NARRATIVE OF THE INSURRECTION OF JOSÉ GABRIEL TUPAC AMARU, THE LAST OF
THE INCAS.
THE basin of lake Titicaca is bounded on the north by the mountains
of Vilcañota, which unite the maritime cordillera with the Eastern
Andes, and the river of Vilcamayu rises in these mountains, and flows
north through a fertile and well-peopled valley, which is covered with
fields of Indian corn. The road from Puno to Cuzco, after crossing the
Vilcañota range by the pass of Santa Rosa, descends the valley of the
Vilcamayu, passing through the towns of Marangani, Sicuani, Cacha,
Tinta, Checacupe, Quiquijana, and Urcos; and then leaves the river
near Oropesa, and ascends a valley for three leagues to the city of
Cuzco. On either side of the ravine of Vilcamayu are lofty table-lands,
which only yield potatoes and quinoa; the wild hills are covered with
coarse grass, often weighed down with snow; and in several places
there are large Alpine lakes. Uninviting as this bleak region appears,
it still contains several Indian villages, ruled in 1780 by native
caciques, who were subject to the corregidor of Tinta, in the valley.
The principal villages under the jurisdiction of Tinta in this cold and
lofty district are Sangarara, Lanqui, Pampamarca, Surimani, Yanaoca,
and Tungasuca--the latter of which was the home of Tupac Amaru. It is a
small village, with a few patches of potatoes and quinoa round it, near
the banks of a wild-looking lake, with rocky mountains rising abruptly
from the water.
[Illustration: FAMILY OF THE INCAS OF PERU.
Arms of the Incas, granted by Charles V., A.D. 1544.
_Tierce in fess: on a chief azure, a Sun with glory or: on a fess vert,
an eagle displayed between a rainbow and two serpents proper: and on a
base gules, a castle proper._ _To face page 134._]
José Gabriel Condorcanqui or Tupac Amaru,[198] the son of the Cacique
Miguel Tupac Amaru by his wife Rosa Noguera, was born at Tinta in
the year 1742, and baptized at Tungasuca, the birthplace of his
father.[199] He claimed to be the representative of the family of the
Incas, as fifth in lineal descent from Tupac Amaru, the son of the Inca
Manco, who was judicially murdered by the Viceroy Toledo in 1571.
The young José received the first rudiments of his education from two
neighbouring clergymen, Antonio Lopez, Cura of Pampamarca, a native
of Panama, and a man of considerable talent; and Carlos Rodriguez,
Cura of Yanaoca, a native of Guayaquil. At a very early age, however,
he was sent to the Jesuit college of San Borja at Cuzco, which had
been established for the education of young Indian chiefs. He is said
to have been particularly noticed by the professors for his close
application, capacity, and excellent disposition; and his scholastic
acquirements were not inconsiderable. He spoke Spanish with fluent
accuracy, and his vernacular Quichua with peculiar grace.[200]
Before he was twenty he succeeded his father as Cacique of Tungasuca,
Pampamarca, and Surimani, three villages situated on the cold and lofty
region which overhangs the valley of the Vilcamayu; and in 1760 he was
married to Micaela Bastidas, a beautiful Indian girl of Abancay.[201]
In person José Tupac Amaru was five feet eight inches in height,
well-proportioned, sinewy, and firmly knit. He had a handsome Indian
face, a slightly aquiline nose, full black eyes, and altogether
a countenance intelligent, benign, and expressive. His address,
remarkable for gentlemanlike ease, was dignified and courteous towards
superiors and equals; but in his intercourse with the aborigines,
by whom he was profoundly venerated, there was a sedateness not
inconsistent with his legally-admitted claims (de jure) to the diadem
of the Incas. In mind he was enterprising, cool, and persevering.
He lived in a style becoming his rank, and, when residing at Cuzco,
usually wore a black velvet coat and small-clothes in the fashion of
the day, a waistcoat of gold tissue, embroidered linen, a Spanish
beaver dress hat, silk stockings, and gold knee and shoe-buckles, and
he allowed his glossy black hair to flow in ringlets which extended
down nearly to his waist.[202] The chief source of his income arose
from thirty-five _piaras_ or troops of mules, each _piara_ consisting
of ten, which were regularly employed or hired out in the transport of
merchandise, home-made stuffs, sugar, and quicksilver to Potosi and
other parts.[203] He had travelled over a considerable portion of
Peru, and had two or three times resided in Lima; and in his journeys
he was always attended by a small retinue of Indians, and sometimes
accompanied by a chaplain.
In about 1770 Tupac Amaru went to Lima to establish his claim to the
Marquisate of Oropesa, which had been granted to his family by Philip
II. After some delay his claim was acknowledged by the Royal Audience,
and, in a judgment pronounced by the Fiscal Don Serafin Leytan y Mola,
he was declared to be the heir to the marquisate, as fifth in lineal
descent from the Inca Tupac Amaru; but it would appear that this
judgment was withheld from official publication. It was said that the
fiscal paid the successful suitor so many honours, and said so many
complimentary things concerning his nobility and royal descent, that he
grew proud;[204] and it certainly appears that he adopted a style of
living in his mountain home at Tungasuca, after his return from Lima,
which he had not previously assumed.[205] It is remarkable that, in
1618, the Viceroy Prince of Esquilache wrote a despatch on the claims
to jurisdiction of the members of the Inca family, who were heirs to
the marquisate of Oropesa. He represented that very great inconvenience
might arise from any descendant of the Incas, particularly of the
family of Oropesa, so closely representing the direct line, holding any
jurisdiction in Peru. The estates of the marquisate were the richest
and best in Peru, and situated near Cuzco, where the memory of the
Incas was most cherished. Many descendants of the Incas, he added,
were then living, subject to no tribute and no personal service, and
very rich and powerful; and he recommended that all claimants to the
marquisate should be obliged to live in Spain, and that an equivalent
should be paid them for their estates.[206] This advice was not adopted
by the Council of the Indies.
The young Inca at this time dropped his surname of Condorcanqui,
and assumed that of Tupac Amaru Inca. He governed his villages of
Tungasuca, Surinani, and Pampamarca exceedingly well, and was highly
esteemed by the corregidor of the province, Don Pedro Muñoz de Arjona,
and his successors, who admired his punctual attention to his duty, and
therefore distinguished him above all the other caciques. He habitually
cultivated the acquaintance of the Spanish curas and officials, and
never let pass an opportunity of representing to them, in impassioned
language, the deplorable condition of the Indians.[207] He assisted the
distressed, paid tribute for the poor, and sustained whole families
which had been reduced to ruin.[208] He cherished the traditions
of his people, and such customs as were not inconsistent with his
profession of Christianity; and he especially delighted in the dramatic
representations which recalled the glorious memories of the past. One
of his most intimate friends was Dr. Antonio Valdez, Cura of Sicuani,
a perfect master of the Quichua language, and author of a play called
'Ollantay,' founded on ancient tradition, which was frequently acted
before Tupac Amaru at Tungasuca.[209]
The oppression of the Indians by means of the _mitas_ and _repartos_
excited the indignation of the Inca Tupac Amaru; but he exerted
himself for years, and exhausted every means of obtaining redress,
before he was finally driven to take up arms in their defence. Moved
by his earnest and incessant appeals, and his piteous account of the
sufferings of his people, the Bishops of Cuzco and La Paz forwarded
them to the king through Don Ventura Santalices; and Blas Tupac Amaru,
the Inca's uncle, also undertook a voyage to Spain; but death put
an end to the humane missions both of the Spaniard and the Indian.
Nevertheless, Tupac Amaru persevered in remitting renewed petitions;
while the corregidors not only eluded compliance with the royal
decrees, but also increased the burdens of the Indians. At length his
patience came to an end, and he resolved to make an appeal to arms, not
to throw off the yoke of Spain, but to obtain some guarantee for the
due observance of the laws, and their just administration. His views
were certainly confined to these ends when he first drew his sword,
although afterwards, when his moderate demands were only answered by
cruel taunts and brutal menaces, he saw that independence or death were
the only alternatives.
The most merciless oppressor of the Indians of Peru was Don Antonio
Aliaga, Corregidor of Tinta, and therefore Tupac Amaru's immediate
superior; and the Inca determined to commence his revolt by punishing
this great culprit. The Inca's old tutor, Dr. Carlos Rodriguez, Cura
of Yanaoca, in celebration of his name-day, gave a dinner to the
corregidor of Tinta, and the Inca Tupac Amaru, on the 4th of November,
1780. The Inca, on pretence that some person had arrived at his house
from Cuzco, withdrew from the banquet early, and placing himself in
ambush on the road, with some attendants, made the corregidor prisoner
on his return, taking him to Tungasuca,[211] and placing him in close
confinement. Tupac then wrote a letter marked _reservadissima_, which
he obliged Aliaga to sign, ordering his cashier at Tinta to remit the
public money in the provincial treasury to the Inca, assigning as
a reason that it was necessary to set out forthwith to the port of
Aranta,[212] threatened by a descent from English cruisers. The Inca
thus received 22,000 dollars, some gold ingots, seventy-five muskets,
baggage-horses, and mules. Recruits were also ordered to be embodied,
and sent to Tungasuca.
Having thus drawn together a considerable force, he sent for his old
master, Dr. Antonio Lopez, the Cura of Pampamarca,[213] and ordered him
to make known to the corregidor that he must die, and to administer
to him the consolations of religion. A scaffold was then erected in
the plaza of Tungasuca, around which the retainers of the Inca were
ranged in three ranks, the first armed with muskets, the second with
pikes, and the rear rank with treble-loaded slings. Aliaga was then led
out and publicly executed on November 10th. Tupac Amaru at the same
time addressed the astonished multitude, in Quichua, as to his present
conduct and ulterior views. Mounted on a fiery charger, attired in the
princely costume of his ancestors, with a banner bearing the figure of
an Inca encircled by embroidered chains of gold and silver, and two
armorial serpents,[214] he exhorted his followers to lend an attentive
ear to the legitimate descendant of their ancient sovereigns, promising
to abolish the _mitas_ and _repartos_, and to punish the extortionate
corregidors.
The whole multitude, with one accord, vowed implicit obedience to
his orders, and he at once began to form the Indians into companies,
and to nominate officers. Next day he marched to Quiquijana, in the
valley of the Vilcamayu, the capital of the province of Quispicanchi,
which he entered at daybreak on the 12th, but the corregidor had fled.
After hearing mass Tupac returned towards Tungasuca, destroying the
_obraje_ of Parapuquio on his way, where he found large quantities
of woollen clothes, which were distributed amongst his followers. He
also demolished the _obraje_ of Pumacancha, where he found property
valued at 200,000 dollars, consisting of 18,000 yards of woollen cloths
(_bayeta_), 60,000 of cotton cloths (_tocuyo_), some fire-arms, and two
pieces of artillery, belonging to the Corregidor of Quispicanchi.[215]
These _obrajes_ were odious to the Indians, their owners having
enforced the _mita_ far beyond the limits assigned by the law, and
perpetrated great cruelties on the women and children of the _mitayos_.
The Inca had now mustered 6000 troops, 300 armed with muskets, and the
rest with pikes, clubs, and slings. Nearly the whole population of the
provinces of Tinta, Quispicanchi, Cotabambas, Calca, and Chumbivilicas
rose in his favour, with the exception of a few whites.
The news of Tupac Amaru's revolt was brought to Cuzco on the 12th, by
Cabrera, the Corregidor of Quispicanchi, who had so narrowly escaped
capture. It created the greatest alarm, as the city was only garrisoned
by two regiments. The college of the expelled Jesuits was turned into a
kind of citadel, into which private and public property was taken for
security; the white part of the population was enrolled; requisitions
for troops were sent to the neighbouring provinces; and an express was
despatched to Lima, imploring speedy succour.
Next day 450 men, under the command of Don Tiburcio de Landa, Governor
of Paurcartambo, marched out of Cuzco, accompanied by the Cacique
of Oropesa, Juan Sahuaraura, with 700 Indians of his _ayllu_, or
tribe. Landa was ordered to wait for reinforcements at a place called
Huayra-pata; but the Corregidor Don Fernando Cabrera, who accompanied
him, enraged at the loss of property which he had sustained, induced
him to advance to the village of Sangarara, within five leagues of
Tinta, which he reached on the 17th. At dawn on the following morning
it began to snow, and, finding himself surrounded by a superior force
of hostile Indians, Landa retreated into the church. Tupac Amaru
then wrote to him, offering terms, which were refused; and he again
wrote to the cura, who was also in the church, urging him to retire
with the women and children. The Spanish troops, however, prevented
them from coming out, a scuffle ensued, the stock of powder ignited,
and the roof and one of the walls were blown out. The Spaniards
then made a dash forward, and fought bravely until they were nearly
all killed.[216] Only twenty-eight wounded remained, who were cured
and set at liberty by order of the Inca. Landa,[217] his lieutenant
Escajadillo, Cabrera, and the Cacique Sahuaraura[218] were amongst the
slain.
The news of the disaster at Sangarara reached Cuzco on the 19th, and
produced indescribable confusion. The Cabildo immediately began to
collect arms, make powder, repair six old field-pieces, and on the
20th Don Juan Nicolas de Lobaton y Zavala, Marquis of Rocafuerte,
arrived from Urubamba with reinforcements. Every citizen came forward
to serve, and a corps of volunteers was formed under Don Faustino
Alvarez de Foronda, Count of Vallehermoso. The Bishop ordered all the
clergy to assemble, formed them into four companies, and gave the
command to the Dean, Dr. Manuel de Mendieta. More troops soon came
in from Calca, under Don Pablo Astete, and from other parts, and by
the end of November there were 3000 men in arms at Cuzco. Anxious to
pacify the Indians, the Cabildo then issued a proclamation abolishing
the _repartos_, and the _alcabala_, or excise on provisions, and
declaring that the Indians should never again be forced to work in the
_obrajes_, if they remained faithful. Defensive works were thrown up in
the city and suburbs, and religious processions paraded the streets.
At this moment Tupac Amaru might probably have entered Cuzco without
opposition; but unfortunately, relying on the justice of his cause, he
beguiled himself into the belief that he could accomplish by argument
and negotiation what could only be obtained by the sword. He threw
up embankments and entrenched himself in an encampment near Tinta,
throwing out videttes to within three leagues of Cuzco; and on the
27th he issued an edict from his head-quarters at Tungasuca, setting
forth the causes of his revolt. In this document he recapitulated the
grievances which his people suffered, declared the tyranny of the
Spanish officials to be impious and cruel, and called upon the Indians
to rally round his standard.
Early in December 1780 Tupac Amaru crossed the Vilcañota range, by the
pass of Santa Rosa, and, entering the Collao, advanced by Pucara to
Lampa. At every village he addressed the people from the church-steps,
saying that he came to abolish abuses and punish the corregidors; and
that he was "the liberator of the kingdom, the restorer of privileges,
and the common father of those who groan under the yoke of _repartos_."
Nothing was heard amongst the Indians but acclamations for their Inca
and Redeemer.[219] On the 13th of December he entered the town of
Azangaro, where he destroyed the houses of the Cacique Chuquihuanca,
who had refused to join the insurrection. A private letter, dated
January 1781,[220] says that he rode into Azangaro on a white horse,
with splendidly-embroidered trappings, and that two fair men, like
Englishmen, of commanding aspect, were on his right and left. He was
armed with a gun, sword, and pistols, and was dressed in blue velvet,
richly embroidered with gold, with a three-cornered hat, and an _uncu_,
in the shape of a bishop's rochet, over all, with a gold chain round
his neck, to which a large golden sun was attached. Having received
repeated letters from his wife, reporting the threatening assembly of
troops at Cuzco, he retraced his steps, by Asillo and Orurillo, to the
valley of the Vilcamayu, obliging the curas of the villages through
which he passed to receive him in their churches under a canopy, and to
chant the _Te Deum_.
On the 28th the heights of Picchu, overhanging Cuzco on the west,
were covered with his army. His cousin Diego Tupac Amaru was detached
to the eastward with 6000 men, to occupy the provinces of Calca and
Paucartambo. Another detachment under Antonio Castelo, one of the
Inca's most trusted followers, marched along the direct road to Cuzco,
but was defeated two leagues from the city at a place called Saylla,
and finally effected a junction with the main body on the heights of
Picchu.
Before attempting to force his way into Cuzco, the Inca addressed
a letter to the cabildo, and another to the bishop, on the 3rd of
January, 1781. To the cabildo he said that, as the heir of the Incas,
the ancient kings of the realm, he was stimulated to endeavour by all
possible means to put an end to abuses, and to see men appointed to
govern the Indians who would respect the laws of the King of Spain.
The punishment of the Corregidor of Tinta was, he declared, absolutely
necessary as an example to others: and he announced the object of his
rebellion to be the entire abolition of _repartos_; the appointment of
an _alcalde mayor_, or judge of the Indian nation, in every province;
and the establishment of an _audiencia_ or court of appeal at Cuzco,
within reach of the Indians. "This," he concluded, "is at present
the extent of my wishes, leaving to the King of Spain his former
dominion." To the bishop he said that he had come forward, on behalf
of the whole nation, to put an end to the robberies and outrages of
the corregidors; and he promised to respect the priests, all church
property, and all women and inoffensive unarmed people.[221]
But the garrison of Cuzco had, in the mean while, been reinforced by
Pumacagua, the Cacique of Chinchero, and by 200 mulatto soldiers from
Lima under Don Gabriel de Aviles, who arrived by forced marches on
January 1st. The cabildo, therefore, refused to entertain any proposals
from the Inca. The Spaniards came out to attack him under Don Pablo
Astete, and the Caciques of Chinchero and Anta, Pumacagua and Rosas.
There was a long skirmish in the broken ground, which was brought to
a conclusion by the evening snow; but on the 8th a sanguinary battle
was fought in the suburbs and on the heights, which lasted two days,
and during which a Dominican friar, named Ramon de Salazar, concealed
behind a rock, did effective service with his musket, and contributed
to throw the Indians into confusion. The Inca finally retreated to
Tinta, to re-organize his forces.
His cousin Diego Tupac Amaru was also unsuccessful to the eastward.
His division was detached from the main army at Checacupe, where
he crossed some mountainous country, and again descended into the
valley of the Vilcamayu, following the course of the river until he
encountered the forces under the command of the Marquis of Rocafuerte,
consisting of the levies of Pumacagua, Cacique of Chinchero, and those
of the Caciques of Maras and Huayllabamba. An engagement took place at
Huaran, on the banks of the river, near Calca, when Diego was defeated,
many of his Indians being drowned in the river; and he again suffered
defeat at Yucay on December 23rd. The Indian chief then left the valley
of the Vilcamayu, crossed a range of mountains, and laid siege to
the town of Paucartambo, on the banks of the rapid river of the same
name, while his videttes hovered over the heights above the Vilcamayu
valley, threatening the towns of Calca, Pissac, and Taray. Don José
Antonio Vivar was sent to occupy the bridge at Urubamba, and watch
the movements of the Indians. Paucartambo, and a strong fort built on
a rocky height on the opposite side of the river, were desperately
defended by the Spaniards under Don Lorenzo Lechuga, who had fortified
and garrisoned the place. Astete was sent across the bridge at
Urubamba, with 400 men, to relieve it; they had several encounters with
the Indians on the march, and on reaching the besieged town they found
that Lechuga had expended all his ammunition; but the besieging force,
under Diego Tupac Amaru, fell back towards Tinta, on the approach of
Astete, on the 18th of January, 1781. Having re-organized his army at
Tinta, the Inca, accompanied by his cousin Diego, made another attack
upon Paucartambo on the 11th of February; but, after several fruitless
assaults, the Indian army finally retreated to Tinta on the 14th.[222]
Tupac Amaru had now assembled a force of 60,000 men in and around
Tinta; but they were wholly undisciplined, and only a few hundreds
were armed with muskets. All the caciques in Peru, with the exception
of sixteen,[223] had, however, declared in favour of the Inca; and the
whole Indian and mestizo population, except the _ayllus_ or tribes of
the sixteen Hispanicized caciques, longed earnestly for the success of
this truly national insurrection. After the retreat from Paucartambo
in February, the Inca occupied himself in strengthening his position
round Tinta, and in visiting the distant provinces of Chuquibamba and
Cotabambas, while one Isidro Mamani, an Indian of ferocious character,
born at Pomata, on the banks of lake Titicaca, Pedro Vargas, and Andres
Ingaricona, held the open country in the Collao.
The whole of the interior of Central and Upper Peru was in revolt, and
the viceroys of Peru and Buenos Ayres, Don Augustin de Jauregui and Don
Juan José de Vertiz, were thoroughly alarmed. The former despatched
Don José Antonio Areche, as "visitador," with extraordinary judicial
powers, and a force commanded by Don José del Valle as Mariscal del
Campo, to Cuzco; while the latter named Don Ignacio Flores, then
Governor of Moxos, as commandante-general, to put down the rebellion in
Upper Peru.
Areche, accompanied by General José del Valle, and Don Benito de la
Matta Linares, a judge of the Royal Audience at Lima, arrived at Cuzco
on February 23rd, 1781, where an army of 15,000 men was collected,
consisting of the tribes of the recreant caciques, negroes and mulattos
from the coast, and a small force of Spaniards.
Early in March General del Valle prepared to commence the campaign.
But, before his army marched out of Cuzco, the visitador Areche
received a letter from Tupac Amaru, in which he represented the
earnest endeavours he had made to obtain justice for his people; the
habitual violation of the law by the Spanish officials; the cruel and
intolerable oppression caused by the _repartimentos_ and the _mita_;
and the absolute necessity of some reform in the administration. He
concluded by proposing a negotiation by which these ends might be
attained without bloodshed. This despatch is very ably written, and
is a monument of the noble and enlightened views of this great but
most unfortunate patriot.[224] The answer of the visitador Areche was
a brutal menace, better suited to a follower of Zengis Khan than to a
Christian judge. He refused all negotiation, vowed the most horrible
vengeance, and concluded by saying that, if the Inca surrendered at
once, the cruelty of the mode of his execution would be lessened. The
Spanish General del Valle protested against the brutality of this
reply.[225]
Tupac Amaru now prepared to resist to the utmost, as it became
evident to him that complete independence or death were the only
two alternatives which were left by the barbarous policy of the
bloodthirsty visitador; but his edicts were still marked by humanity
and good sense. It does not appear that he ever actually proclaimed
himself a sovereign independent of Spain; yet the draft of an edict was
found amongst his papers, in which he styles himself "Don José I., by
the grace of God, Inca, King of Peru, Quito, Chile, Buenos Ayres, and
the continents of the South Sea, Lord of the River of the Amazons, with
dominion over the Grand Paytiti." The document is headed by a portrait
of Tupac Amaru, crowned, with Spanish trophies at his feet. It states
that the King of Castille had usurped the crown and dominions of Peru,
imposing innumerable taxes, tributes, duties, excises, monopolies,
tithes, fifths; appointing officers who sold justice, and treating
the people like beasts of burden. For these causes, and by reason of
the cries which have risen up to Heaven, in the name of Almighty God,
it is ordered that no man shall henceforward pay money to any Spanish
officer, excepting the tithes to priests; but that tribute shall be
paid to the Inca, and an oath of allegiance to him be taken in every
town and village. The document is without date.[226]
On March 12th, 1781, the army under General del Valle marched out
of Cuzco. A detachment of 2000 men was sent against the insurgents,
commanded by the Caciques Parvina and Bermudez,[227] in the province
of Cotabambas, who were both killed in a desperate action. Tupac Amaru
used to call these brave chiefs his right and left arms. Meanwhile the
main body of the royalist army advanced slowly along the mountains to
the westward of the valley of the Vilcamayu, suffering much from the
snow-storms, the want of food and fuel, and the shameful neglect of
all commissariat arrangements by Areche. On the 18th the Inca sent
a message to the Spanish General, saying that the morrow, being the
festival of San José, would be an appropriate day for settling their
differences; and that he should prepare his troops for a movement of
which, in compliment to the name-day of both himself and Del Valle, he
deemed it courteous to apprise his adversary. In consequence of this
message the Spaniard kept his men under arms all night, but no attack
took place, and in the morning the Inca's army was found to be gone.
Tupac had intended a stratagem, and had retired into an unfrequented
ravine: on the 21st a snow-storm favoured his design, and his plan
would have succeeded, had not a traitor, named Zunuario de Castro,
given Valle notice of his movements. The Spaniards changed their
position, and the Inca passed the night in vainly searching for it.
General del Valle was upwards of seventy years of age, and, unable
longer to endure the excessive cold of the mountains, he descended
into the valley of the Vilcamayu, and captured Quiquijana, hanging
the Cacique Luis Poma Inca, who defended it. On the 6th of April
the Spanish army advanced up the valley, meeting with considerable
opposition, and reached Checacupe early in the day. Near this village
the Inca had taken up a position, defended by a ditch and parapet
stretching across the valley, and manned by 20,000 men, but he had
neglected to provide any defence for his flanks. A Spanish division
stole unperceived to the back of the position, while the main body
assaulted it in front; and after an heroic defence the Indians,
attacked both in front and rear, fell back to another entrenched
position at Combapata, a league from Tinta, where the village was
surrounded by a mud wall, covered at the top with thorny bushes. The
Spaniards, following up their success, played upon the village with
their field-pieces for several hours, then carried the position at the
point of the bayonet, and made a bloody entry into Tinta.
Tupac Amaru, with his wife and three sons, fled to Lanqui, a village
about twenty miles to the westward, on the shores of a wild Alpine
lake. Here he intended to have rallied his disordered troops, but he
was betrayed by one of his own officers, named Ventura Landaeta, who,
assisted by the cura of the place, basely delivered the illustrious
Inca and his family into the hands of the Spaniards. On the same day
General del Valle hung sixty-seven Indian prisoners at Tinta, whose
heads he stuck on poles by the road-side.[228] Diego Tupac Amaru, his
nephew Andres Mendagure, and Mariano, the second son of the Inca,
fortunately escaped.
On the 8th of April Francisco, the aged uncle of the Inca,[229] was
also seized, and the prisoners were marched bareheaded into Cuzco, the
visitador Areche coming out as far as Urcos to meet them. They were
all separated from each other, and told that they would not meet again
until the day of execution.
The chief prisoners were the Inca Tupac Amaru, his wife, his two sons
Hipolito and Fernando, his uncle Francisco, his brother-in-law Antonio
Bastidas, his maternal cousin Patricio Noguera, his cousin Cecilia
Tupac Amaru with her husband Pedro Mendagure, a number of captains in
the Inca's army and other officials, and Aliaga's executioner named
Antonio Oblitas,[230] a negro slave.
It is necessary to record the diabolical cruelties of the visitador
Areche, and his assistant Matta Linares, in order to complete the
narrative of the ill-fated Inca's life, and to show into whose hands
the fate of the Peruvian Indians was placed by the Spanish viceroy,
and of what devilish atrocities they were capable. On the 15th of May,
1781, the visitador Areche pronounced a lengthy sentence, in which he
declared that it was necessary to hasten its execution, in order to
convince the Indians that it was not impossible to put a man of such
elevated rank to death, merely because he was the heir of the Incas
of Peru. He then accused the Inca of rebellion, of destroying the
_obrajes_, of abolishing the _mita_, and of causing pictures to be
painted of himself dressed in the imperial insignia of the _uncu_ or
mantle, and _mascapaicha_ or head-dress; and others representing the
triumph of his arms at Sangarara. He condemned his victim to behold
the execution of his wife, his son, his uncle, his brother-in-law
Antonio Bastidas, and of his captains; to have his tongue cut out,
and afterwards to have his limbs secured to the girths of four horses
dragging different ways, and thus to be torn in pieces. His body to
be burnt on the heights of Picchu, his head to be stuck on a pole
at Tinta, one arm at Tungasuca, the other in Caravaya, a leg in
Chumbivilicas, and another in Lampa. His houses to be demolished,
their sites strewn with salt, all his goods to be confiscated, all his
relations declared infamous, all documents relating to his descent to
be burnt by the hangman, all dresses used by the Incas or caciques
to be prohibited, all pictures of the Incas to be seized and burnt,
the representation of Quichua dramas to be forbidden, all the musical
instruments of the Indians to be destroyed, all signs of mourning
for the Incas to be forbidden, all Indians to give up their national
costumes, and dress henceforth in the Spanish fashion, and the use of
the Quichua language to be prohibited.
In the annals of barbarism there is probably not to be found a document
equalling this in savage wickedness and imbecile absurdity: and this
was written by a Spanish judge only eighty years ago.[231]
This hideous cruelty was literally carried into effect, in all its
revolting details. On Friday the 18th of May, 1781, after the great
square had been surrounded by Spanish and negro troops, ten persons
came forth from the church of the Jesuits. One of these was the Inca
Tupac Amaru, who had, in the early morning, been visited in prison by
Areche, and urged to betray all the accomplices in his rebellion.[232]
"You and I," he replied, "are the only conspirators: you for having
oppressed the country with exactions which were unendurable, and I for
having wished to free the people from such tyranny."[233] The Inca's
companions in misfortune were his wife Micaela, his sons Hipolito and
Fernando, his brother-in-law Antonio Bastidas, his uncle Francisco
Tupac Amaru, Tomasa Condemaita the Cacica of Acos, José Verdejo and
Andres Castelo, captains in the Inca's army, and the executioner
Oblitas.
Verdejo, Castelo, Oblitas, and Bastidas were hung at once. The rest
were heavily chained, tied up in the bags which are used for carrying
the maté or Paraguay tea, and dragged backwards into the centre of the
square by horses. Francisco and Hipolito Tupac Amaru, the one an old
man verging on fourscore years, the other a youth of twenty, then had
their tongues cut out, and, with Tomasa Condemaita, were garrotted by
an iron screw, the first that had been seen in Cuzco. Micaela, the
wife of the Inca, was then placed on the same scaffold, her tongue was
cut out, and the screw was placed round her neck in presence of her
husband; but she suffered cruelly, because her neck was so small that
the screw failed to strangle her. The executioners then placed a lasso
round her neck, and pulled different ways, at the same time kicking her
in the stomach and bosom until they succeeded in killing her. The Inca
was then taken into the centre of the square, his chains were taken
off, and his tongue was cut out. He was then thrown on the ground;
lassos, secured to the girths of four horses, were fastened to his
wrists and ankles, and the horses were made to drag different ways, "a
spectacle never before seen at Cuzco." As the unfortunate Inca's body
was thus raised into the air, his youngest son Fernando, a child of ten
years, who had been forced to witness this horrible massacre of his
relations, uttered a heartrending shriek, the knell of which continued
to ring in the ears of those who heard it to their dying day.[234] The
horses did not pull at the same time, and the body remained suspended
like a spider for many minutes, until at last the brutal miscreant
Areche, who was looking on from a window in the College of the Jesuits,
caused the head to be cut off.[235] The child Fernando was then passed
under the scaffold, and sentenced to be banished for life to one of the
penal settlements in Africa.
Many of the Spanish citizens were present, but not an Indian was to be
seen. They afterwards declared that, while the horses were torturing
the Inca, a great wind arose, with torrents of rain, and that even
the elements felt the death of the Inca, whom the inhuman and impious
Spaniards were torturing with such cruelty.[236]
The heads, bodies, and limbs of the victims were sent to the different
towns of Peru, and to the villages round Cuzco,[237] in order to
strike terror into the hearts of the Indians; but this proceeding of
course had the opposite effect, and goaded them to fury. By the humane
exertions of the Inca the war had hitherto been carried on without
unnecessary bloodshed, and he had always protected unarmed persons and
women; but, after the perpetration of these barbarities in Cuzco, it
became a war of extermination, and during the following year not less
than 80,000 people fell victims to the vengeance of the Indian and
Spanish troops.
In the revolting cruelty of Areche may be traced the abject terror of
a dastardly and craven mind; and to this cowardice may also be imputed
the concessions which were afterwards wrung from him.[238] Tupac Amaru
did not die in vain; for, after the suppression of his revolt, the
_repartos_ were abolished, and the _mitas_ were much modified.
Thus fell the last of the Incas. He was a man of whom his nation might
well be proud, and will bear comparison with the greatest monarchs
of his race. Having enjoyed the best education which Spanish policy
at that time permitted to the people of the colonies, he brought a
cultivated mind, a clear understanding, untiring industry, and devoted
zeal for the welfare of his countrymen to his important duties as a
wealthy and influential cacique. When he afterwards undertook the
office of defender of the oppressed Indians he displayed an amount
of patient perseverance, combined with great ability in the advocacy
of their cause, which excited the admiration of the Bishop of Cuzco
and others of the more enlightened Spaniards. Finally, after he had
unwillingly become convinced that all remonstrance was useless, he,
in his appeal to arms, combined promptitude of action with great
moderation in his demands; his edicts were remarkable for their good
sense and humanity; and had his efforts been met by the Spaniards in
a corresponding spirit, the viceroy of the King of Castille might at
length have succeeded in enforcing the practical observance of the
humane laws of his master.
But this was not to be. Instead of a calm and enlightened statesman,
and Spain had many such, the viceroy placed full powers in the hands of
a wretch whose conduct was a mixture of cowardice, atrocious cruelty,
and incapacity. Fortune decided in favour of the Spaniards, and the
Inca fell into the power of a man whose vile nature was excited to
acts of unequalled barbarity by the terror which his position and his
incompetence had caused him. I have felt obliged to relate the shocking
circumstances of the death of Tupac Amaru in justice to the Indians;
for who can be surprised if afterwards they frequently refused to give
quarter to any of the hated race of _Chapetones_, as they called the
Spaniards? and no atrocity was ever perpetrated by them which can be
compared to the execution of the Inca and his family, committed by the
deliberate sentence of a Spanish judge.[239]