Mitma

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The Quechua word mitma refers to the policy of deliberate resettlements executed by the Incas. This involved transplanting whole groups of people of Inca background as colonists into new lands inhabited by newly conquered peoples. The aim was to distribute loyal Inca subjects throughout their empire to limit the threat of localized rebellions.

The colonist are referred to by the term mitmaq meaning "outsider" or "newcomer", or its hispanicized forms mitmac, mitimac, mitima, or mitimaes (plural).

This colonization policy is not to be confused with the system of labor draft called mita (mit'a).

The Peruvian folk music group Mitimaes named themselves after the mitma colonists.