Colleges/Universities in Columbus: INDIANA UNIVERSITY-PURDUE UNIVERSITY COLUMBUS (IUPUC) (Total enrollment: 1,371; Location 4601 CENTRAL AVE; Public; Website: http://www.iupuc.edu) Click to draw/clear city borders
In the encomienda, the Spanish crown granted a person a specified number of natives from a specific community, with the indigenous leaders in charge of mobilizing the assessed tribute and labor.
The word encomienda comes from the Spanish word encomendar, to entrust.. The encomienda system had been used in feudal Spain during the reconquest and had survived in some form ever since. In the Americas, the first encomiendas were handed out by Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean. Spanish conquistadors, settlers, priests or colonial officials were given a repartimiento, or grant of land.