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1572 - The last Inca

Return to Cuzco
IllustrationThe triumphant expedition and its captives marched back to Cuzco in September. "For the day of the triumphal entry of the captains with their prisoners, the town council arranged a parade of all the troops... The last was Captain Loyola with the Inca Tupac Amaru, held by a chain of gold round his neck". The Inca was wearing the royal fringe but refused to remove it as the prisoners passed Toledo's window. Loyola let go of the gold chain and struck his prisoner for not obeying.

Toledo appointed two ecclesiastics to the task of converting the Inca to Christianity, a move designed to finally discredit and destroy the native religion. The Inca proved surprisingly responsive to the teachings, whether from the belief that Christianity had ensured the Spanish success or from a desire to reduce the severity of his punishment. The Inca was certainly aware that his life was in grave danger and embracing the Christian religion promised eternal, as well as possibly physical, salvation.



Tupac Amaru on trial
Toledo executed the militant native generals swiftly and was determined to have the Inca himself executed. Toledo was concerned that there would always be the possibility of native unrest whilst potential rulers remained in Cuzco. In later years, he would ruthlessly exile or execute many of the surviving Inca royal family for this very reason.

Mindful of the outrage that had followed Atahualpa's execution, Toledo proceeded cautiously. A sham trial ensued, with the Inca accused of a vast list of murders in and around Vilcabamba that had taken place in recent times. Most of the accusations were subsequently shown to be false but that did not stop a hurried, three day trial from finally sentencing Tupac Amaru to death by beheading.

The death sentence provoked outrage in Cuzco. A long list of prominent ecclesiastics organised an appeal for a stay of execution or full pardon but were largely ignored by the Viceroy. The respected Bishop of Popayán argued personally that the Inca "was innocent and should not die the death that was planned for him. He should be sent to Spain to His Majesty. But the Viceroy resolutely refused, and closed the door on appeals and supplications in this case".



Death of Tupac Amaru
On the day of the execution, Tupac Amaru was lead to the main square of Cuzco with his hands tied and a rope at his neck. "So many natives congregated at the death of their King and lord that... it was only possible to push through the streets and squares with the greatest difficulty. Since there was no more room on the ground, the Indians climbed the walls and roofs of the houses; and even the many large hills that are visible from the city were full of Indians".

As the procession led its way towards the square, María Cusi Huarcay, Tupac Amaru's fearless sister, appeared in an upper window and "raised her voice with great sobbing and cried out to him: 'Whither are you going my brother, prince and sole King of the four suyos?'"

Illustration"As the multitude of Indians, who completely filled the square, saw that lamentable spectacle [and knew] that their lord and Inca was to die there, they deafened the skies, making them reverberate with their cries and wailing".

"The Inca then received consolation from the fathers who were at his side, and taking leave of all, he placed his head on the block like a lamb. The executioner then came forward". "He bound his eyes, held him on the dias" and "taking the hair in his left hand, severed the head with a cutlass at one blow, and held it high for all to see. As the head was severed the bells of the cathedral began to toll, and were followed by those of all the monasteries and parish churches in the city. The execution caused the greatest sorrow and brought tears to the eyes of all."

Thus ended Tupac Amaru, the last of Manco's sons, the last crowned ruler of Peru, and the last Inca. The hurried trial, the dignified behaviour of the condemned, the despair of the natives and the subsequent self-reproach of the Spaniards were achingly similar to the death of Tupac Amaru's uncle, Atahualpa, thirty-nine years earlier. The stroke that executed Tupac Amaru was the final blow of the Spanish conquest of Peru, almost exactly forty years after the first violent encounter in the square of Cajamarca.