Prominent Peruvians: Túpac Amaru II and th Great Rebellion

Do you really need a caption to tell you
this is Túpac Amaru II?
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May 18 was the anniversary of the death of Túpac Amaru II. He's a big deal in Peruvian history; and he's an especially big deal in Cusqueñan history. Who was he? Why's he so important? And why does he have the same name as the rapper? Fear not, dear reader, all your questions will be answered.

Túpac Amaru II was born in Surimana. His birth name was José Gabriel Condorcanqui. Before he found his calling as a revolutionary hero, he was a muleteer/trader. That meant he did a lot of travelling around the Southern Andes and had built up a network of connections which helped him in his role as a revolutionary. He was the cacique (chief) of the Tungasuca area. In 1760 he was married to Micaela Bastides Puyucahua. They had some kids, and a fairly normal life. Then he declared himself Inca and began a campaign to kick the Spanish out of Cusco. It's this last part of his life that makes him such a big historical figure.

Southern Andes in the late 18th Century

As my sister's international relations final essay reminded me, there are various levels of analysis to take in consideration when examining history. We can't look only at the individual level, it's important to consider the realities of Southern Andean society at the time that Túpac Amaru's Great Rebellion began – which, by the way, was in 1780.

Peruvian historian Alberto Flores Galindo points to a number of factors that precipitated the Great Rebellion. The first factor was the demographic recovery of the Andean population after the disastrous effects of the Spanish arrival and conquest. By the time the Great Rebellion started, 60-100% of the residents of the towns in the Southern Andes were indigenous (depending on the town). There were also generally more indigenous people than there had been 200 years before when Pizarro and his people locked down control of the Andes.

The second factor was economic: mining in Potosí had been recovering since 1740MAP. This lead to increased trade in the region. The southern Andes was basically the center of trade on the South American continent. Before the viceroyalty of Peru was broken up (we'll get to that in a second), all South American trade had to go through Lima, so all the products of modern day Bolivia, Argentina, and Southern Peru came through the Andes, on the backs of mules, on the way to Lima. That's a lot of people and mules passing through who need room and board, and will probably drop money on other purchases in town along the way. Potosí's success translated into economic growth for the entire South Andean region.

Potosí is south of La Paz (capital of modern Bolivia).
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The Bourbon Reforms

In 1759, Carlos III took the throne, the first Bourbon king of Spain. The Bourbons made some major changes in how Spain ran its American empire. Galindo writes that the Bourbons “threw the patrimonial system into crisis.” A list of major changes includes:

• breaking up the immense Viceroyalty of Peru into:
  • 1740 - Viceroyalty of New Granada.
  • 1776 – Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata
• 1767 – expelling the Society of Jesus from all Spanish territories
• 1772-1776 – tripling the sales tax on produce and merchandise
• Crown appointed inspectors (visitadores) who limited the power of the viceroys.
• A new 12.5% alcohol tax
• A general crackdown on contraband and corruption (which was rampant under the previous patrimonial colonial system.

The Bourbon reforms were so intense, the historian John Lynch calls it a “second conquest” of the Americas. The harshness of new taxes, and the breakup of authority by the Bourbons were both factors that contributed to the uprisings of the Great Rebellion.

So what happened, anyways?

On November 4, 1780 Túpac Amaru and his followers captured the Spanish administrator Antonio de Arriaga. Two days later they let his slave execute him in the small town of Tinta (population: 2000).

All the major rebel leaders then had a meeting in Tinta, with leaders from Cusco, Puno, and various villages present. In a proclamation they cite “exorbitant taxation” as one of their major grievances and define their goal as driving out the Europeans and restoring the Incan monarchy. Flores Galindo writes that Túpac Amaru II sought to create an “Andean uptopia” through the restoration of Inca rule. By the way, Inca rule meant Túpac Amaru rule. He claimed to be the direct descendent of Tupac Amaru, the last Inca the Spanish killed. All the rebels referred to Tupac Amaru II as “the Inca.” When he travelled, he was always received in new towns under a canopy. When the rebellion started he had his portrait commissioned with him surrounded by signs of Incan royalty.

After Tinta, as far as I understand it, the Great Rebellion basically spread in two directions: south towards Puno, and north towards Cusco. Tupac Amaru II was leading the force moving towards Cusco. The Incan army was recruited by Tupac Amaru and his chiefs from the local Andean population. The historian Boleslao Lewin estimates about 100,000 indigenous men involved in the Great Rebellion. This estimate doesn't include the families who were likely to come with, and the townspeople who rose up to give aid to the rebel army when it came through, but never actually joined the army.

Amaru's force moved north from Tinta, towards Cusco. They conquered various towns along the way inculding our very own Andahuaylillas. The Spanish sent at least 17,500 soldiers against his force before finally defeating him and capturing him. On May 18, 1781 Tupac Amaru and eight of his followers were publicly executed in the plaza de armas in Cusco in a 7 hour “show” that lasted from 10AM till 5PM. Once he was dead, Amaru's body was drawn and quartered. The Spanish were so brutal because they wanted it to be clear in no uncertain terms that Tupac Amaru II was dead. There were various Andean myths that claimed it was impossible to kill him, or that he would just rise back up from the grave once killed. “For those who viewed Tupac Amaru as an Inca,” write Flores Galindo, “to quarter and then burn Tupac Amaru's body was to destroy symbolically the Inca empire.”

Fallout from the Great Rebellion

The Great Rebellion continued under the leadership of Tupac Katari in the Lake Titicaca region until a peace was finally reached in 1783. But the damage was done. After Amaru's death, the colonial government launched a campaign of cultural suppression against all things Incan. They forbade Incan nobility from using titles, destroyed paintings of the Incas, and forced indigenous people to wear Western clothing.* The governor believed that these reforms would wipe out hatred toward the Europeans. Why he believed that is beyond me. My guess is that he just wasn't a very smart man.

The other major fallout from the Great Rebellion was an increase in militarization of the colonial state. The standing militia increased from 4,200 in 1760, to 51,467 in 1781, and then to 70,000 by 1816. Flores Galindo sees Túpac Amaru II's rebellion as the direct cause of this increased militarization in Spanish South America.

*Anyone walking around the streets of Cusco for five minutes will see that this didn't stick. Traditional Andean clothing is still very common.