Tupac Amaru

Tupac Amaru (tpäk` ämä`r), 1742?–1781, leader of indigenous peoples in Peru, baptized José Gabriel Condorcanqui. A man of some education and of high moral character, he sympathized with the plight of the native people of Peru and sought to alleviate their condition. Unable to persuade the government to better conditions in the textile mills, the mines, and the villages, Condorcanqui, under the name of the Inca Tupac Amaru (his supposed ancestor), led a rebellion in 1780. The indigenous people flocked to support him, and at first Tupac Amaru was successful. He was later captured and brutally executed. The revolt continued, notably with the siege of La Paz in 1781, but was finally crushed. All of Tupac Amaru's family were executed or imprisoned, but many of the reforms for which he fought were granted.