The ''Second part of the royal commentary (la Segunda parte de los comentarios reales)'' better known as the ''General history of Peru'' (''La historia general del Perú),'' is a historical literary work written by

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 li ...

, the first Peruvian and Spanish

mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

of intellectual renown. It was published in 1617, in

Córdoba, Spain Córdoba ( ; ), or sometimes Cordova ( ), is a city in Andalusia, Spain, and the capital of the Province of Córdoba (Spain), province of Córdoba. It is the third most populated Municipalities in Spain, municipality in Andalusia. The city prim ...

, a year after the death of its author, and was dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. It is the continuation of the '' Comentarios reales de los incas,'' and was published in a crucial period of the

history of Peru The history of Peru spans 15 millennia, extending back through several stages of cultural development along the country's desert coastline and in the Andes mountains. Peru's coast was home to the Norte Chico civilization, the oldest civilization ...

, which began with the arrival of the Spanish and ended with the execution of the final Inca of Vilcabamba,

Túpac Amaru I Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

, in 1572. Aside from the historical motive of the text, the author sought through this second part of his work to praise his Spanish heritage (his father having been a Spanish conquistador), as he had done with his indigenous heritage in the first part of his work (his mother having been a member of Incan royalty).

Publication

The work was conceived by the author as the second part of his ''Comentarios Reales'', which had been published in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

in 1609. In this first part, the author discussed the culture and customs of the Incas and other peoples of Peru; in the second part, he discussed the Spanish conquest of the land and the establishment of a colony. The manuscript of the ''Second part of the Royal Commentaries'' had been finished since 1613. The printing of the text was realised in the Cordoban printers of the widow of Andrés Barrera, but this work took significant time. As such, Garcilaso de la Vega was unable to see the publication of his work, dying on the 23rd of April 1616, at the age of 77. The following year, the book was sold under the name ''The General History of Peru'' (''Historia General del Perú''), a title which was arbitrarily chosen by the editor. The printing had been concluded since the previous year, since there exists an unusual exemplar from 1616. On the front-page, one can read the following text: "The general history of Peru discusses its discovery, how the Spanish won it, the civil wars that occurred between Pizarros and Alamgros on the partition of the land, the punishment and risings of tyrants; and other particular events that are contained in the History. Written by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Captain of his Majesty and dedicated to the Purest Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our lady. In Cordoba, by the widow of Andrés Barrera. In the year M. DC. XVII." ''"Historia general del Perú, trata del descubrimiento de él, cómo lo ganaron los Españoles, las guerras civiles que hubo entre Pizarros y Almagros, sobre la partija de la tierra, castigo y levantamiento de tiranos; y otros sucesos particulares que en la Historia se contienen. Escrita por el Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Capitán de Su Majestad y dirigida a la Limpísima Virgen María, Madre de Dios y Señora Nuestra. En Córdova, por la viuda de Andrés Barrera, . Año M. DC. XVII."''

Content

In this work, Garcilaso unpacks the

conquest of Peru The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spaniards, ...

, the fights between conquistadors and the establishment of the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

, as well as the resistance of the Incas of Vilcabamba, that culminated in the execution of the last of them,

Túpac Amaru Túpac Amaru or ''Thupa Amaru'' (14 April 154524 September 1572) (first name also spelled Túpac, Tupac, Topa, Tupaq, Thupaq, Thupa, last name also spelled Amaro instead of Amaru) was the last Sapa Inca of the Neo-Inca State, the final remaini ...

in 1572. The text also includes an attempt to rehabilitate the image of the author's father, the captain Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega, who had fallen in the eyes of the crown for having served in the group of the rebel

Gonzalo Pizarro Gonzalo Pizarro y Alonso (; 1510 – 10 April 1548) was a Spanish conquistador. He was the younger paternal half brother of Francisco Pizarro, who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Pizarro was the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro y ...

Sources

The sources were mostly oral testimonies by actors and witnesses to events (soldiers, captains, clergies, etc., as well as the author's own maternal and paternal sides of the family), as well as works by chroniclers such as

Blas Valera Blas Valera (1544 – 1597) was a Roman Catholic priest of the Jesuit Order in Peru, a historian, and a linguist. The son of a Spaniard and an Andean woman, he was one of the first mestizo priests in Peru. He wrote a history of Peru titled ''Hi ...

Pedro Cieza de León Pedro Cieza de León ( Llerena, Spain c. 1518 or 1520 – Seville, Spain July 2, 1554) was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of Peru and Popayán. He is known primarily for his extensive work, ''Crónicas del Perú'' (The Chronicle of Peru), ...

Francisco López de Gómara Francisco López de Gómara (February 2, 1511 – c. 1564) was a Spanish historian who worked in Seville, particularly noted for his works in which he described the early 16th century expedition undertaken by Hernán Cortés in the Spanish conqu ...

, Agustín de Zárate, Diego Fernández de Palencia (El Palentino), as well as the author's own personal account of some of the events, complete with descriptions of places, customs, festivities and other facts of daily life.

Aims of the work

If the first part of the ''Comentarios Reales'' aimed at portraying the Incas positively (the maternal ancestors of the author), the second part of the text (or the ''General History of Perú'') contains a justification of Spanish conquest - within which the father of the author, the Spanish captain Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega, was involved. In passing, the author defends the involvement of his father in the fights involving conquistadors, refuting thus the chronicler El Palentino, who in one of his works held that the captain Garcilaso had decidedly influenced the outcome of the battle of Huarina, within which the rebels

and

Francisco de Carvajal Francisco de Carvajal (1464 – 10 April 1548) was a Spanish military officer, conquistador, and explorer remembered as ''"the demon of the Andes"'' due to his brutality and uncanny military skill in the Peruvian civil wars of the 16th centur ...

rerouted the forces loyal to the king who were at the command of Diego Centeno. According to the chronicler, Garcilaso de la Vega's father had given his horse, named Salinillas, to the fugitive Pizarro, so that Pizarro could return to commanding his forces and change the course of the battle. Garcilaso de la Vega sought to dismantle this narrative, claiming that his father was made to join against his will the rebel group, and joined as soon as he good the forces of the more 'peace-making'

Pedro de la Gasca Pedro de la Gasca (June 1485 – 13 November 1567) was a Spanish bishop, diplomat and the second (acting) viceroy of Peru, from 10 April 1547 to 27 January 1550. He was known by his renowned political ability in spite of his physical deformi ...

. The explicit aims of the author to "justify" Spanish conquest have allowed many scholars to characterise the author as a conformist and anti-indigenous. However, despite his expressions of loyalty to the Spanish crown and professions of Christian faith, Garcilaso de la Vega also used his work to underline the virtues and qualities of the Incas and the deficiencies and cruelties of the Spanish.Tamayo Vargas, p. 220. * Dedication of the Book (to the most glorious Virgin Mary). * Prologue * First Book (41 chapters). * Second Book (40 chapters). * Third Book (22 chapters). * Fourth Book (42 chapters). * Fifth Book (43 chapters). * Sixth Book (29 chapters). * Seventh Book (30 chapters). * Eight Book (21 chapters). In total, 8 books with 268 chapters.

Editions

After the first edition of 1617, a second edition of the work appeared in Madrid in 1722. Since the work centred on a controversial theme - that is, that of the Spanish conquest in America - this work was translated in other languages faster than the first part of the ''Commentaries'' had been. French, English and Flemish people were extremely interested in works of this style. This was translated into French by J. Baudoin (Paris, 1650). Other Parisian editions were produced in 1658, 1672, and 1830. An edition was published in Amsterdam in 1706, and extracts of the work were translated into English in 1625. The first complete London edition was published in 1688, alongside the first part of the ''Commentaries''. In Peru and America, the following editions were released (among others): * ''Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas'' (1918-1920). This included both the first and the second part of the ''Commentaries'', featuring annotations and agreements with the text by Horacio H. Urteaga, as well as the eulogy of Garcilaso by José de la Riva Agüero y Osma. Imprenta y Librería Sanmarti. Colección de Historiadores clásicos del Perú. 6 vls. * ''Historia General del Perú'' (''Segunda parte de los Comentarios Reales de los Incas'', 1944). Edition of Ángel Rosenblat, del Instituto de Filología de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Praise for the author and examination of the work by José de la Riva Agüero. Buenos Aires. * ''Historia General del Perú'' (1959).Prologue by Aurelio Miró Quesada S. Librería Internacional del Perú S.A. – Peuser S.A. Lima – Buenos Aires. 2 volumes. * ''Historia General del Perú; segunda parte de los Comentarios Reales'' (1962). Preliminary study and notes by José Durand. Lima, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. 4 Volumes

References and notes

{{Reflist

Bibliography and further reading

* Del Busto Duthurburu, José Antonio: ''La pacificación del Perú''. Librería STUDIUM S.A., Lima, 1984. * Inca Garcilaso de la Vega: ''Historia general del Perú o Segunda parte de los Comentarios Reales''. Córdoba, 1617. * Sánchez, Luis Alberto: ** ''La literatura peruana''. Derrotero para una historia cultural del Perú, tomo I. Cuarta edición y definitiva. Lima, P. L. Villanueva Editor, 1975. ** ''La literatura en el virreynato''. Incluida en ''Historia del Perú'', Tomo VI. Perú Colonial. Lima, Editorial Mejía Baca, 1980. ISBN 84-499-1610-0 * Tamayo Vargas, Augusto: ''Literatura Peruana I'', tercera edición. José Godard Editor, Lima, Perú. * ''Garcilaso. Comentarios Reales de los Incas''. Antología. Biblioteca Imprescindibles peruanos, Lima, Empresa Editora El Comercio S.A, 2010. ISBN 978-612-4069-45-1 * Chang-Rodríguez, Raquel: ''Franqueando fronteras: Garcilaso de la Vega y La Florida del Inca''. Fondo Editorial PUCP, 2006. E
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External links

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Historia General del Perú
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