The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II (4 November 1780 – 15 March 1783) was an uprising by ''
cacique
A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...
''-led
Aymara,
Quechua, and ''
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 ...
'' rebels aimed at overthrowing
Spanish colonial rule in Peru. The causes of the rebellion included opposition to the
Bourbon Reforms, an economic downturn in colonial Peru, and a grassroots revival of
Inca
The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...
cultural identity led by
Túpac Amaru II, an indigenous ''cacique'' and the leader of the rebellion. While Amaru II was captured and executed by the Spanish in 1781, the rebellion continued for at least another year under other rebel leaders.
Amaru II's rebellion was simultaneous with the uprising of
Túpac Katari in colonial-era
Upper Peru (now Bolivia).
Background
The government of Spain, to streamline the operation of its colonial empire, began introducing what became known as the
Bourbon Reforms throughout
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
.
In 1776, as part of these reforms, it created the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata by separating
Upper Peru (modern Bolivia) and the territory that is now
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
from 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 ...
. These territories included the economically important silver mines at
Potosí, whose economic benefits began to flow to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
in the east instead of
Cuzco and
Lima
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
to the west. The economic hardship this introduced to parts of the
Altiplano combined with systemic oppression of Indian and ''
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 ...
'' underclasses (a recurring source of localized uprisings throughout Spanish colonial South America) to create an environment in which a large-scale uprising could occur.
In 1778 Spain raised sales taxes (known as the ''
alcabala'') on goods such as rum and
pulque (the common alcoholic beverages of the peasants and commoners) while tightening the rest of its tax system in its colonies,
in part to fund its
participation in the American Revolutionary War. José Gabriel Condorcanqui, an upper-class Indian with claims to the Inca royal lineage, adopted the name
Túpac Amaru II (alluding to
Túpac Amaru, the last Inca emperor), and in 1780 called for rebellion. He claimed to be acting on behalf of the King of Spain, enforcing royal authority on the corrupt and treacherous colonial administration.
In 1780, during the Túpac Amaru rebellion,
Fernando Vélaz de Medrano, 4th Marquess of Tabuérniga, informed the Prince of Asturias (the future
Charles IV of Spain) about the rebellion and widespread corruption among royal officials in South America, particularly regarding the
playing card and
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
monopolies imposed by Minister
José de Gálvez, which were seen as a catalyst for the unrest.
Túpac Amaru was motivated in part by reading of a
prophecy that the Inca would rule again with British support. He may have been aware of the British colonial rebellion in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
and Spanish involvement in the war.
Additionally, the growth of mining as a source of colonial revenue was largely caused by the increased burden placed on indigenous workers who formed the base of the labor used to mine silver, leading to increased unrest.
Rebellion near Cusco
On 4 November 1780, after a party in
Tungasuca, where Túpac was a ''
cacique
A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...
'', Túpac and supporters seized Antonio Arriaga, the
corregidor of his hometown of
Tinta. They forced him to write letters to his treasurer in Tinta requesting money and arms and to other influential individuals and
kurakas ordering them to congregate in Tungasuca. On 10 November, six days after his capture, Arriaga was executed in front of thousands of gathered
Indians, ''
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 ...
s'', and ''
criollos'' (locals of partial Spanish descent).
Following the assassination of Arriaga, Túpac made a proclamation citing several explicit demands related to indigenous issues.
These included ending the mita rotational labor system and limiting the power of the corregidor and thus amplifying his power as ''cacique''.
To the same end, he also sought the creation of a new audiencia at Cuzco. Túpac began moving through the countryside, gaining supporters, primarily from the Indian and ''mestizo'' classes, but also with some creoles. On 17 November, he arrived at the town of
Sangarará, where Spanish authorities from Cuzco and the surrounding area had assembled a force of about 604 Spaniards and 700 Indians. Túpac's ad hoc army, which had grown to several thousand,
routed this force the next day, destroying the local church where several people had taken refuge.
Túpac then turned south, against the advice of his wife and lieutenant
Micaela Bastidas, who urged him to attack Cuzco before the government could mobilize. Micaela Bastidas was a pivotal force in the Túpac de Amaru rebellion and is often overlooked. Bastidas was known for leading an uprising in the San Felipe de Tungasucsa region. Indigenous communities often sided with the rebels, and local militias put up little resistance. It was not long before Túpac's forces had taken control of almost the entire southern Peruvian
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
.
Spanish colonial administrator
José Antonio de Areche acted in response to Túpac's uprising, moving troops from Lima and as far off as
Cartagena toward the region. Tupac Amaru II, in 1780, began to lead an uprising of indigenous people, but the Spanish military proved to be too strong for his army of 40,000–60,000 followers. After being repelled from the capital of the Incan empire, the rebels march around the country, gathering forces to attempt to fight back. Troops from Lima were instrumental in helping repel Túpac's siege of Cuzco from 28 December 1780 to 10 January 1781.
Following these failures, his coalition of disparate malcontents began to fall apart, with the upper-caste ''criollos'' abandoning him first to rejoin the loyalist forces. Further defeats and Spanish offers of amnesty for rebel defectors hastened the collapse of Túpac's forces.
By the end of February 1781, Spanish authorities began to gain the upper hand. A mostly indigenous loyalist army of 15,000 to 17,000 troops led by Jose del Valle had the smaller rebel army surrounded by 23 March. A breakout attempt on 5 April was repulsed. Túpac and his family were betrayed and captured the next day along with battalion leader
Tomasa Tito Condemayta, who was the only indigenous noble who would be executed alongside Túpac.
After being tortured, on 15 May Túpac was sentenced to death, and on 18 May forced to witness the execution of his wife and one of his children before he was himself
quartered. The four horses running in opposite directions failed to tear his limbs apart, and so Túpac was beheaded.
After Túpac's death
Túpac Amaru's capture and execution did not end the rebellion. In his place, his surviving relatives, namely his cousin Diego Cristóbal Túpac Amaru, continued the war, albeit using guerilla tactics, and transferred the rebellion's focal point to the Collao highlands around
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...
. The war was also continued by
Túpac Katari's female commander, Bartolina Sisa. Sisa led a resistance of 2,000 troops for several months until the Spanish army eventually brought them down. Government efforts to destroy the rebellion were frustrated by, among other things, a high desertion rate, hostile locals, scorched-earth tactics, the onset of winter, and the region's altitude (most of the troops were from the lowlands and had trouble adjusting).
An army led by Diego Cristóbal occupied the strategically important city of
Puno on 7 May 1781 and proceeded to use it as a base from which they launched attacks all across Upper Peru.
Cristóbal would hold the town and much of the surrounding territory until mounting losses and diminishing support convinced him to accept a general amnesty from Viceroy
Agustín de Jáuregui. A preliminary treaty and prisoner exchange were conducted on 12 December, and Cristóbal's forces formally surrendered on 26 January 1782. Though some rebels resisted, the worst was over.
The last organized remnants of the rebellion would be vanquished by May 1782, though sporadic violence continued for many months.
Diego, his mother, and several of his allies would be arrested and executed anyway by Spanish authorities in Cuzco on 19 July 1783 on the pretext he had broken the peace accords.
During the rebellion, especially after the death of Túpac Amaru II, non-Indians were systematically killed by the rebels.
Some historians have described these killings aimed at non-Indians, in conjunction with attempts to violently eradicate various non-Indian cultural customs, as genocidal in nature.
Many of the leaders who fought in the rebellion after Túpac de Amaru's death were discovered to be women (32 out of 73) and were later acknowledged by the eventual liberator of Spanish America,
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...
in his speech in 1820.
Women in the Revolution
Throughout the mid-1700s, women had a changing role throughout Latin America. They began getting involved politically, economically, and culturally. Women had begun getting involved in the workforce, particularly producing cotton cloth and working as market traders.
Because of these growing gender role changes, women were involved in the Túpac Amaru II revolt. Túpac's wife, Micaela Bastidas, had commanded her battalion, and she and her battalion were responsible for the uprising in the San Felipe de Tungasucan region. Micaela Bastidas and Bartola Sisa took part in demonstrations against high prices, food distribution networks, racist treatment of Natives, high taxes, and tightening restrictions on the colonies. Although women were involved in the revolution and had a very active role throughout their villages, leading to independence throughout the region, they had received little attention for their efforts.
Aftermath
The ultimate death toll is estimated at 100,000 Indians and 10,000–40,000 non-Indians.
Viceroy
Jáuregui lessened
mita obligations in an attempt to ameliorate some of the Indians' complaints. In 1784, his successor,
Teodoro de Croix, abolished the corregidors and reorganized the colonial administration around eight
intendant
An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...
s. In 1787, an
audiencia was established in Cuzco.
Areche's decrees following the execution of Túpac Amaru II included the banning of the
Quechua language, the wearing of indigenous clothing, and virtually any mention or commemoration of Inca culture and history.
Areche's attempts to destroy Inca culture after the execution of Túpac Amaru II were confirmed by royal decree in April 1782 however, colonial authorities lacked the resources to enforce these laws, and they were soon largely forgotten.
Still, paintings depicting the Inca were destroyed, and the juridical institution of the ''cacique'' was abolished, with many ''caciques'' being replaced by administrators from outside the native locality.
This undermined the power of indigenous rulership despite concessions from the viceroyalty.
See also
*
Revolt of the Comuneros, a 1781 revolt in the
Viceroyalty of New Granada caused by the Bourbon Reforms
*
Huilliche uprising of 1792, an indigenous uprising in southern Chile against Spanish encroachment.
References
Source
*
Further reading
*
O'Phelan, Scarlett. . Cuzco, Perú - Centro de Estudios Regionales Andinos "Bartolomé de las Casas",
995
External links
The Hispanic American Historical Review, Volume 2 Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in the Americas 1492–1830
{{DEFAULTSORT:Túpac Amaru II, Rebellion of
Conflicts in 1780
Conflicts in 1781
1780 in the Viceroyalty of Peru
1781 in the Viceroyalty of Peru
18th century in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
18th-century rebellions
Colonial Peru
Rebellions in South America
Rebellions against the Spanish Empire
Indigenous rebellions against the Spanish Empire
Indigenous politics in South America
Genocides in South America
Massacres by Indigenous peoples of the Americas
Massacres in Peru
Massacres committed by Spain
Wars involving Indigenous peoples of South America