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This decree was promulgated by Francisco de Borja y Aragón, prince of Esquilache, when he served as viceroy of Peru from his arrival in Lima in 1615 to 1621. The document is part of a set of books found in the National Library of Peru and that is part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World since 2013.
The document consists of a single page and focuses on the control over the consumption of alcoholic beverages and its relationship with indigenous communities. It is explained that the authorities recognize a relationship between the excessive consumption of chicha (corn-based alcoholic beverage) and atavistic religious traditions. These excesses, according to the viceregal authority, threatened the social order. This is easy to verify due to the large number of taverns, both for Spaniards and Indians, which were licensed to sell various alcoholic beverages during the first half of the seventeenth century.

Enrique Urteaga
Proyecto Estudios Indianos