Jesuit padres

Jesuit padres in Paraguay was a theocratic mission which governed native Indians from 1605 to 1769. It started when Spain granted the Society of Jesus exclusive rights to rule an area in what is now Paraguay and which then was inhabited by 100,000 to 200,000 Guarani Indians. The previously savage Indians were transformed into docile and devoted Christian converts who obeyed orders to farm the land, build imposing churches and perform simple tasks for an ecclesiastical government that ran each community like a religious convent. The theocracy ended soon after Spain in 1767 suppressed the Jesuit order in all Spanish areas.