In the late 1700s, Indigenous peoples in the Spanish colonies of the Andes were forced to work for the Spanish. They tilled the land, worked in the textile mills and the mines. Those that didn’t faced heavy taxes. But in early November 1780, Indigenous Incan leader Tupac Amaru II led an uprising against the Spanish that he hoped would end it all.
It was the largest revolt against colonial Spain. Thousands would join the months-long rebellion. It would inspire uprisings elsewhere across the continent, and independence leaders. South America would gain its freedom from Spain just 40 years later.
See photos of the Tupac Amaru II statue in the Yanaoca town square here on Michael Fox’s Patreon.
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Transcript
In the main square of Yanaoca, Peru, people dance. It’s carnival season. Yanaoca is a small town in the highlands of Peru. Population 1,500 people. But it is best known for rebellion.
See, just next to the dancers and the musicians, the colorful carnival flags, and the children playing in the square is a huge statue of Tupac Amaru II. He stands, one arm outstretched, pointing north toward Cusco.
Tupac Amaru II was the Indigenous leader who led the revolt against Spanish colonial rule here in 1780. A man said to have been descended from the last Incan rulers defeated by the Spanish 300 years before. This town of Yanaoca was ground zero. The place where Tupac Amaru II lit the spark setting the region on fire.
In the late 1700s, Indigenous peoples in the Spanish colonies of the Andes were forced to work for the Spanish, tilling the land, working in the textile mills and the mines. Those that didn’t faced heavy taxes.
Antonio de Arriaga was the embodiment of this system in the region. The hated Spanish governor or regent who oversaw this system and the riches sent back to Spain.
And so, in early November 1780, after a celebration in honor of San Carlos, the patron saint of the King of Spain, Tupac Amaru II captured the Spanish regent and held him hostage, forcing him to write letters requesting weapons and funds to supposedly fight pirates along the coast.
With this, Tupac Amaru II launched his rebellion. Indigenous peoples from the countryside quickly joined. The goals were many: Some wanted just to reform the oppressive Spanish rule. Others hoped to reinstate the Inca Empire, with the dream of building a more equal society, without castes and forced labor.
They executed Arriaga, and with an insurrectionist army of thousands they marched toward Cusco, capturing provinces. Tupac Amaru II’s own wife, Micaela Bastidas, led a battalion that kicked off an uprising in San Felipe de Tungasuca.
They won battles against the Spanish, but they failed to capture Cusco. They were ultimately defeated after Spanish reinforcements arrived from Lima, and Tupac Amaru II was betrayed by a pair of officers.
Tupac Amaru II and his family were executed in Cusco’s main square on May 18, 1781. But his revolt was the first widespread rebellion against Spanish colonial rule, and the fire he set lit across the region. Revolts sparked in present day Northern Argentina and Bolivia. There, Indigenous Aymara leader Túpac Katari raised an army of tens of thousands and laid siege to the city of La Paz for 100 days. Tupac Amaru II’s rebellion also inspired independence leaders. South America would gain its freedom from Spain just 40 years later.
Tupac Amaru II is still remembered. The Uruguayan urban guerrilla movement of the 1960s and 1970s took their name from Tupac Amaru II. They called themselves the Tupamaros.
Even rapper Tupac Shakur. His full name was Tupac Amaru Shakur. His mother said she wanted him to have the name of revolutionary, Indigenous people in the world.
In Peru, not just in Yanaoca, there are statues and effigies of Tupac Amaru II. His name adorns streets signs and plazas. His legacy is larger than life. An inspiration against all odds. An inspiration against injustice. A inspiring symbol of resistance.
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Thanks for listening.
I’m your host, Michael Fox.
This weeks marks the anniversary of the start of Tupac Amaru II’s uprising against the Spanish on November 4, 1780 — Just 245 years later.
Earlier this year, I was traveling up and down Peru, and it was exciting to visit some of these locations, like Yanaoca and Cuzco, in person. You can check out some of my pictures of the statue of Tupac Amaru II, in the main square of Yanoca, as well as the carnival celebrations, in my Patreon. That’s patreon.com/mfox.
This is the 75th episode of Stories of Resistance. That is 75 episodes since January this year. If you don’t already subscribe to the show you can follow the links in the show notes.
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