Intendancy of Arequipa

The Intendancy of Arequipa (Spanish: Intendencia de Arequipa), also known informally as Arequipa Province (Spanish: Provincia de Arequipa), was one of the territorial divisions of the Viceroyalty of Peru, ruled from the city of Arequipa and under the jurisdiction of the Bishopric of Arequipa. It existed from 1784 to 1824, receiving the news of the result of the Battle of Ayacucho in late December of the same year.

Intendencia de Arequipa
Intendancy of the Spanish Empire
1784–1824
Coat of arms
The intendancy within Peru in 1810
Capital	Arequipa
Government
Intendant
• 1784–1786	José Menéndez (first)
• 1816–1824	Juan Bautista [es] (last)
Historical era	Viceroyalty of Peru
• Established	1784
• Dissolved	December 1824
Subdivisions
• Type	Partidos
• Units	See relevant section
Succeeded by Department of Arequipa

History

Created in 1784, the intendancy was under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Lima until the city's occupation by José de San Martín in the 1820s, when it was transferred to the Real Audiencia of Cuzco [es].^[1]

The intendancy was phased out starting on April 26, 1822, when the Department of Arequipa was created by José de San Martín as part of his new protectorate,^[2] with Francisco de Paula Otero [es] as its leader. Despite this establishment, the patriot governments' armies of Peru, Colombia and Chile were subsequently defeated by the royalist troops of Valentín Ferraz y Barrau and Antonio Tur y Berrueta [es] in the Battle of Arequipa [es] of October 8, 1823.^[3] After the royalist capitulation at the Battle of Ayacucho on December 9, 1824, the news reached the intendancy later that month, with Pío de Tristán being chosen as interim viceroy until the Peruvian troops reached the city.^[4]

Subdivisions

The intendancy was divided into seven partidos.^[5]

Partido	Head (city of government)
Arequipa	Ciudad de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora del Valle Hermoso de Arequipa
Cailloma	Caylloma
Condesuyos	Chuquibamba
Camaná	Villa de San Miguel de Ribera
Moquegua	Villa de Santa Catalina de Guadalcázar del Valle de Moquegua
Arica	Ciudad de San Marcos de Arica
Tarapacá	San Lorenzo de Tarapacá

Intendants

The Governors (intendants) who ruled the intendancy of Arequipa were:^[6]

• José Menéndez Escalada, director general de Aduana (1784–1786)
• Antonio Alvarez y Jimenez, Brigadier (1786–1796)
• Bartolomé María Salamanca, Frigate captain of the Order of Alcántara (1796–1810)
• José Gabriel Moscoso, Lieutenant colonel (1810–1815)
• Pío de Tristán, Brigadier (1815–1816)
• Juan Bautista de Lavalle [es], Colonel of the Order of Alcántara (1816–1824)

See also

• Department of Arequipa