An intelligent Indian, Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, determined on a
desperate effort to alleviate the condition of his people. Condorcanqui
had received a far more generous education than the majority of his
fellows, and had studied at the College of San Bernardo, in Cuzco. He
spoke the Castilian tongue perfectly, and was thus enabled to hold a
minor official post in the Spanish service. Claiming descent from the
Royal Incas, he subsequently added the name of Tupac-Amaru to his own.
[Illustration: DUTCH AND SPANISH VESSELS ENGAGED OFF CALLAO, THE PORT OF
LIMA.
_From a seventeenth-century engraving._]
It was on November 4, 1780, that Tupac-Amaru, by which name he was now
universally known, made his first move. Gathering some trusty men about
him, he captured a Spanish _corregidor_, Arriaga, and, charging that
official with offences against the Indians, caused him to be executed.
On this the Indians flocked to their new defender's standard, and he was
soon at the head of 6,000 men. Tupac-Amaru now determined on an
extensive campaign. After an attack on Cuzco, he marched with 60,000
Indians to besiege La Paz itself, while the isolated Spanish forces were
overwhelmed in all directions.
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