representing the king). The viceroy's job was to enforce new laws. These laws aimed to take power away from the conquistadors (Spanish conquerors) and give it back to the king.

Polo arrived in Lima, Peru, in June 1544. Soon after, the encomenderos (Spaniards who controlled native labor) rebelled against the king's authority. They supported Gonzalo Pizarro as governor.

Polo first sided with the Pizarro rebels. But when he learned that the king had sent Pedro de la Gasca to restore peace, Polo changed his mind. He joined the royalist (king's) troops. He also wrote a report about the events that had happened in Peru.

In April 1548, Pizarro's forces were defeated. Pizarro was executed. Polo was sent to Charcas (today Bolivia) as a judge. He also received an encomienda (a grant of native labor) in Cochabamba.

Polo as encomendero in Charcas

In Charcas, Polo was asked to study how Native Americans worked in the silver mines of Potosí. He interviewed local leaders (kurakas) and workers. He also used information from quipus, which were knotted cords used by the Incas to record data. Polo was one of the first to use such detailed interviews, like modern anthropologists.

Thanks to his work, he was able to send over 3,700 silver bars to the Royal Treasury. Polo also showed his gratitude to the Zárate family. He set up an income for his uncle Agustín de Zárate's daughter.

In 1550, Polo became an advisor to the archbishop of Lima. He received more land for his encomienda in Charcas. In 1552, he moved to Ciudad Rica de La Plata (today Sucre), the region's capital.

Polo also fought in a war against a rebel named Francisco Hernández Girón. Polo, a lawyer, fought as an infantry captain. He was seriously wounded in a battle in 1554. Girón was defeated and later executed.

Corrregidor in Cusco

Polo became very rich. In 1556, he sent 14,000 silver pesos to his mother in Spain. In 1557, he earned 10,000 ducats from his work as an attorney.

In 1558, Polo was appointed corregidor (district governor) of Cusco. This was a very important job.

In Cusco, he deeply studied the religious practices of the Native Americans. This led to his famous report, Tratado y averiguación sobre los errores y supersticiones de los indios (Treaty and inquiry into the errors and superstitions of the Indians).

He investigated the Inca religion and society. He found the locations of huacas (sacred places) along the ceque system. This was a network of lines leading from the Coricancha temple in Cusco.

Polo also found the mummified bodies and statues of several Sapa Incas (Inca emperors) and their wives. This was a big deal for the Spanish church. The Incas worshipped their dead rulers, which made it harder to convert them to Christianity. Polo found them with the help of the kurakas (chiefs) of the royal panakas (families descended from Inca emperors).

Polo kept the mummies in his house in Cusco. Later, he took them to Lima and displayed them for Spaniards at the Hospital de San Andrés. Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, whose mother was an Inca noblewoman, wrote about seeing his ancestors' mummies at Polo's house. The mummies later disappeared from the hospital and have never been found.

Polo also did important work in Cusco. He oversaw the building of the cathedral, a new city hall, a hospital for orphan girls, and stone bridges. He also helped organize the Feast of Corpus Christi procession. This festival was linked to the Andean Quyllurit'i festival, which celebrates the start of the harvest.

Advisor to the Viceroy in Lima

In May 1561, Polo left his job in Cusco and became an advisor to the viceroy in Lima. There, he wrote a report about the "perpetuity of the encomiendas" (Informe sobre la perpetuidad de las encomiendas en el Perú).

The question was whether encomiendas should be passed down through families forever. This issue had caused rebellions. Polo was a very rich encomendero himself. In 1562, he received 300 more Native Americans to work on his coca farm. He also traveled to consult local kurakas about the encomienda issue. On his trip, he wrote rules for the mines in Huamanga.

Around 1564, Polo married Jerónima de Peñalosa. They had six children. She was the daughter of Rodrigo Contreras, a former governor of Nicaragua.

For some years, Polo lived in La Plata (Sucre). He worked as a lawyer for the local court.

Second term as Corrregidor in Cusco

In 1571, Polo wrote a report about the importance of respecting Native American laws (Relación de los fundamentos acerca del notable daño que resulta de no guardar a los indios sus fueros). He then joined the government team of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo. Polo again became the corregidor in Cusco.

The King of Spain was worried that the Spanish conquest of the Incas might seem wrong. He wanted proof that the Incas were "tyrants" and not rightful rulers. This would make the Spanish king's rule seem more legitimate. Viceroy Toledo ordered chroniclers like Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa to find this proof. Polo worked with them.

In 1572, Sarmiento de Gamboa asked Polo for a statement about Inca history. Sarmiento's book described the Incas as tyrants. He had it read to Inca kurakas and Spaniards in Cusco to get their agreement.

Polo's second time as governor of Cusco (from August 1571 to October 1572) was very busy. He helped organize Native Americans into parishes (church districts). He also supported bringing the yanakunas (Inca servants) under Spanish rule. He advised on city rules and coca farming. He also actively supported the war against the Inca rebel Túpac Amaru. After Túpac Amaru was defeated and executed, Polo left his job in Cusco. He continued traveling with the Viceroy. In La Plata, Polo became the corregidor of Charcas. In 1574, he wrote a report about the Chiriguano Indians' war.

Retirement and death

Polo Ondegardo wrote his will on March 18, 1575, in La Plata. He left his wealth to his six young children. He died on November 4, 1575, in the same city. He was first buried in a convent in La Plata.

In 1592, Polo's body was moved to a Jesuit college in La Plata. Two years later, his wife, Jerónima, also died. She left a lot of wealth to their children.

Works

Polo Ondegardo was a government official. He mostly wrote reports and letters, which were never officially published. However, later writers and historians used his information in their own books.

Polo witnessed many important events of his time. He wrote about Native American customs, the debate over encomiendas, and how the colony was governed. His writings were used as key sources by many chroniclers, sometimes without even mentioning his name.

Only a few of Polo's many reports and letters have been found by scholars. His main works include:

• Tratado y averiguación sobre los errores y supersticiones de los indios [1559 / 1561?] (Treatise and inquiry into the errors and superstitions of the Indians). This report was about Andean religion. It was used in church meetings in Lima. The original manuscript is lost. A summary was saved in a book by José de Acosta. This report helped scholars understand the Inca past, including their laws, festivals, and healers. Polo gathered 475 Native Americans in Cusco to ask them about their beliefs. He was one of the last writers to get information directly from Inca leaders and khipu kamayuq (quipu managers). Polo also wrote about human sacrifices of children by the Incas. Later, some people questioned this, saying it might have been a misunderstanding. But archaeological discoveries have since confirmed that child sacrifices did happen. Scholars have also confirmed that Polo knew the Quechua language well.
• Relación de los adoratorios de los indios en los cuatro ceques [before 1561] (Report of the shrines of the Indians in the four ceques). This report lists the huacas (shrines) that stretched out from the Coricancha temple in Cusco. This report was later included in Bernabé Cobo's History of the New World.
• Informe al licenciado Briviesca de Muñatones sobre la perpetuidad de las encomiendas del Perú [1561] (Report to the licentiate Briviesca de Muñatones on the perpetuity of the encomiendas in Peru). This report discussed whether encomiendas (grants of native labor) should be passed down forever. It was requested by the viceroy.
• Relación del linaje de los incas y cómo extendieron ellos sus conquistas [1561- 1570] (Report of the lineage of the Incas and how they extended their conquests). Polo listed the Inca emperors, which matches other historical accounts.
• Ordenanzas para las minas de Guamanga [1562] (Ordinances of the Huamanga mines). These were rules for a mercury mine, requested by the viceroy.
• Carta para el Doctor Francisco Fernández de Liébana [1565] (Letter to doctor Francisco Fernández de Liébana). In this letter, Polo suggested ways to prevent Native Americans from having too many lawsuits with Spaniards. He also proposed rules for good governance of Native Americans. He thought encomenderos should have specific duties. This letter might have helped create separate laws for Native Americans.
• Verdadero y legítimo dominio de los reyes de España sobre el Perú [1571] (True and legitimate dominion of the kings of Spain over Peru). This work argued that the Incas were tyrants, which supported the Spanish king's right to rule in South America.
• Relación de los fundamentos acerca del notable daño que resulta de no guardar a los indios sus fueros [1571] (Account of the basic principles regarding the notable harm that results from not preserving the Indians’ laws for them). This report was for Viceroy Francisco de Toledo. It was a legal and economic study. It also gave valuable information about Native American leaders and the new colonial society. Polo suggested that respecting traditional Native American laws (fueros) would help the Spanish rule. However, this idea was not adopted by the viceroys.
• Informe sobre la guerra de los indios Chiriguanos [1574] (Report on the war of the Chiriguano Indians). This was written shortly before Polo died.

Pre-Hispanic local taxes and laws

Polo was familiar with different legal systems from his studies in Spain. He knew that different religions, like Islam and Judaism, had their own recognized laws. He also learned about human dignity and tolerance from the School of Salamanca.

With this background, Polo tried to understand the "particular laws" (fuero) of the Andean people. In his reports, he explained their main customs and beliefs to the Spanish authorities. He also described their old tax system, how they used natural resources, and the complex government of the Inca Empire (Tahuantinsuyu).

Polo believed that to control the Andean people best, the Spanish needed to understand their culture. He thought that using the old pre-Hispanic laws could reduce arguments and create a better tax system. He suggested that it was often in the Spaniards' best interest to keep the Andean systems as they were. However, Viceroy Toledo did not agree and did not use Polo's ideas.

Quipu

Polo was among the first to understand how important quipus were. Quipus were knotted cords used by the Incas to record information. Polo believed that quipus were a way to record not just numbers, but other information too.

He was amazed at how easily khipu kamayuq (quipu managers) could get information from them. Polo wrote that the effectiveness of quipus was "incredible" and "wonderful." He was impressed by how accurate the accounts kept in quipus were. He even tested them by asking quipu managers to record data and then checking it later. He found that their records matched his own written notes perfectly.

See also

• Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire
• Inca Empire
• Ceque system
• Quipu
• Panakas and ayllu
• Agustin de Zárate
• Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
• Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
• Francisco Pizarro
• Hernando Pizarro
• Gonzalo Pizarro
• Blasco Núñez Vela
• Francisco de Toledo

Images for kids

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  Signature of the licenciado Polo de Ondegardo.