Túpac Amaru II  |
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 Hero of the Peruvian struggle for independence. |
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| Alternate name(s): | José Gabriel Condorcanqui Noguera |
| Date of birth: | March 19 1742 |
| Place of birth: | Tinta, Cusco, Perú |
| Date of death: | May 18 1781 (aged 39) |
| Place of death: | Cuzco, Perú |
Túpac Amaru II (b. March 19, 1742 in Tinta, Cusco, Peru – executed in Cusco May 18, 1781) was the leader of an indigenous uprising in 1780 against the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Although unsuccessful, he later became a mythical figure in the Peruvian struggle for independence and indigenous rights movement and an inspiration to a myriad of causes in Peru. He should not be confused with Tupac Katari who led a similar uprising in the region now called Bolivia at the same time.
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Biography
The great-grandson of the last Incan leader Túpac Amaru, José Gabriel Condorcanqui was born in Tinta, in the province of Cusco, and received a Jesuit education at the San Francisco de Borja School. In 1760, he married Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua.
Condorcanqui inherited the caciqueship of Tungasuca and Pampamarca from his older brother, governing on behalf of the Spanish governor. But he sympathized with the plight of the native people and petitioned the Spanish government to improve conditions in the textile mills, the mines, and the villages. Unsuccessful, he adopted his great-grandfather's Incan name and a more native style of dress, and organized a rebellion, seizing and executing governor Antonio de Arriaga of Tinta in 1780. Túpac Amaru II's rebellion was the first major uprising against the Spanish colonists in two centuries. It was suppressed after some successes like the Battle of Sangarará and he was soon captured. He was sentenced to witness the execution of his wife, his eldest son Hipólito, his uncle Francisco, his brother-in-law Antonio Bastidas, and some of his captains before his own death. He was sentenced to be tortured and put to death by dismemberment, in which four horses would have to tear apart each limb from his body, one limb tied to each horse.
Unable to accomplish this execution, he was later drawn and quartered on the main plaza in Cuzco, in the same place his great-grandfather had been beheaded. When the revolt continued, the Spaniards executed the remainder of his family, except his 12-year-old son Fernando, who had been condemned to die with him, but was instead imprisoned in Spain for the rest of his life. It is not known if any members of the Inca royal family survived this final purge. At the same time, Incan clothing and cultural traditions, and self-identification as "Inca" were outlawed, along with other measures to convert the population to Spanish culture and government, until Peru's independence as a republic.
Quote
Querrán volarlo y no podrán volarlo ("They will want to blow him up and won't be able to blow him up").
Querrán romperlo y no podrán romperlo ("They will want to break him and won't be able to break him").
Querrán matarlo y no podrán matarlo ("They will want to kill him and won't be able to kill him").
Al tercer día de los sufrimientos, cuando se crea todo consumado, gritando: ¡LIBERTAD! sobre la tierra, ha de volver. ¡Y no podrán matarlo! ("On the third day of suffering, when it was believed he was finished, screaming: FREEDOM! over the earth, he will be back. And they won't be able to kill him!")
— Estefano Saavedra
Cultural references
In Peru
- During the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces (1968-1980), Tupac Amaru was selected by military leaders as the symbolic representation for the ideals behind the Peruvian Revolution.
- The Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) is a Peruvian Marxist-Leninist insurgent group, which became known worldwide for their involvement in the Japanese embassy hostage crisis.
In novels
In the book, Inca Gold, by Clive Cussler, one of the main villains is named Tupac Amaru.
Around the world
- The Tupamaros (also known as the National Liberation Movement), was the informal name of an insurgent group that was active between 1960 and 1970 in Uruguay. The name was also direct influence of Tupac Amaru II and its ideals.
- United States rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur was named after him.
See also
References
- Lillian Estelle Fisher, The Last Inca Revolt, 1780-1783
- "BookRags Biography on José Gabriel Túpac Amaru." 1 January 2006.
- Orders for execution of Túpac Amaru II, 1781, by magistrate José Antonio de Areche.
