Rumiñawi, born late 15th century in present-day Ecuador, died June 25, 1535, was a

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

during the Inca Civil War. After the death of Emperor

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa ( Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c. 1502 – 26-29 July 1533) was the last Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca (sovereign emperor) of the Inca Em ...

, he led the resistance in 1533 against the Spanish in the northern part of 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 adm ...

(modern-day

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

). According to tradition, he ordered the city's treasure to be hidden and the city burned to prevent looting by the Spaniards. Although captured and tortured, he never revealed the treasure. Since 1985, December 1 is celebrated as a day of commemoration of his acts.

Life

Born in Pillaro in modern Tungurahua Province in

, his given name was Ati II Pillahuaso. Inca historians tend to believe that he was Atahualpa's half-brother, born from a native noble woman. Later in life, after becoming an important warrior and military leader, he was called Rumiñawi (

Kichwa Kichwa (, , also Spanish ) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia ('' Inga''), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers. The most widely spoken dialects are Chimbor ...

''rumi'' meaning stone, rock, ''ñawi'' meaning eye, face,Kichwa Yachakukkunapa Shimiyuk Kamu (Ministry of Education, Ecuador) "stone eye", "stone face", "rock eye" or "rock face",Leon, P., 1998, ''The Discovery and Conquest of Peru, Chronicles of the New World Encounter,'' edited and translated by Cook and Cook, Durham: Duke University Press, (Hispanicized spellings of his name include ''Rumiaoui, Ruminavi, Ruminagui, Rumiñagui, Rumiñahui''.) When Francisco Pizarro imprisoned Atahualpa and held him in the Ransom Room, Rumiñawi took forces to

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...

to deliver a huge amount of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

for his release. After the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...

executed Atahualpa, Rumiñahui returned to Quito. He is believed to have ordered the

Treasure of the Llanganatis The Treasure of the Llanganates refers to a huge amount of gold, silver, platinum and electrum artifacts, as well as other treasures, supposedly hidden deep within the Llanganates National Park, Llanganates mountain range of Ecuador by the Inca g ...

thrown into a lake or buried in snow. Sebastián de Benalcázar headed to

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on ...

, intent on any treasure he could recover. The forces of Rumiñawi and Benalcázar met at the Battle of Mount Chimborazo, where Rumiñawi was defeated. However, before the Spanish forces captured Quito, its treasures were secreted away.Prescott, W.H., 2011, ''The History of the Conquest of Peru,'' Digireads.com Publishing, To prevent the Spanish soldiers from looting the city, Rumiñawi had ordered it to be burned. He also ordered the principal ladies of the temples who refused to flee, to be killed, to prevent their being captured and assaulted by the foreign soldiers. Rumiñahui was eventually captured by the Spanish, who tortured and killed him. But he never revealed the location of the treasure.

Legacy

*In 1985 the Ecuadorian Congress made December 1st an annual day of remembrance for Rumiñawi, as an indigenous hero and defender of the Kingdom of Quito. *Rumiñahui's portrait was the prominent image on the front of the 1,000

Ecuadorian sucre The Sucre () was the currency of Ecuador between 1884 and 2000. Its ISO code was ECS and it was subdivided into 10 ''decimos'' and 100 ''centavos''. The sucre was named after Latin American political leader Antonio José de Sucre. The currency ...

note.

References

*Moya Espinoza, Reynaldo. ''La conquista en Piura''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruminahui 15th-century births 1535 deaths History of Ecuador Inca Empire people Indigenous military personnel of the Americas