The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II was an uprising by kuraka-led Aymara, Quechua, and mestizo rebels, aimed at overthrowing Spanish colonial rule in Peru, from 1780 to 1783. The causes of the rebellion included opposition to the Bourbon Reforms, an economic downturn in colonial Peru, and a grassroots revival of Inca cultural identity led by Túpac Amaru II, an indigenous kuraka and the leader of the rebellion. While Amaru II and other prominent rebel leaders were captured and executed by the Spanish in 1781, the rebellion continued for at least another year under Diego Cristóbal, Túpac Katari and Andrés Túpac Amaru, among others.
The rebellion arose as a reaction to the imposition of the Bourbon Reforms in the Spanish viceroyalties of America. These reforms, among others, forced the indigenous population to mine minerals under the Mit'a system, largely in Cerro Rico in Potosí. Among Túpac Amaru II's proclamations were the demands of the freedom of the indigenous population and the abolition of slavery. Most of the rebels were indigenous Aymara and Quechua people, along with mestizos, and some creoles and Afro-Peruvian slaves.
The rebellion began with the capture and execution of Antonio de Arriaga, the corregidor of Tinta. This initial phase of the rebellion in Cusco and the south was marked by key victories, such as the Capture of Ayaviri, the liberation of Caylloma, and especially the Battle of Sangarará, which consolidated rebel control over the Cusco region. As royalist forces responded with a punitive expedition from Lima, along with failed Siege of Cusco, the insurgent movement began to weaken. Túpac Amaru II was captured, after being betrayed when retreating to Langui after the defeat in the Battle of Combapata on 5 April, 1781. He, along with his family and other commanders, were executed in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco on 18 May, 1781. Despite the death of Túpac Amaru II, Túpac Katari and Diego Cristóbal continued the rebellion in until 1783.
Tupac Amaru II's rebellion was simultaneous, and occasionally cooperated, with the uprising of Túpac Katari in colonial-era Upper Peru (now Bolivia). The rebellion was the first large-scale attempt at an independence movement in Latin America and was the largest revolt in the Americas, prior to the Spanish American wars of independence and the Haitian Revolution.
The government of Spain, to streamline the operation of its colonial empire, began introducing what became known as the Bourbon Reforms throughout South America. In 1776, as part of these reforms, it created the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata by separating Upper Peru (modern Bolivia) and the territory that is now Argentina from the Viceroyalty of Peru. These territories included the economically important silver mines at Potosí, whose economic benefits began to flow to Buenos Aires in the east instead of Cuzco and Lima to the west. The economic hardship this introduced to parts of the Altiplano combined with systemic oppression of indigenous and mestizo underclasses (a recurring source of localized uprisings throughout Spanish colonial South America) to create an environment in which a large-scale uprising could occur.
In 1778, Spain raised sales taxes (known as the alcabala) on goods such as rum and pulque (the common alcoholic beverages of the peasants and commoners) while tightening the rest of its tax system in its colonies, in part to fund its participation in the American Revolutionary War. José Gabriel Condorcanqui, an upper-class indigenous leader with claims to the Inca royal lineage, traveled to Lima in the 1770s to be recognized for his noble title. After being rejected by the Real Audiencia of Lima and returning to Cusco, he adopted the name Túpac Amaru II (alluding to Túpac Amaru, the last Inca emperor), and in 1780, called for rebellion against the oppressive Spanish administration and reforms. He claimed to be acting on behalf of the King of Spain, enforcing royal authority on the corrupt and treacherous colonial administration. In 1780, during the rebellion, Fernando Vélaz de Medrano, 4th Marquess of Tabuérniga, informed the Prince of Asturias (the future Charles IV of Spain) about the rebellion and widespread corruption among royal officials in South America, particularly regarding the playing card and tobacco monopolies imposed by Minister José de Gálvez, which were seen as a catalyst for the unrest.
Túpac Amaru was motivated in part by reading of a prophecy that the Inca would rule again, along with the freedom of his people. He may have been aware of the British colonial rebellion in North America and Spanish involvement in the war and sought to get international support. Additionally, the growth of mining as a source of colonial revenue was largely caused by the increased burden placed on indigenous workers who formed the base of the labor used to mine silver, leading to increased unrest.
The insurgent forces fighting in the region were divided into three types: those linked to Túpac Amaru, those aligned with Túpac Katari, and those who recognized one or both rebel groups but remained autonomous. The latter, built on local hatreds, did not always heed Túpac Amaru's calls to respect the population considered neutral, mainly mestizos, women, and children. These autonomous rebels were better at assimilating the royalist tactics of seeking to exterminate rather than defeat and disarm the enemy. Furthermore, both rebels and royalists sacrificed any opponent they could capture. This more ferocious form of combat, with less control from leaders, would characterize the second phase uprising in 1781.
Capture and execution of Antonio de Arriaga
On 4 November 1780, after a celebration of the king Charles III in Yanaoca, where cacique Túpac Amaru II and supporters seized Antonio Arriaga, the corregidor of his hometown of Tinta and interim Governor of Tucumán. They forced him to write letters to his treasurer in Tinta requesting money and arms and to other influential individuals and kurakas ordering them to congregate in Tungasuca, where Arriaga was being held prisoner. While Arriaga was being kept in the basement of Túpac Amaru and Micaela Bastidas's home, Túpac Amaru traveled to Arriaga's home in Tinta to seize arms, money, and resources. On 10 November, six days after his capture, Arriaga was executed by hanging by his slave, in front of thousands of gathered indigenous, mestizos, and criollos (locals of recognized Spanish descent).
On 16 November 1780, Túpac Amaru issued a proclamation decreeing the emancipation of Afro-Peruvians and African slaves. In this document, he exhorted all "decent" Spaniards, the clergy, and others friendly with the Peruvian population to join the fight against the hostilities and abuses of the European population; and all those who had been mistreated by the "chapetones" (a derogatory term for Spaniards), including slaves, to abandon them. This decision served a tactical purpose: with the escape of the slaves, the colonial export economy would collapse and the rebel forces would grow. Furthermore, the psychological effect was that in Lima, the upper classes on their haciendas would be more concerned about the defiant slaves and the free blacks and mulattos than about the population of the highlands. These also included ending the mita rotational labor system and limiting the power of the corregidor and thus amplifying his power as cacique and Túpac sought to create a new audiencia at Cusco.
According to the testimony of two possible rebels, Pascual Gutiérrez Sonco and Manuel Chuquipata, captured in December by the mayor of Carabuco, Túpac Amaru requested that his troops use crosses to distinguish themselves. Those who were not indigenous wore paper crosses on their hats, while the indigenous ones wore straw crosses. They also differentiated between Spaniards who could be recruited and the "chapetones", whom they had orders to kill; and they preferred indigenous clothing to European clothing.
Following the assassination of Arriaga, Túpac began moving through the countryside, gaining supporters, primarily from the indigenous and mestizo classes, but also with some creoles and freed slaves. Creole Antonio de Figueroa joined the rebels after being captured, commanding the artillery regiment. Despite the rebel leaders' efforts to control rumors and the flow of information, news of Arriaga's execution quickly reached the city of Cusco, from where an army of 1,500 militiamen and local volunteers was financed and formed.