Pedro Pablo Atusparía Ángeles (1840-1887) was a Peruvian politician and indigenous rights activist of Quechua descent. He was known for initially organizing the

Huaraz Rebellion The Huaraz Rebellion was an insurrection started in 1885 by indigenous peasants against the Peruvian Republic. The cause for the conflict was the reestablishment of the indigenous tribute by the government of President Miguel Iglesias Mig ...

before being rehabilitated by the new government of

Andrés Avelino Cáceres Andrés Avelino Cáceres Dorregaray (November 10, 1836 – October 10, 1923) served as the President of Peru two times during the 19th century, from 1886 to 1890 as the 27th President of Peru, and again from 1894 to 1895 as the 30th Preside ...

as part of the larger

Peruvian Civil War of 1884–1885 The Peruvian civil war of 1884–1885 was an internal Peruvian conflict that resulted from Peru's defeat in the War of the Pacific. The '' casus belli'' was the Treaty of Ancón The Treaty of Ancón was a peace treaty signed by Chile and Peru o ...

Childhood

Pedro was born on June 29, 1840, at Huaraz to an unknown father of possible

Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

descent and María Mallqui who was a domestic worker who worked at Jirón Sucre 201. The owner's wife of his birthmother's workplace, Doña Emperatriz Sender, decided to entrust Pedro to María Martina Ángeles who was a housewife and a native from Tuquipayoc and to Cayetano Atusparía who originated from Marián as his legitimate parents. They decided to take him to the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

along with Manuel Alzamora who owned several pastures at Marián and his daughter Petronila. According to native custom, when the son of an indigenous couple reaches a certain age, he would travel to a ''Misti'' to serve in promises of protection and education that he would provide. Pedro was thus handed over to his godfather Manuel Alzamora and taught how to dye jergas, baizes, cordellates and other woollen fabrics that the Quechua tended to market. Despite this, Pedro remained illiterate throughout most of his life; all his documents were signed by someone else at his personal request.

Effects of the War of the Pacific

Atusparía married María Fernanda Yauri on October 9, 1869, and they had four children, their first child dying at a young age. By 1880, he was made deputy inspector of the Marián ranch but had a conflict with agent Manuel Mosquera and both ended up in a street fight. At Christmas 1884, an assembly held at the church of Huaraz and Atusparía elected him Mayor of the first district of the city, La Independencia which was put into effect at the New Year 1885. After the conclusion of the War of the Pacific, the

Callejón de Huaylas The Santa Valley (Quechua language, Quechua ''Sancta'') is an inter-andean valley in the Ancash Region in the north-central highlands of Peru. Due to its location between two mountain ranges, it is known as Callejón de Huaylas, the Alley of Huayla ...

was sacked and pillaged by the Chilean forces with the

Battle of Huamachuco The Battle of Huamachuco was fought on the 10 July 1883, and it was the last major battle of the War of the Pacific. The Chilean soldiers, led by Colonel Alejandro Gorostiaga, decisively defeated the Peruvian army commanded by General Andrés Av ...

being the most major of the engagements in the valley. This led to the

between the governmental forces of

Miguel Iglesias Miguel Iglesias Pino de Arce was born on 11 June 1830 in Cajamarca, Peru, and died on 7 November 1909 in Lima, Peru. He was a Peruvian soldier, general, and politician who served as the 26th President of Peru ( Regenerator President of the Repub ...

and

. While the neighboring towns were divided between the two, Huaraz was in full support of Iglesias as they appointed Francisco Noriega as prefect of the department but he became unpopular after enforcing unreasonable taxes as well as communal tasks assigned purely to Quechua.

Huaraz Rebellion

The Quechua populace rejected these demands as the demand for four silver sols. The opposition grew large enough to the point where on February 22, 1885, Noriega granted a term of three days for the payment of the two sols per the first semester but Manuel Mosquera asked for a reduction on the taxes and the end of the communal tasks. When Atusparía was ordered to give the order for the Quechua to collect straw to repair the roofs of the houses, he refused to give the order and Noriega left the prefect with sub-prefect José Collazos in charge of the prefect. Immediately, Collazos ordered for the arrests of several mayors, including Atusparía within the prefect and had their braids cut off when it came time for their ''corregidores ''. The Quechua didn't take this kindly and began planning for an open revolt to capture the city of Huaraz as part of an open revolt against Collazos so that they could punish the Iglesistas who were in support of Collazos, steal from Tusán businesses for selling the few merchandise at the city for inflated prices and free Atusparía. The rebels gathered up few weaponry which were used during the War of the Pacific and the siege on the city began on March 2, 1885. Despite Collazos' best efforts to put down the rebellion, the Quechua initially succeeded and ordered a massacre on Collazos' forces and freed Atusparía from prison. A proposal was made for Atusparía to become the new mayor of Huaraz but he declined the offer and gave the role to Mosquera who was also against Iglesias. The rebellion soon spread to neighboring towns and the Cordillera Negra with the works of Pedro Cochachín garnering more political support in the area. As a response, Iglesias appointed Colonel José Iraola as the new prefect and gave him a force consisting of two infantry battalions, two artillery brigades and a cavalry regiment as they arrived at

Casma Casma is a city in the coastal desert of Peru, located northwest of Lima. It is the capital of Casma Province and the third most populous city in the Ancash Region with an estimated population of 29,343 (2015). It is located in the lower Casma ...

. A journalist known as Luis Felipe Montestruque made several articles titled "El Sol de los Incas" which claimed that the rebellion at Huaraz was intended to restore the

Tahuantinsuyu 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 ...

and how the forces of Andrés Avelino Cáceres might support the rebellion. A violent battle occurred at Huaraz on May 4, 1885, between the forces of Atusparía and Iraola but as Atusparía was wounded in the leg and took refuge in the house of Julio Aristibel as the forces of Iraola recaptured the city. Iraola offered the guarantee of Atusparía's life and he surrendered but other Quechua leaders chose not to surrender and would make violent attempts and recapturing the city, ending in the losses of many Quechua soldiers and the subsequent execution of the Uschu Pedro. After Cáceres defeated Iglesias at the civil war and caused him to be exiled from Peru, one of the first things he did was free Atusparía from prison and was invited to the Government Palace to discuss the events at Huaraz with Cáceres acknowledging the mistreatment of the Quechua.

Later years and death

Atusparía later sent his son, Manuel Ceferino to his nation so that he would receive proper education and be consistently protected. On June 15, 1886, he went to Casma and proceeded to head for Huaraz. The remaining Quechua forces considered Atusparía to be a traitor to their cause but the local press and positive remarks from Cáceres lead to a relatively positive image for him. Atusparía's cause of death remains conflicted as some sources state that he was poisoned during a banquet while historian Manuel Salvador Reina Loli states that Atusparía fell victim to a

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

outbreak that broke out around the time of his death.

References

Bibliography

* Ghiggo, Juan (2001): ''Pedro Atusparia y la dignificación de los campesinos de Áncash''. Lima, 2001. * Alba Herrera, Augusto (1985): ''Atusparia y la revolución campesina de 1885 en Áncash''. * Loli, Manuel Salvador (1987): ''Pedro Pablo Atusparia. Los que hicieron el Perú'' (no. 12), Lima. * Maguiña, Santiago (1974): ''La revolución indígena de 1885 en Huaraz y Áncash'', Huaraz. * Reyna Zegarra, Ernesto (1932): ''El amauta Atusparia'' Ediciones de Frente, Lima. * Ribeyro, Julio Ramón: ''Atusparia'', drama. {{DEFAULTSORT:Atusparía Ángeles, Pedro Pablo 1840 births 1887 deaths Peruvian politicians of Quechua descent 19th-century Peruvian politicians Peruvian military personnel People from Ancash Region Deaths from typhus