The encomienda was the legal system is Spanish colonies in America by which the Spanish crown attempted to define the status of the natives. It was based on a system which was in use in Spain during the Roman period but used also following Reconquista. In this system, conquered peoples were considered vassals of the Spanish monarch. The Crown was giving grants or encomienda to a  conquistador, soldier, official, or others, effectively making them trustees of the land, of a specified number of Indians living in a particular area. The grantee or encomendero in Spanish could extract tribute from the natives, but also indigenous population got to keep their lands.
