Battle Of The Maule
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The Battle of the Maule (in Mapudungun: ''Mawlen Weichantun'', in Quechua: ''Mawlli Ch'iraqi'') was fought between a coalition of
Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...
people of Chile and the
Inca Empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts",  "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...
of Peru. Traditionally this battle is held to have occurred near what is now
Maule River The Maule river or Río Maule ( Mapudungun: ''rainy'') is one of the most important rivers of Chile. It is inextricably linked to the country's pre-Hispanic (Inca) times, the country's conquest, colonial period, wars of Independence, modern hist ...
, in
Central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaís ...
. The account of Garcilaso de la Vega depicts the three-day battle, which is generally believed to have occurred in the reign of
Tupac Inca Yupanqui Topa Inca Yupanqui or Túpac Inca Yupanqui ( qu, 'Tupaq Inka Yupanki'), translated as "noble Inca accountant," (c. 1441–c. 1493) was the tenth Sapa Inca (1471–93) of the Inca Empire, fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pachacuti, and ...
(1471-93 CE). Historian
Osvaldo Silva Osvaldo Silva Galdames (1940–2019) was a Chilean historian active within the field of prehistory. He was a founder of the academic history journals '' Cuadernos de Historia'' and '' Revista de Historia Indígena'', as well being a driving force ...
conjectures instead the battle occurred much after Tupac Inca Yupanqui's conquest of northern Chile with 1532 being a possible date. Silva claims the battle was not decisive at all as the Inca army was already in retreat from a new incursion to Mapuche lands in the south. Arguably the Inca's advances in Chile were halted by their unwillingness to commit greater resources in fighting the Mapuche.


Account of Garcilaso de la Vega

In a six-year campaign with an army that eventually rose to 50,000 men, the Inca general Sinchiruca had subdued the regions of northern Chile,
Copiapó Copiapó () is a city and commune in northern Chile, located about 65 kilometers east of the coastal town of Caldera. Founded on December 8, 1744, it is the capital of Copiapó Province and Atacama Region. Copiapó lies about 800 km north ...
,
Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than ...
,
Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the List of highest mountains on Earth, highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in the ...
, and the
Maipo Valley Maipo Province ( es, Provincia de Maipo) is one of six provinces in the Santiago Metropolitan Region of central Chile. Its capital is San Bernardo. Administration As a province, Maipo is a second-level administrative division of Chile, governed b ...
around what is now
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
. After securing the Maipo Valley, Sinchiruca sent 20,000 men down to the valley of the
Maule River The Maule river or Río Maule ( Mapudungun: ''rainy'') is one of the most important rivers of Chile. It is inextricably linked to the country's pre-Hispanic (Inca) times, the country's conquest, colonial period, wars of Independence, modern hist ...
. The territory of the
Picunche The Picunche (a Mapudungun word meaning "North People"), also referred to as ''picones'' by the Spanish, were a Mapudungun-speaking people living to the north of the Mapuches or Araucanians (a name given to those Mapuche living between the Itata an ...
people inhabiting this last region south of Maipo Valley extended further to the south to the
Itata River The Itata River flows in the Ñuble Region, southern Chile. Until the Conquest of Chile, the Itata was the natural limit between the Mapuche, located to the south, and Picunche, to the north. See also *Itata *List of rivers in Chile This list o ...
, and these people south of the Maipo Valley had refused to submit to the rule of the Inca and called on their allies south of the Maule; the Antalli, Pincu, and Cauqui to join in opposing these invaders.de Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Comentarios reales Segunda Parte : Libro VII Cap 19 This defiance gave them their distinctive name of Purumaucas from
Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...
''purum awqa'' meaning "savage enemy". The Spanish later corrupted the name into
Promaucaes Promaucae, also spelled as ''Promaucas'' or ''Purumaucas'' (from Quechua ''purum awqa'': wild enemy), were an indigenous pre-Columbian Mapuche tribal group that lived in the present territory of Chile, south of the Maipo River basin of Santiago, Ch ...
. The Incas crossed the Maule River, and keeping their old custom, they sent messengers to require these Purumaucas to submit to the rule of the Inca or resort to arms. The Purumaucas had determined to die before losing their freedom, and responded that the victors would be masters of the defeated and that the Incas would quickly see how the Purumaucas obeyed. Three or four days after this answer, the Purumaucas and their allies arrived and camped in front of the Incas' camp with 18,000 - 20,000 warriors. The Incas tried diplomacy, offering peace and friendship, claiming they were not going to take their land and property but to give them a way to live as men. The Purumaucas responded saying that they came not to waste time in vain words and reasoning, but to fight until they won or died. The Incas promised battle the next day. The following day both armies left their camps and fought all day without either gaining an advantage, and both suffering many wounded and dead. At night they both retired to their positions. On the second and third day they fought with the same results. At the end of the third day of battle both factions saw that they had lost more than half their number in dead, and the living were almost all wounded. On the fourth day, neither side left their own camp, which had been fortified, as they hoped to defend them if their opponents attacked. The fifth and sixth days were passed in the same manner but by the seventh the Purumaucas and their allies retired and returned home claiming victory.de Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Comentarios reales Segunda Parte : Libro VII Cap 20


Revised account by Osvaldo Silva

Historian Osvaldo Silva challenges much of the narrative of Garcilaso de la Vega. Silva holds that the battle of the Maule is not connected to the main pulse of Incan conquest of Chile which took place during the reign of
Topa Inca Yupanqui Topa Inca Yupanqui or Túpac Inca Yupanqui ( qu, 'Tupaq Inka Yupanki'), translated as "noble Inca accountant," (c. 1441–c. 1493) was the tenth Sapa Inca (1471–93) of the Inca Empire, fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pachacuti, and h ...
(1471–93). Instead he positions it much later when Inca rule was already established in northern Chile, suggesting 1532 as likely date. Further Silva argues two battles took place. A first battle would have occurred at
Cachapoal River Cachapoal River is tributary river of the Rapel River in Chile located in the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region. The river gives its name to the Cachapoal Province. Cachapoal Valley The valley takes its name from the Cachapoal River th ...
with the Inca army being able to continue south. Then, after deep penetration into Mapuche lands in the south the Inca army returned north while under harassment and at Maule River a weakened Inca army halted to fight incoming Mapuches. The Inca incursion may have reached as far as the site of Concepción where the later account of
Jerónimo de Vivar Jerónimo de Vivar was a Spanish historian of the early conquest and settlement of the Kingdom of Chile, and author of ''Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile''. Little is known about his life except that according to his ...
of Mapuches bearing gold and silver objects suggest some kind of Mapuche—Inca interaction. As such Silva concludes that the battle of the Maule did not stop the Inca conquest, but it was rather a lack of incentives to commit greater efforts to subdue a non-urban society, plus the difficulties in imposing imperial rule given the political and social structure of the Mapuche. Silva contrasts the Chilean campaigns with the great effort put by the Inca Empire in its arduous war with the Chimú Empire.


Notes


Sources

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Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (12 April 1539 – 23 April 1616), born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa and known as El Inca, was a chronicler and writer born in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Sailing to Spain at 21, he was educated informally there, where he l ...
, '
Comentarios reales
'', Segunda Parte : Libro VII, Cap
181920
*
Jerónimo de Vivar Jerónimo de Vivar was a Spanish historian of the early conquest and settlement of the Kingdom of Chile, and author of ''Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile''. Little is known about his life except that according to his ...

Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile (Chronicle and abundant and true relation of the kingdoms of Chile)
ARTEHISTORIA REVISTA DIGITAL; Crónicas de América (on line in Spanish) *
Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche (1742–1816) was a Chilean soldier, author and historian of Basque descent, born in Valdivia. Author of the ''Descripcion Histórico Geografía del Reino de Chile'', covering the history and geography of the Captaincy ...

Descripcion Histórico Geografía del Reino de Chile (Description Historical Geography of the Kingdom of Chile), PDF E Libros from Memoria Chilena
(History of Chile 1542–1788) *
Tomo I History 1542 - 1626, Tomo 8 de Colección de historiadores de Chile y de documentos relativos a la historia nacional. Santiago : Impr. del Ferrocarril, 1861.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of The Maule Maule Maule Mapuche history Maule 15th century in the Inca civilization 15th century in the Captaincy General of Chile History of Maule Region Maule, Battle