Encyclopedia of the Incas

document    relates the origin  myths   of  the region’s    various ethnic  groups  and

ayllus, as  well    as  the epic    struggles   between ancestral   mountain    deities and

encounters  between gods    and men in  the ancient,    pre-Inca    past.

Given   his subsequent  efforts in  mounting    campaigns   to  destroy indigenous

“idols” in  the central highlands,  there   is  every   reason  to  suppose that    Avila’s

motives in  participating   in  the writing of  this    work    were    aimed   at  exposing

idolatrous  objects and practices   that,   once    brought into    the open,   could   then

be  rooted  out and destroyed.  As  one commentator has noted:

It  [the    Huarochirí  Manuscript] remained    his secret  weapon  in  hunting down    the three-thousand-

plus    sacred  objects,    or  huacas, and the mummified   ancestors   he  and his followers   destroyed.  In  his

wanderings, Felipe  Guaman  Poma    de  Ayala   met some    of  Avila’s victims and,    notwithstanding

his own dislike of  Andean  deities,    cursed  Avila’s mercilessness   and his greed:  “Oh what    a   fine

doctor, where   is  your    soul?   What    serpent is  eating  you?”   (Salomon    2008)

Avila   not only    directed    such    anti-idolatry   campaigns   himself,    but he  also

produced    a   number  of  other   texts   intended    for others  who were    involved    in

the  relentless  Colonial-era    struggles   by  the     Catholic    priesthood  to  combat

indigenous  religious   beliefs and practices.

Further Reading

Durston,    Alan.   Pastoral    Quechua:    The History of  Christian   Translation in  Colonial    Peru,   1550–1650.

Notre   Dame,   IN: University  of  Notre   Dame    Press,  2007.

Duviols,     Pierre.     “Estudio    bibliográfico.”     In Dioses   y   hombres     de  Huarochirí,     narración   quechua

recogida    por Francisco   de  Avila.  Edited  by  José    María   Arguedas    and Pierre  Duviols,    218–66. Lima:

Museo   Nacional    de  Historia,   Instituto   de  Estudios    Peruanos,   1966    [1598?].

Hampe   Martínez,   Teodoro.    Cultura barroca y   extirpación de  idolatrías: La  biblioteca  de  Francisco   de

Avila,  1648.    Cuadernos   para    la  Historia    de  la  Evangelización  en  América     Latina,     no.     18.     Cuzco:

Centro  de  Estudios    Regionales  Andinos “Bartolomé  de  las Casas,” 1996.

Salomon,    Frank.  “Avila, Francisco   de  (ca.    1573–1647).”    In  Guide   to  Documentary Sources for Andean

Studies,    1530–1900,  edited   by  Joanne  Pillsbury,  vol.    2,  58–64.  Norman:     University  of Oklahoma

Press,  2008.

Salomon,    Frank,  and George  L.  Urioste,    eds.    and trans.  The Huarochirí  Manuscript: A   Testament   of

Ancient and Colonial    Andean  Religion.   Austin: University  of  Texas   Press,  1991    [1598–1608].

Spalding,   Karen.  Huarochirí: An  Andean  Society under   Inca    and Spanish Rule.   Stanford,   CA: Stanford

University  Press,  1984.

■GARY   URTON

AYLLU
This term refers to the basic kinship, social, and ritual groupings in Andean
communities from the time of the Incas—if not earlier—down to the present day.