Ayllu

The ayllu is the traditional community of the Andes, especially among the Quechua and Aymara: a network of families, often with a putative or fictive common ancestor, holding a territory in common. Ayllus predate the Inca conquest and still exist, particularly in Bolivia and Peru. Under the Incas, largely self-sufficient ayllus relied on the state storehouses only in disasters such as El Niño years. Members owed one another reciprocal help (ayni) and communal work (mink'a), and paid the mit'a, labour owed as tax to the Inca state and later to the Spanish viceroyalties.