Itatím, the short-lived (1593–1648) area of settlement between the Miranda and Apá rivers in what is now. the southern Mato Grosso, is almost an unknown of Paraguayan history. Like Guaira, its counterpart to the southeast, Itatím was settled by the outthrust of Indian-seeking colonists from Asunción, became a hub of Jesuit activity, and also fell before the onslaught of bandeirantes in the 1630s and 1640s. Unfortunately, this monograph does little to clarify the impact of Itatím upon Paraguayan expansion and recession, or its effect upon the colonial history of the Río de la Plata. Instead, the author attempts to analyze Paraguayan social and economic reality in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by focusing on this region’s primitive, isolated, extractive economy, based upon the personal service of Guaraní Indians integrated into the encomienda system.
It is indeed true that the central issue of Paraguayan society and economy in this era was the labor utilization of the Indian, but that point is often lost in the jumbled discussion of Paraguay from the Mendoza expedition to the era of Bishop Cárdenas. Leaping from the conquest to the activities of the Jesuits, from a discussion of the Paraguayan encomienda to the attacks of the bandeirantes, from imperial politics to internal Paraguayan concerns, and ending with a superficial discussion of Itatím, this monograph lacks coherent organization. Furthermore, in the attempt to deal with all topics covering a span of a hundred and fifty years, the author does little that other scholars, such as Julio César Chaves, Magnus Mörner, Efraím Cardozo, Elman R. Service, and others have not done better.
Chronicles, secondary sources, and collections of documents were used for this monograph. There is an absolute lack of archival investigation.
