The population of the campiña and town of Arequipa is reckoned at about 50,000.[125] The place was first colonized by the Inca Mayta, who established a body of _mitimaes_ or colonists there, from the village of Cavanilla, near Puno, and ordained that they should remain and settle there. Hence the name "_Ari quepay_," "Yes! remain:" or more probably it is derived from the words "_Aric quepa_," "Behind the sharp peak." These _mitimaes_ were the ancestors of the present Indians, or _Cholos_ as they are called, and were established in villages in the campiña, occupied in the cultivation of maize; but the city is purely Spanish, and was founded by Pizarro in 1540, at which time the stone-quarries first began to be worked. The _Cholos_ or Indians of Arequipa have long been notorious for their turbulence, and for the eagerness with which they join any attempt at revolution, apparently from mere love of excitement. They are addicted to the use of _chicha_--a fermented liquor made from Indian corn--to such an extent that it is said that nearly all the maize which is raised in the campiña is used in brewing this liquor; under the influence of which the Cholos have established the fame of Arequipa as the grand focus of Peruvian revolutions. But this habit of drinking to excess has rendered the Cholos, though capable of fighting desperately behind walls, quite worthless as soldiers in a campaign; and their habit of body becomes so bad that a slight wound is frequently fatal. Though the received idea in Europe, that Peru is constantly in a state of civil war, is erroneous in fact, as well as unjust,[126] yet it is true that the period of tranquillity which had lasted from 1844 to 1854 was broken in the latter year by the successful revolution of General Castilla--the result of the discontent caused by the dishonest financial measures and the embezzlements of his predecessor; and two years afterwards the Cholos of Arequipa commenced a rebellion against Castilla. A brief account of the siege of that city, which followed, will give a good idea of the endurance and fighting qualities of the Cholos.