Inquilino

In historic Chilean agriculture an inquilino is a labourer indebted to a landlord who allows him to form a farm in parts of his property (usually in the marginal lands to keep away intruders) and who in exchange works without pay for the landlord.[1] The inquilinos provided key manpower to carry out tasks like the gathering of livestock (rodeo) and slaughter. For inquilinos living in wheat-producing regions duties increased as the Chilean wheat cycle went on in from the 18th century onwards.[2] The inquilinaje institution that characterized large parts of Chilean agriculture were eliminated by the Chilean land reform in the 1960s and early 1970s.[3] Historian Mario Góngora has researched on the history of the inquilinos.[4]

19th century picture of an inquilino (left) and a foreman (right), in Chile, by Claudio Gay, París, 1854.

In modern Spanish the word has the same meaning as the English "tenant".