Indian auxiliaries

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Auxiliary Indians were the name used in old Spanish chronicles and historical texts for the indigenous peoples who were integrated into to the armies of the Spanish conquisadors with the purpose of supporting their advance and combat operations, during Conquest of America. They acted as guides, translators or porters and in this role were also called Yanaconas particularly within the old Inca Empire and Chile. The name was also used for formations composed of indigenous warriors, which they used for reconnaissance, combat, and as reserve in battle. The auxiliary Indian remained in use after the conquest, during some revolts, in border zones and permanent military areas, as in Chile in the War of Arauco.

[edit] History

The formations of auxiliary Indians arose commonly from alliances established by the Spaniards, exploiting ethnic and tribal antagonisms that they found during their occupation of the territory they were attempting to conquer. Hernán Cortés was one of the first captains who was known for their ability to strengthen their columns with these natives. Commonly after the conquest these auxiliary Indians were divided among the settlers of the territories already conquered. Commonly they constituted the most numerous group of the conquerors followers:

The expedition of Pedro de Alvarado to Guatemala was composed of 250 Spaniards and between 5 and 6,000 auxiliary Indians.
During the siege of Cuzco, Francisco Pizarro had 200 Spaniards and 30,000 native huancas, cañaris and chachapoyas.
The column of Diego de Almagro who went into in Chile had 500 Spaniards, 100 African slaves and about 10,000 auxiliary Indians.
In the case of the conquest of Chile by Pedro de Valdivia, the original group who left Cuzco formed 11 Spaniards and 1,000 auxiliary Indians.