Nombre_______________________________
Fecha________________________________
Túpac Amaru
Túpac Amaru was the last of the royal family of the ​Inca Empire​ to ever actually rule his
people. After the Spanish invasion of the Andes, many of his family members were killed, and
only a small, remote outpost remained of Inca rule.
Túpac Amaru presided over a brief rebellion against the Spanish, which was crushed in
1571-1572. Túpac Amaru was executed, and with him died any realistic hope of a return to Inca
rule in the Andes. When the Spanish arrived in the Andes in the early 1530’s, they found the
wealthy Inca Empire in turmoil. Feuding brothers ​Atahuallpa​ and ​Huáscar​ ruled over two halves
of the mighty Empire. Huáscar was killed by Atahuallpa’s agents and Atahuallpa himself was
captured and executed by the Spanish, effectively ending the time of the Inca.
Túpac Amaru became leader at a time when events had already conspired against him.
The deaths of the Spanish priest, interpreter and ambassador were not of his doing, as they
took place before he was made leader of Vilcabamba. As a result of these tragedies, he was
forced to fight a war he may or may not have wanted. In addition, Viceroy Toledo had already
decided to stamp out the last Inca holdout at Vilcabamba. The legality of the conquest of the
Inca was being seriously questioned by reformers (primarily in the religious orders) in Spain and
in the New World, and Toledo knew that without a ruling family to which the Empire could be
returned, questioning the legality of the conquest was moot. Although Viceroy Toledo was
reprimanded by the crown for the execution, in fact he did the King a favor by removing the last
legitimate legal threat to Spanish rule in the Andes. Today Túpac Amaru stands as a symbol for
the indigenous people of Peru of the horrors of the conquest and Spanish colonial rule. He is
considered the first indigenous leader to seriously rebel, in an organized way, against the
Spanish. As such, he has become the inspiration for many guerrilla groups over the centuries. In
1780, his great grandson José Gabriel Condorcanqui adopted the name Túpac Amaru and
launched a short-lived but serious rebellion against the Spanish in Peru. The Peruvian
communist rebel group Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (“Túpac Amaru Revolutionary
Movement”) took their name from him, as did the Uruguayan Marxist rebel group the
Tupamaros​.
Preguntas de comprensión
1. What were the causes of the decline of the Incan empire?
________________________________________________________________________
2. What challenges did Tupac Amaru encounter?
________________________________________________________________________
3. Why did the Spanish want Tupac Amaru dead?
________________________________________________________________________
4. What does his legacy represent?
________________________________________________________________________