The Conquest of Hunger and Disease

The harm done by the conquest was made worse by the obsession of each of the new rulers with gaining as much wealth as possible This led to bitter civil wars between rival Spanish Commanders and to risings of the newly rich settlers against representatives of the Spanish crown. As rival armies burned and pillaged, the irrigation canals and hillside terraces which had been essential to agriculture went to waste, the llama herds were slaughtered, the food stocks kept in case of harvest failure were eaten. The hungry were hit by the same European diseases which had caused so much harm in the Caribbean. The effect was even greater than that of the Black Death on 14th century Europe. In the valley of Lima only 2,000 out of a population of 25,000 survived in the 1540s. The indigenous population fell by between a half and three-quarters.