The Andean Resistance

The Andean resistance was given as a counterpoint to the Spanish invasion. The inhabitants of Tahuantinsuyo and the Inca elite developed various forms of action in the face of the Spanish invasion. Negotiations, alliances, armed struggles and peaceful resistance were the means through which the indigenous population reacted to the foreign presence. This is a process that begins in the first days of the conquest and continues until the consolidation of the viceregal order. a sector of the Inca elite, led by Manco Inca, took refuge in Vilcabamba. The Inca resistance occurred in parallel with the events that marked the history of the first years of the Spanish presence in the Andes.

MANCO INCA AND THE ANDEAN RESISTANCE

When Francisco Pizarro arrived in Cuzco, he was received by the young Manco Inca, son of Huayna Capac and Mama Runtu, who accompanied him to his entrance to the Inca capital. The Spaniards saw him as an ally and collaborator, but his behavior must be understood as a means to establish the supremacy of the sector of the Inca elite that he represents. He achieved his goal by receiving the mascaipacha in the middle of a ritual in which several curacas and many members of the Inca elite with Spanish support participated. However, Manco Inca, like other Indians, realized that considering allies to the Spaniards was a big mistake. Even Cura Ocllo, his wife, was cruelly murdered by the Spaniards and he himself was imprisoned by the conquistadores.

CERZ DEL CUZCO

Manco Inca observed that only a small number of Spaniards occupied Cuzco, while Francisco Pizarro moved to Lima and Jauja, and remained most of the time in Lima, territory of the curaca Taulichusco. With the ruse to bring Hernando Pizarro some gold statues of the Incas, Manco Inca managed to leave Cuzco.

He managed to reunite a great army of natives and in parallel he managed that Huillac Umu and Paullu Inca, his brother and rival in the succession process, will accompany Almagro on his expedition to Chile. At the end of May 1536, Manco Inca and his troops, numbering 10,000 men, surrounded Cuzco, burned roofs and cut off the city's water supply. Some sources even affirm that the Inca troops added 200 thousand people. After months of siege, the most important scene of the fight was the fortress of Sacsayhuamán, finally recovered by the Spaniards after six days of intense confrontations.

THE SITE OF LIMA

The attack on Cuzco was previously coordinated by Manco Inca to prevent the arrival of reinforcements from Lima. A group of Spaniards sent by Pizarro crossed with the Inca forces near the Pampas River, where they were defeated. Other Spanish expeditions were defeated by the Indians on their way to Cuzco. Quizo Yupanqui, in charge of the site of Lima, fought in Ate and Guarco until arriving at the same hill San Cristobal. At the entrance of the city, the natives were defeated by the Spaniards thanks to the help given by a sector of the indigenous population. In some cases, this was due to the kinship relations established between Spaniards and curacas, a fundamental link in the Andean culture. For example, those generated by the relations of Francisco Pizarro with Inés Huaylas, daughter of Huayna Capac, allowed him to count on the support of the curacas de Huaylas.