Revolution in the Andes: The Age of Túpac Amaru by Sergio Serulnikov (review)

From 1780 to 1783, indigenous people in the southern Andes revolted against imperial Spain; this insurrection was the largest one in the history of the Americas. Closely associated with the leadership of Túpac Amaru II, a direct descendant of the last Inca emperor, the revolt devastated the region from Cusco to Chayanta. In this thin volume, Serulnikov manages to present an excellent overview of the insurrection as well as a nuanced discussion of regional and local variations. He references a large historiography dating from the 1950s to the present, and an array of archival material, including quotations from Túpac Amaru II and imperial officials. Serulnikov urges us to view the indigenous people as political actors who attempted to redress their grievances through established judicial and customary channels, and who resorted to insurrection only as a last resort.

Rebels’ grievances emanated from the Bourbon Reforms (c. 1750–1790), which outraged local elites, both indigenous caciques and Spanish creoles, who lost their political offices to outsiders. The Reforms also caused hardship by raising taxes, notably the sales tax, which overburdened the masses and reduced profits for merchants, including the muleteer Túpac Amaru II. Caciques disputed the legitimacy of the Reforms in lawsuits, petitions, and localized protests, which failed to produce results. The conflict that at first centered on unfair policies and abuses quickly escalated to a threat against imperial authority. After three years of bloody fighting, the imperial state prevailed because of superior weaponry, an enlarged militia system, and divisions among the indigenous population.

The racial, ethnic, and political alliances that formed and collapsed during the rebellion all inform Serulnikov’s narrative. Indigenous rebels initially enjoyed the support of outraged creoles, but such alliances proved tenuous. In Cusco, sympathetic creoles deserted the cause after rebels accidently burned the church at Sangarará where Spanish troops had received sanctuary. Cusco Bishop Juan Manuel Moscoso then excommunicated Túpac Amaru II and his followers. Atrocities by both sides increased and the revolution degenerated into a race war. Túpac Amaru II donned the regalia of the Inca emperor and assumed the posture of a sovereign.

In Aymara regions from Lake Titicaca to Chayanta, conflicts escalated into outright revolt under the direction of Tomás Katari and Túpac Katari. In towns that they controlled, insurgents forced creoles to wear indigenous clothing and to chew coca leaves, a common practice among Andean natives. Indian rebels also refused to bury the corpses of abusive Spaniards, calling them demons because of their hypocritical non-Christian behavior. In Oruro, creoles Jacinto and Juan de Dios Rodríguez joined the insurrection to reclaim their lost offices and wealth, but they refused to accept indigenous rule. The Rodríguez brothers organized a counter-revolution that ousted the indigenous insurgents, only to be later arrested and executed by the Crown.

Andean natives were evenly divided between rebel and royalist camps. The most prestigious caciques in the Cusco region rejected Túpac Amaru II’s claim to rule and mobilized natives to fight against him, while hacienda laborers sided with their royalist landlords. Moreover, indigenous rebels from the Cusco region never formed a political or military alliance with insurgents from Aymara areas. Morale also sagged among natives forced to fight with slings, clubs, and spears, against militia armed with artillery, muskets, and steel swords; many of the rebels deserted. In the end, royalist forces captured and executed prominent insurgents and their families, typically by drawing and quartering. They later removed royalist caciques from their offices, further leveling indigenous society and solidifying chaste divisions based on race.

Historical memory of the Andean insurrection has conjured diverse images. Well into the twentieth century, a standard narrative portrayed Túpac Amaru II and the rebels as savages who impeded state building and modernity. General Juan Velasco Alvarado, Peru’s dictator from 1968 to 1974, rebranded Túpac Amaru II as...