Tupac Amaru II (b. March 19, 1742 in Tinta, Cusco, Peru – executed in Cusco May 18, 1781) — born Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui Noguera — 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.

Biography

The great-grandson of the last Incan leader Tupac Amaru, Jose 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.

Tupac 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 Sangarara and he was soon captured. He was sentenced to witness the execution of his wife, his eldest son Hipolito, 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

Querran volarlo y no podran volarlo ("They will want to blow him up and won't be able to blow him up").Querran romperlo y no podran romperlo ("They will want to break him and won't be able to break him").Querran matarlo y no podran matarlo ("They will want to kill him and won't be able to kill him"). Al tercer dia de los sufrimientos, cuando se crea todo consumado, gritando: ¡LIBERTAD! sobre la tierra, ha de volver. ¡Y no podran 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 Tupac 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 villians 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.

References

Lillian Estelle Fisher, The Last Inca Revolt, 1780-1783
"BookRags Biography on Jose Gabriel Tupac Amaru." 1 January 2006.
Orders for execution of Tupac Amaru II, 1781, by magistrate Jose Antonio de Areche.
Colonial-Peru
Peruvian-revolutionaries

Other pages about Colonial Peru

-Alonzo de Alvarado -Ana Francisca de Borja y Doria -Ana de Castro -Andres Hurtado de Mendoza -Antonio de Mendoza -Antonio de Morga -Balconies of Lima -Baltasar de la Cueva Enriquez -Battle of Sangarara -Bernardo de Iturriaza -Blasco Nunez Vela -Cabildo (council) -Carmine Nicolao Caracciolo -Cathedral of Lima -Comentarios Reales de los Incas -Convento de San Francisco -Cristobal Ramirez de Cartagena -Cristobal Vaca de Castro -Diego Ladron de Guevara -Diego Lopez de Zuniga y Velasco -Diego Morcillo Rubio de Aunon -Diego Nunez de Avendano -Diego Quispe Tito -Diego de Almagro -Diego de Benavides y de la Cueva -Fernando Torres de Portugal y Mesia -Francisco Ruiz Lozano -Francisco de Borja y Aragon -Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa -Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Canete -Government Palace (Peru) -Hans Heinrich Bruning Brookstedt -Hernando de Luque -Historic Centre of Lima -Jose Antonio de Areche -Jose Antonio de Mendoza -Jose de Armendariz -Juan Jimenez de Montalvo -Juan Pizarro II -Lima City Walls -Luis Jeronimo Fernandez de Cabrera -Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau -Mateo de la Mata Ponce de Leon -Melchor Bravo de Saravia -Melchor Linan y Cisneros -Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull -Miguel Nunez de Sanabria -Osambela House -Pedro Alvarez de Toledo y Leiva -Pedro Antonio Fernandez de Castro -Pedro Bohorquez -Pedro de la Gasca -San Telmo (ship) -Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire -Torre Tagle Palace -Tupac Amaru II -Turibius of Mongrovejo -Viceroyalty of Peru

Other pages about Peruvian revolutionaries

-Abimael Guzman -Elena Iparraguirre -Hugo Blanco -Tupac Amaru II

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Tupac_Amaru_II

Tupac Amaru II