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Tupac Amaru II

Revolutionaries and Independence Leaders

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Tupac Amaru II, born Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui (1738-1781), was an Indigenous Andean cacique, or hereditary chief, who claimed direct descent from the last Inca ruler and led a major uprising against Spanish colonial rule in Peru beginning in 1780. Proclaiming himself the legitimate Inca sovereign, he rallied a large following of Indigenous, mestizo and some criollo supporters against colonial abuses, particularly the forced labor and tribute systems imposed on Indigenous communities, and his forces won early victories before being defeated by Spanish colonial troops in 1781. He was captured and brutally executed, but his rebellion, one of the largest anti-colonial uprisings in the history of the Americas, later made him a lasting symbol of Indigenous resistance across the Andes.

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