Túpac Amaru II

Túpac Amaru II (March 19, 1738 Peru – May 1781) was the leader of an indigenist uprising in 1780 against the Spaniards in colonial Peru. Although ultimately unsuccessful, he later became a mythical figure in the Peruvian struggle for independence and indigenist rights movement.

The great-grandson of the last Incan leader Túpac Amaru, he was born José Gabriel Condorcanqui in Tinta, in the province of Cuzco, and received a Jesuit education. A man of strong principles, Condorcanqui sympathized with the plight of the native people and he petitioned the Spanish government to improve conditions in the textile mills, the mines, and the villages. Unsuccessful, he organized a rebellion and adopted his great-grandfather's name.

Túpac Amaru II's rebellion was the first major uprising against the Spanish colonists in two centuries. It was suppressed, he was captured, and sentenced to be tortured and put to death by being drawn and quartered on the main plaza in Cuzco in 1781, in the same place as his great-grandfather had been beheaded. Other regional revolts followed. After they were put down, all the descendants of the Incas were traced and many were executed. A group of ninety were sent to Spain where most died in prisons.

Querrán volarlo y no podrán volarlo ("They will want to blow him up and wont 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: LIBERTY! over the earth, he will be back. And they won't be able to kill him!")
-- Alejandro Romualdo

See also

• Enciclopedia Libre's article on Túpac Amaru II
• Inca Empire