| Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of thedecolonization of the Americas | |||||||
 An illustration of Túpac Amaru II fromc. 1784–1806 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spanish Empire |  Aymara-Quechua rebels | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Spanish units: 15,000[1]–17,500[2] soldiers | Rebel units: 100,000 soldiers[2][3]: 160 40,000 – 60,000 Siege of Cusco (2–9 January 1781)[4] 10,000 – 40,000 Siege of La Paz (14 March 1781)[4] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 100,000 total estimated killed[5] 10,000 died of starvation or illness[6] | |||||||
TheRebellion of Túpac Amaru II (4 November 1780 – 15 March 1783) was an uprising bycacique-ledAymara,Quechua, andmestizo rebels aimed at overthrowingSpanish colonial rule in Peru. The causes of the rebellion included opposition to theBourbon Reforms, an economic downturn in colonial Peru, and a grassroots revival ofInca cultural identity led byTúpac Amaru II, an indigenouscacique 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.[7][8] Amaru II's rebellion was simultaneous, and occasionally cooperated, with the uprising ofTúpac Katari in colonial-eraUpper Peru (now Bolivia).[9][10] The rebellion was the first large-scale attempt at an independence movement inLatin America and among the largest rebellions of the 18th century.[11]
The rebellion arose as a reaction to the imposition of theBourbon Reforms in the Spanish viceroyalties of America and was led by the curacaJosé Gabriel Condorcanqui, known as Túpac Amaru II. These reforms, among others, forced the indigenous population to mine minerals under theMit'a system. Among Túpac Amaru II's proclamations were the demands of the freedom of the indigenous population and the abolition of slavery.[12]
The rebellion began with the capture and execution of Antonio de Arriaga, the corregidor ofTinta. Tupac Amaru II abolished the forced distribution of goods and eliminated the forced labor ofPotosí for the inhabitants of Tinta. This initial phase of the rebellion in Cusco and the south was marked by key victories, such as the capture of Ayaviri, the Battle of Pillpinto, and especially theBattle of Sangarará, which consolidated rebel control over theCusco region. As royalist forces responded with a punitive expedition fromLima, the insurgent movement began to weaken. Túpac Amaru II was captured after being betrayed and retreating toLangui from the Battle of Checacupe in 1781. He, along with his family and other commanders, were executed in thePlaza de Armas ofCusco on 18 May 1981. Despite the death of Túpac Amaru II,Túpac Katari and other leaders continued the rebellion in Southern Peru and what is nowBolivia until 1783.[13]
The government of Spain, to streamline the operation of its colonial empire, began introducing what became known as theBourbon Reforms throughoutSouth America.[7] In 1776, as part of these reforms, it created theViceroyalty of the Río de la Plata by separatingUpper Peru (modern Bolivia) and the territory that is nowArgentina from theViceroyalty of Peru. These territories included the economically important silver mines atPotosí, whose economic benefits began to flow toBuenos Aires in the east instead ofCuzco andLima to the west. The economic hardship this introduced to parts of theAltiplano combined with systemic oppression of indigenous andmestizo underclasses (a recurring source of localized uprisings throughout Spanish colonial South America) to create an environment in which a large-scale uprising could occur.[8]
In 1778 Spain raised sales taxes (known as thealcabala) on goods such as rum andpulque (the common alcoholic beverages of the peasants and commoners) while tightening the rest of its tax system in its colonies,[14][page needed][7][15] in part to fund itsparticipation in the American Revolutionary War. José Gabriel Condorcanqui, an upper-class indigenous leader with claims to the Inca royal lineage, adopted the nameTúpac Amaru II (alluding toTúpac 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.[8][16] In 1780, during the rebellion,Fernando Vélaz de Medrano, 4th Marquess of Tabuérniga, informed the Prince of Asturias (the futureCharles IV of Spain) about the rebellion and widespread corruption among royal officials in South America, particularly regarding theplaying card andtobaccomonopolies imposed by MinisterJosé de Gálvez, which were seen as a catalyst for the unrest.[17]
Túpac Amaru was motivated in part by reading of aprophecy that the Inca would rule again with British support. He may have been aware of the British colonial rebellion inNorth America and Spanish involvement in the war.[15] 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.[8]
On 4 November 1780, after a party inTungasuca, whereTúpac Amaru II was acacique, Túpac and supporters seized Antonio Arriaga, thecorregidor of his hometown ofTinta. They forced him to write letters to his treasurer in Tinta requesting money and arms and to other influential individuals andkurakas ordering them to congregate in Tungasuca. On 10 November, six days after his capture, Arriaga was executed in front of thousands of gatheredindigenous,mestizos, andcriollos (locals of recognized Spanish descent).[16]
On 16 November 1780, Túpac Amaru issued a proclamation decreeing the emancipation of Afro-Peruvian and African slaves.[18] In this document, he exhorted all "decent" Spaniards, the clergy, and others friendly with the Peruvian population to join the fight against the hostilities and abuses of the European population; and all those who had been mistreated by the "chapetones" (a derogatory term for Spaniards), including slaves, to abandon them. This decision served a tactical purpose: with the escape of the slaves, the colonial export economy would collapse and the rebel forces would grow. Furthermore, the psychological effect was that inLima, the upper classes on their haciendas would be more concerned about the defiant slaves and the free blacks and mulattos than about the population of the highlands. These also included ending themita rotational labor system and limiting the power of the corregidor and thus amplifying his power ascacique and Túpac sought to create a new audiencia atCusco.[18]
Following the assassination of Arriaga and emancipation, Túpac began moving through the countryside, gaining supporters, primarily from the indigenous andmestizo classes, but also with some creoles and freeing slaves. Despite the rebel leaders' efforts to control rumors and the flow of information, news of Arriaga's execution quickly reached the city of Cusco, from where an army of 1,500 militiamen and local volunteers was financed and formed, supported by people from the besieged villages led by their curacas. On 17 November, the forces sent by the Spanish authorities in Cusco arrived at the town ofSangarará , where, on 18 November, Túpac Amaru's army, which had grown to several thousand men, defeated them at theBattle of Sangarará, destroying the local church where several people had taken refuge.[7][19] Túpac then turned south, against the advice of his wife and lieutenantMicaela Bastidas, who urged him to attack Cuzco before the government could mobilize. Micaela Bastidas was a pivotal force in the rebellion and is often overlooked. Bastidas was known for leading an uprising in the San Felipe de Tungasucsa region.[14] 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 Peruvianplateau.[8]
Following his crushing victory at Sangarará, Túpac Amaru returned triumphantly to Tungasuca in mid-November 1780. He and Micaela Bastidas, however, were aware that they had only defeated the first wave sent by the hastily organized junta in the city of Cusco , and they expected a fierce royalist offensive from Peru's second-largest city. They were also concerned about an attack by viceroyal troops from the south, either from theLake Titicaca area or from the city ofArequipa to the southwest. Many in the rebel camp believed that the royalists would first reinforce their forces at their base in the Vilcanota Valley before advancing north toward the city of Cusco. However, Túpac Amaru planned his strategy southward, towards Lake Titicaca, a predominantly indigenous area where his message of freedom would be very well received in a region that endured the abuses of the mining mita, particularly for the silver mines ofPotosí.[9] The Aymara leader,Túpac Katari, claimed to be the viceroy appointed by Tupac Amaru II and led his forces alone to besiege the city ofLa Paz in March 1781.[20]
.jpg)
The rebel troops left Tungasuca on 22 November, heading towards the towns ofPichigu,Yauri, andCoporaque, where the royalist curaca Eugenio Sinayuca was proselytizing against the revolution. The rebel tactic followed a standard procedure: while scouts searched for enemies and supplies, Túpac Amaru delivered a passionate speech about his movement from the church steps. Many listeners joined the rebel forces, and on 25 November, Túpac Amaru wrote a proclamation addressed to the population ofLampa, announcing his campaign against Spanish tyranny and abuses, as well as his commitment to the Creoles; at the same time, he boasted of having 6,000 followers, including indigenous people, Creoles, and people from outside the area.[12] Throughout this campaign, he had at his side Hipólito, his eldest son, and the peninsular artilleryman Figueroa.
The corregidor ofChumbivilcas , José Campino, and Eugenio Sinacuya, managed to escape Túpac Amaru's control, and on 27 November, the rebel leader received news of an alliance between various corregidores, who were expecting weapons and soldiers fromArequipa orLa Paz. In response, Túpac Amaru ordered the curacas of the central region to halt any attacks from Cusco while he continued to exert pressure on the south, instructing Micaela to exaggerate the size of her army in order to discourage a possible royalist attack.
After attacking the mining town ofCaylloma in late November, from which Spanish officials fled with large amounts of money from the royal treasuries and silver, Túpac Amaru's forces crossed the glacier-covered mountains of La Raya, the dividing line between Cusco and Puno.[21] Reports on the size of his army vary from 10,000 to 60,000 men.
In Cusco, Bishop Moscoso y Peralta directed the royalist efforts, raising money, organizing processions, and communicating with the authorities in Lima, his priests in rebel territory, and the militia leaders. With little or distorted news about events south of the city, the bishop and much of the population feared an imminent encirclement. Reports of rebel actions heading south caused panic among the population of Cusco due to the inaction of the royalist leaders who, after the defeat at Sangarará, had abandoned any kind of attack while awaiting reinforcements from Lima. Both patriots and royalists sought to win the battles of information and propaganda by sending spies and messengers, while inflating their forces and masking their intentions and anxieties.
Spanish colonial administratorJosé Antonio de Areche acted in response to Túpac's uprising, moving troops fromLima and as far off asCartagena toward the region. Tupac Amaru II, in 1780, began to lead the uprising of indigenous people, but the reinforcements from Lima fought back against Amaru's 40,000–60,000 followers.[22] After being repelled from the capital of the Incan empire ofCusco, 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.[8] Following these failures, his coalition of disparate malcontents began to fall apart, with the upper-castecriollos 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.[8]
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 betweenTinta andSangarará by 23 March. A breakout attempt on 5 April was repulsed.
Amaru II was betrayed by two of his officers, Colonel Ventura Landaeta and Captain Francisco Cruz, which led to his capture along with battalion leaderTomasa Tito Condemayta, who was the only indigenous noble who would be executed alongside Túpac.[7][8][23] When his captors attempted to procure the names of his rebel accomplices from him in exchange for promises, Amaru II scornfully replied "There are no accomplices here other than you and I. You as oppressor, I as liberator, deserve to die."[citation needed] While awaiting his death, Túpac attempted escape 2 times.
After being tortured, on 15 May 1781, 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 himselfquartered. Túpac's youngest son was imprisoned and exiled toAfrica until being moved toCádiz. The location of the executions was in the center of thePlaza de Armas ofCusco. The four horses running in opposite directions failed to tear his limbs apart, and so Túpac was beheaded.[8][19] Despite the death of Túpac Amaru II, the rebellion continued until 1783 by his relatives other leaders.[13]
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 rebellion, albeit using guerilla tactics, and transferred the rebellion's focal point to the Collao highlands aroundLake Titicaca. Andrés Túpac Amaru, nephew of Túpac Amaru II, led a troop to joinTúpac Katari, who besiege La Paz again in August 1781.[10] 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).[8] An army led by Diego Cristóbal occupied the strategically important city ofPuno on 7 May 1781 and proceeded to use it as a base from which they launched attacks all across Upper Peru.[7] 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 ViceroyAgustín 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.[19] The last organized remnants of the rebellion would be vanquished by May 1782, though sporadic violence continued for many months.[16]
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.[16]
During the rebellion, especially after the death of Túpac Amaru II, non-natives were systematically killed by the rebels.[14][page needed][7][24]: 1 [25] Some historians have described these killings aimed at non-natives, in conjunction with attempts to violently eradicate various non-native cultural customs, as genocidal in nature.[26]
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 in his speech in 1820.[citation needed]
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.[27] 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 andBartola Sisa took part in demonstrations against high prices, food distribution networks, racist treatment of Natives, high taxes, and tightening restrictions on the colonies.[28] 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.[28]
The ultimate death toll is estimated at 100,000 indigenous and 10,000–40,000 non-natives.[7][8]
Viceroy Jáuregui lessened mita obligations in an attempt to ameliorate some of the indigenous peoples' complaints. In 1784, his successor,Teodoro de Croix, abolished the corregidors and reorganized the colonial administration around eightintendants. In 1787, anaudiencia was established in Cuzco.[7][19]
Areche's decrees following the execution of Túpac Amaru II included the banning of theQuechua language, the wearing of indigenous clothing, and virtually any mention or commemoration of Inca culture and history.[16] 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.[16] Still, paintings depicting the Inca were destroyed, and the juridical institution of thecacique was abolished, with manycaciques being replaced by administrators from outside the native locality.[8] This undermined the power of indigenous rulership despite concessions from the viceroyalty.[8]
| Regions | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Political ideas | ||
| Military conflicts | ||
| Autonomist rebellions | ||
| Dissolution | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
