When Did The Spanish Colonise Bolivia?

The Spanish conquest of Bolivia began with the formation of the country's capital, La Paz, in 1548. During the Spanish colonial period, the country was known as Upper Peru or Charcas. The territory was then under the control of the Viceroy of Lima, the capital of Peru. The local government sat at the Audiencia de Charcas located in Chuquisaca. The name of Chuquisaca was later changed to La Plata and is also known as Sucre.

Most of the silver in the coffers of the Spanish Empire (which contributed immensely to the increase in the wealth of the colonisers) was produced by the silver mines in Bolivia. The well-known Cerro Rico (which is loosely translated into English as Rich Hill) is located in Potosi, which was, for many years, the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. The natives were enslaved and worked as bonded labourers, but the Napoleonic wars weakened the control of the Spanish royal authority and increased the sentiments of the natives against the Spanish colonial rule.