Blackwell Reference Online

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The great-great grandson of Túpac Amaru I , the last Incan leader and a provincial Indian nobleman, José Gabriel Condorcanqui Noguera, alias Túpac Amaru II (1742–81), led the most significant Indian rebellion that took place in the Americas between the Spanish conquest and independence. Aware of the conditions endured by common Indians, in 1780 he organized a revolt that appealed to the Incans' sense of justice and thus attracted large numbers of native fighters. After much effort, the Spaniards suppressed the movement and executed Condorcanqui. They subsequently implemented major changes in their imperial administration of the Peruvian viceroyalty. Condorcanqui was born in Tinta (province of Cuzco) into an upper-class Indian family. Through his maternal side, he was a descendant of Túpac Amaru I, the last Incan rebel executed by the Spaniards in 1570. He received a Jesuit education, spoke fluent Spanish and Quechua, and read Latin readily. He amassed a sizable fortune thanks to muleteering, a profitable activity in colonial Peru. Condorcanqui was nicknamed the “muleteer-cacique” when he inherited the caciqueship (leadership position in Andean communities) of Tungasuca and Pampamarca from his older brother. He married Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua, a pure-blooded Indian woman, and fathered three children, Hipólito, Mariano, and Fernando. His duties as a chief acquainted him with the ... log in or subscribe to read full text