Since the pioneering work of Rolando Mellafe which is now nearly twenty years old, the extent and importance of migration in the Viceroyalty of Peru during the colonial period has been noted, and a considerable amount of additional work has been accomplished by various scholars.

As regards Upper Peru, the various writings of Sánchez Albornóz, Evans, and Cole have all dealt with various aspects of the topic. The scale of the movement, its origins and causes, the general directions of migration, and some of the consequences are generally understood, and we can at least estimate the numbers involved. A summation of these findings will be provided here, but the major thrust of this paper is to attempt to answer some of the specific questions that arise over the actual processes of migration, and to suggest directions for further research.

First, it may be useful to summarize and expand on some of the points on which there is general agreement. We have two major points of reference in any discussion of population developments in seventeenth-century Upper Peru. The first is that of the Visita General of Viceroy Toledo taken in 1575, the second that of the Numeration General of Viceroy Palata, conducted in the years 1683–1686. The first presents us with the following population picture (Table 4.1).

While the Tasa provides no systematic details, it is assumed that the overwhelming majority of the population were originarios, although mention is made specifically of yanaconas in La Paz and of various groups of mitimaes.

In contrast, the Numeration General shows a distinctive distribution (Table 4.2).