History of the Incas

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He left two legitimate sons, named Sayri Tupac and Tupac Amaru, by his
wife and niece the Princess Ataria Cusi Huarcay, daughter of his
ill-fated brother Huascar. This marriage was legalized by a bull of Pope
Paul III in the time of the Viceroy Marquis of Canete, 1555--1561. He
had also an illegitimate son named Cusi Titu Yupanqui, and a daughter
named Maria Tupac Usca, married to Don Pedro Ortiz de Orue, one of the
first conquerors[9].

[Note 9: Diego Ortiz de Orue was born in the village of Getafe, near
Madrid. He went out to Peru in 1559, and at once began to study the
Quichua language. He was _encomendero_ of Maras, a village overlooking
the valley of Yucay. By the Inca princess he had a daughter named
Catalina married to Don Luis Justiniani of Seville, descended from the
Genoese family. Their son Luis was the grandfather of Dr Justo Pastor
Justiniani who married Manuela Catano, descended from Tupac Inca
Yupanqui. Their son Don Pablo Justiniani was Cura of Laris until his
death in 1858, and was a great depository of Inca lore. He had a very
early copy of the Inca drama of Ollanta.]

Sayri Tupac succeeded as fourteenth Inca of Peru. On the arrival of the
Marquis of Canete as Viceroy in 1555, he caused overtures to be made to
Sayri Tupac through his aunts, who were living at Cuzco with their
Spanish husbands, Juan Sierra de Leguisano and Diego Hernandez. It was
finally arranged that the Inca should receive 17000 _castellanos_ of
rent and the valley of Yucay. On October 7th, 1557, Sayri Tupac left
Vilcapampa with 300 followers, reaching Andahuaylas on November 5th. He
entered Lima on January 6th, 1558, was cordially greeted by the Viceroy
and received investiture, assuming the names of Manco Ccapac Pachacuti
Yupanqui. He went to live in the lovely vale of Yucay. He had been
baptized with the name of Diego, but he did not long survive, dying at
Yucay in 1560. His daughter Clara Beatriz married Don Martin Garcia
Loyola. Their daughter Lorenza was created Marchioness of Oropesa and
Yucay, with remainder to descendants of her great uncle Tupac Amaru. She
was the wife of Juan Henriquez de Borja, grandson of the Duke of Gandia.

On the death of Sayri Tupac, his illegitimate brother, Cusi Titu
Yupanqui assumed sovereignty, owing to the youth of the legitimate
brother Tupac Amaru, both remaining in Vilcapampa.

Paullu Tupac Yupanqui, the next brother of Manco Inca, was baptized with
the name of Cristoval. He accompanied Almagro in his expedition to
Chile, and was with young Almagro at the battle of Chupas. Eventually he
was allowed to fix his residence on the Colcampata of Cuzco, at the foot
of the fortress, and by the side of the church of San Cristoval. From
the terrace of the Colcampata there is a glorious view with the snowy
peak of Vilcanota in the far distance. Paullu died in May, 1549, and was
succeeded on the Colcampata by his son Carlos Inca. He had two other
sons named Felipe and Bartolome. From the latter was descended the late
Archdeacon of Cuzco, Dr Justo Salmaraura Inca.

Titu Atauchi, the youngest son of Huayna Ccapac, had a son Alonso.

The princesses, daughters of Huayna Ccapac and sisters of Manco and
Paullu, were Beatriz Nusta, married first to Martin de Mustincia, and
secondly to Diego Hernandez of Talavera; Leonor Nusta, the wife of Juan
de Balsa, who was killed at the battle of Chupas on the side of young
Almagro, secondly of Francisco de Villacastin: Francisca Nusta, niece of
Huayna Ccapac, married to Juan de Collantes, and was great-grandmother
of Bishop Piedrahita, the historian of Nueva Granada: another Beatriz
Nusta married Mancio Sierra de Leguisano, the generous defender of the
natives; and Inez Nusta married first Francisco Pizarro and had a
daughter Francisca, who has descendants, and secondly to Francisco
Ampuero. Angelina, daughter of Atahualpa, was married to Juan de
Betanzos, the author and Quichua scholar. The brother of Huayna Ccapac,
named Hualpa Tupac Yupanqui, had a daughter, Isabel Nusta Yupanqui, the
wife of Garcilasso de la Vega, and mother of the Inca Garcilasso de la
Vega[10], the historian, author of the _Comentarios Reales_.

[Note 10: The Inca Garcilasso was a third cousin of the regicide
Viceroy Toledo. Their great grandfathers were brothers.]

This then was the position of the Inca family when the Viceroy,
Francisco de Toledo, came to Cuzco in 1571. Cusi Titu Yupanqui and Tupac
Amaru, sons of the Inca Manco were in the mountains of Vilcapampa, the
former maintaining his independence. Carlos Inca, son of Paullu, was
baptized, and living on the Colcampata at Cuzco with his wife Maria de
Esquivel. Seven Inca princesses had married Spaniards, most of them
living at Cuzco with their husbands and children.

The events, connected with the Inca family, which followed on the
arrival of the Viceroy Toledo at Cuzco, will be found fully described in
this volume. It need only be stated here that the inexorable tyrant,
having got the innocent young prince Tupac Amaru into his power,
resolved to put him to death. The native population was overwhelmed with
grief. The Spaniards were horrified. They entreated that the lad might
be sent to Spain to be judged by the King. The heads of religious orders
and other ecclesiastics went down on their knees. Nothing could move the
obstinate narrow-minded Viceroy. The deed was done.

When too late Toledo seems to have had some misgivings. The judicial
murder took place in December, 1571. The history of the Incas was
finished in March, 1572. Yet there is no mention of the death of Tupac
Amaru. For all that appears he might have been still in Vilcapampa.
Nevertheless the tidings reached Philip II, and the Viceroy's conduct
was not approved.

There was astonishing audacity on the part of Toledo, in basing
arguments on the alleged cruelty and tyranny of the Incas, when the man
was actually red-handed with the blood of an innocent youth, and engaged
in the tyrannical persecution of his relations and the hideous torture
of his followers. His arguments made no impression on the mind of Philip
II. The King even showed some favour to the children of Tupac Amaru by
putting them in the succession to the Marquisate of Oropesa. In the Inca
pedigrees Toledo is called "el execrable regicidio." When he presented
himself on his return from Peru the King angrily exclaimed: "Go away to
your house; for I sent you to serve kings; and you went to kill
kings[11]."

[Note 11: "Idos a vuestra casa, que yo os envie a servir reyes; y
vos fuiste a matar reyes."]

All his faithful services as a legislator and a statesman could not
atone for this cruel judicial murder in the eyes of his sovereign. He
went back to his house a disgraced and broken-hearted man, and died soon
afterwards.

The history of the Incas by Sarmiento is followed, in this volume, by a
narrative of the execution of Tupac Amaru and of the events leading to
it, by an eye-witness, the Captain Baltasar de Ocampo. It has been
translated from a manuscript in the British Museum.

The narrative of Ocampo, written many years after the event, is
addressed to the Viceroy Marquis of Montes Claros. Its main object was
to give an account of the province of Vilcapampa, and to obtain some
favours for the Spanish settlers there.

Vilcapampa is a region of very special historical and geographical
interest, and it is one of which very little is known. It is a
mountainous tract of country, containing the lofty range of Vilcacunca
and several fertile valleys, between the rivers Apurimac and Vilcamayu,
to the north of Cuzco. The mountains rise abruptly from the valley of
the Vilcamayu below Ollantay-tampu, where the bridge of Chuqui-chaca
opened upon paths leading up into a land of enchantment. No more lovely
mountain scenery can be found on this earth. When Manco Inca escaped
from the Spaniards he took refuge in Vilcapampa, and established his
court and government there. The Sun temple, the convent of virgins, and
the other institutions of the Incas at Cuzco, were transferred to this
mountain fastness. Even handsome edifices were erected. Here the Incas
continued to maintain their independence for 35 years.

Ocampo opens his story with a very interesting account of the baptism of
Melchior Carlos, son of Carlos Inca, who had become a Christian, and
lived in the palace on the Colcampata at Cuzco. He then describes the
events which culminated in the capture, of the Inca Tupac Amaru, and
gives a pathetic and touching account of the judicial murder of that
ill-fated young prince. Ocampo was an actor in these events and an
eye-witness. The rest of his narrative consists of reminiscences of
occurrences in Vilcapampa after it was occupied by the Spaniards. He
owned property there, and was a settler holding official posts. He tells
of the wealth and munificence of a neighbour. He gives the history of an
expedition into the forests to the northward, which will form material
for the history of these expeditions when it is written. He tells the
story of an insurrection among the negro labourers, and complains of the
spiritual destitution of his adopted land. He finally returns to Cuzco
and gives an account of a very magnificent pageant and tilting match.
But this story should have preceded the mournful narrative of the fate
of Tupac Amaru; for the event took place at the time of the baptism of
Melchior Carlos, and before the Viceroy Toledo became a regicide.
Ocampo's story is that of an honest old soldier, inclined to be
garrulous, but an eye-witness of some most interesting events in the
history of Peru.

I think it is an appropriate sequel to the history by Sarmiento, because
it supplies material for judging whether the usurpation and tyranny were
on the side of the Incas or of their accuser.

[Illustration: _Facsimile (reduced) of_ PAGE II OF THE SARMIENTO MS. 1572.
_From the original, Goettingen University Library.
Reproduced and printed for the Hakluyt Society by Donald Macbeth._]

THE

SECOND PART

OF THE

GENERAL HISTORY

CALLED

"INDICA"

WHICH WAS COMPOSED

BY

THE CAPTAIN PEDRO SARMIENTO DE GAMBOA

BY ORDER OF

THE MOST EXCELLENT LORD DON FRANCISCO DE TOLEDO VICEROY GOVERNOR AND
CAPTAIN-GENERAL OF THE KINGDOMS OF PERU AND MAYOR-DOMO OF THE ROYAL
HOUSEHOLD OF CASTILLE

1572

[Illustration: _Facsimile (reduced) of_ PAGE I OF THE SARMIENTO MS. 1572.
_From the original, Goettingen University Library_.
_Reproduced and printed for the Hakluyt Society by Donald Macbeth_.]

TO HIS SACRED CAESARIAN MAJESTY THE KING, DON FELIPE, OUR LORD.

Among the excellencies, O sovereign and catholic Philip, that are the
glorious decorations of princes, placing them on the highest pinnacle of
estimation, are, according to the father of Latin eloquence, generosity,
kindness, and liberality. And as the Roman Consuls held this to be the
principal praise of their glory, they had this title curiously
sculptured in marble on the Quirinal and in the forum of Trajan---"Most
powerful gift in a Prince is liberality[12]." For this kings who desired
much to be held dear by their own people and to be feared by strangers,
were incited to acquire the name of liberal. Hence that royal sentence
became immortal "It is right for kings to give." As this was a quality
much valued among the Greeks, the wise Ulysses, conversing with
Antinous[13], King of the Phaeacians, said---"You are something like a
king, for you know how to give, better than others." Hence it is certain
that liberality is a good and necessary quality of kings.

[Note 12: "Primum signum nobilitatis est liberalitas."]

[Note 13: Alcinous.]

I do not pretend on this ground, most liberal monarch, to insinuate to
your Majesty the most open frankness, for it would be very culpable on
my part to venture to suggest a thing which, to your Majesty, is so
natural that you would be unable to live without it. Nor will it happen
to so high minded and liberal a lord and king, what befell the Emperor
Titus who, remembering once, during supper time, that he had allowed one
day to pass without doing some good, gave utterance to this laudable
animadversion of himself. "O friends! I have lost a day[14]." For not
only does your Majesty not miss a day, but not even an hour, without
obliging all kinds of people with benefits and most gracious liberality.
The whole people, with one voice, says to your Majesty what Virgil sang
to Octavianus Augustus:

"Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mane,
Divisum imperium cum Jove Caesar habet."

[Note 14: "Amici! diem perdidi." Suetonius.]

But what I desire to say is that for a king who complies so well with
the obligation of liberality, and who gives so much, it is necessary
that he should possess much; for nothing is so suitable for a prince as
possessions and riches for his gifts and liberalities, as Tully says, as
well as to acquire glory. For it is certain, as we read in Sallust that
"in a vast empire there is great glory[15]"; and in how much it is
greater, in so much it treats of great things. Hence the glory of a king
consists in his possessing many vassals, and the abatement of his glory
is caused by the diminution of the number of his subjects.

[Note 15: Proem of Catiline.]

Of this glory, most Christian king, God Almighty gives you so large a
share in this life that all the enemies of the holy catholic church of
Christ our Lord tremble at your exalted name; whence you most justly
deserve to be named the strength of the church. As the treasure which
God granted that your ancestors should spend, with such holy
magnanimity, on worthy and holy deeds, in the extirpation of heretics,
in driving the accursed Saracens out of Spain, in building churches,
hospitals and monasteries, and in an infinite number of other works of
charity and justice, with the zeal of zealous fathers of their country,
not only entitled them to the most holy title of catholics, but the most
merciful and almighty God, whom they served with all their hearts, saw
fit to commence repayment with temporal goods, in the present age. It is
certain that "He who grants celestial rewards does not take away
temporal blessings[16]," so that they earned more than the mercies they
received. This was the grant to them of the evangelical office, choosing
them from among all the kings of this world as the evangelizers of his
divine word in the most remote and unknown lands of those blind and
barbarous gentiles. We now call those lands the Indies of Castille,
because through the ministry of that kingdom they will be put in the way
of salvation, God himself being the true pilot. He made clear and easy
the dark and fearful Atlantic sea which had been an awful portent to the
most ancient Argives, Athenians, Egyptians, and Phoenicians, and what is
more to the proud Hercules, who, having come to Cadiz from the east, and
seen the wide Atlantic sea, he thought this was the end of the world and
that there was no more land. So he set up his columns with this
inscription "Ultra Gades nil" or "Beyond Cadiz there is nothing." But as
human knowledge is ignorance in the sight of God, and the force of the
world but weakness in his presence, it was very easy, with the power of
the Almighty and of your grandparents, to break and scatter the mists
and difficulties of the enchanted ocean. Laughing with good reason at
Alcides and his inscription, they discovered the Indies which were very
populous in souls to whom the road to heaven could be shown. The Indies
are also most abundant in all kinds of inestimable treasures, with which
the heavy expenses were repaid to them, and yet remained the richest
princes in the world, and thus continued to exercise their holy and
Christian liberality until death. By reason of this most famous
navigation, and new and marvellous discovery, they amended the
inscription on the columns of Hercules, substituting "Plus ultra" for
"Ultra Gades nil"; the meaning was, and with much truth, that further on
there are many lands. So this inscription, "Plus ultra," remained on the
blazon of the arms and insignia of the Indies of Castille.

[Note 16: From the poem of Coelius Sedulius, a Christian poet who
flourished about A.D. 450. The passage is--"Hostis Herodes impie
Christum venire quod timeo? Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat
coelestia." (Note by Dr Peitschmann.)]

As there are few who are not afflicted by the accursed hunger for gold,
and as good successes are food for an enemy, the devil moved the bosoms
of some powerful princes with the desire to take part in this great
business. Alexander VI, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, considering that this
might give rise to impediments in preaching the holy evangel to the
barbarous idolaters, besides other evils which might be caused, desired
of his own proper motion, without any petition from the catholic kings,
by authority of Almighty God, to give, and he gave and conceded for
ever, the islands and main lands which were then discovered and which
might hereafter be discovered within the limits and demarcation of 180 deg.
of longitude, which is half the world, with all the dominions, rights,
jurisdictions and belongings, prohibiting the navigation and trading in
those lands from whatever cause, to the other princes, kings, and
emperors from the year 1493, to prevent many inconveniences.

But as the devil saw that this door was shut, which he had begun to open
to introduce by it dissensions and disturbances, he tried to make war by
means of the very soldiers who resisted him, who were the same
preachers. They began to make a difficulty about the right and title
which the kings of Castille had over these lands. As your invincible
father was very jealous in matters touching his conscience, he ordered
this point to be examined, as closely as possible, by very learned
doctors who, according to the report which was given out, were indirect
and doubtful in their conclusions. They gave it as their opinion that
these Incas, who ruled in these kingdoms of Peru, were and are the true
and natural lords of that land. This gave a handle to foreigners, as
well catholics as heretics and other infidels, for throwing doubt on the
right which the kings of Spain claim and have claimed to the Indies.
Owing to this the Emperor Don Carlos of glorious memory was on the point
of abandoning them, which was what the enemy of the faith of Christ
wanted, that he might regain the possession of the souls which he had
kept in blindness for so many ages.

All this arose owing to want of curiosity on the part of the governors
in those lands, at that time, who did not use the diligence necessary
for ascertaining the truth, and also owing to certain reports of the
Bishop of Chiapa who was moved to passion against certain conquerors in
his bishoprick with whom he had persistent disputes, as I knew when I
passed through Chiapa and Guatemala[17]. Though his zeal appears holy
and estimable, he said things on the right to this country gained by the
conquerors of it, which differ from the evidence and judicial proofs
which have been seen and taken down by us, and from what we who have
travelled over the Indies enquiring about these things, leisurely and
without war, know to be the facts[18].

[Note 17: See the introduction to my _Voyages of Sarmiento_ p. x.]

[Note 18: Sarmiento here refers to the efforts of Las Casas to
protect the natives from the tyranny and cruelties of the Spanish
settlers. He appears to have been in Guatemala when Las Casas arrived to
take up his appointment as Bishop of Chiapas, and encountered hostility
and obstruction from certain "conquistadores de su obispado," as
Sarmiento calls them. On his return to Spain, the good Las Casas found
that a certain Dr Sepulveda had written a treatise maintaining the right
of Spain to subdue the natives by war. Las Casas put forward his
_Historia Apologetica_ in reply. A Junta of theologians was convoked at
Valladolid in 1550, before which Sepulveda attacked and Las Casas
defended the cause of the natives. Mr. Helps (_Spanish conquest in
America_, vol. iv. Book xx. ch. 2) has given a lucid account of the
controversy. Sarmiento is quite wrong in saying that Las Casas was
ignorant of the history of Peru. The portion of his _Historia
Apologetica_ relating to Peru, entitled _De las antiguas gentes del
Peru_, has been edited and published by Don Marcos Jimenez de la Espada
in the "Coleccion de libros Espanoles raros o curiosos" (1892). It shows
that Las Casas knew the works of Xeres, Astete, Cieza de Leon, Molina,
and probably others; and that he had a remarkably accurate knowledge of
Peruvian history.]

This chaos and confusion of ignorance on the subject being so spread
over the world and rooted in the opinions of the best informed literary
men in Christendom, God put it into the heart of your Majesty to send
Don Francisco de Toledo, Mayor-domo of your royal household, as Viceroy
of these kingdoms[19]. When he arrived, he found many things to do, and
many things to amend. Without resting after the dangers and long voyages
in two seas which he had suffered, he put the needful order into all the
things undertook new and greater labours, such as no former viceroys or
governors had undertaken or even thought of. His determination was to
travel over this most rugged country himself, to make a general
visitation of it, during which, though it is not finished, it is certain
that he has remedied many and very great faults and abuses in the
teaching and ministry of the Christian doctrine, giving holy and wise
advice to its ministers that they should perform their offices as
becomes the service of God, and the discharge of your royal conscience,
reducing the people to congregations of villages formed on suitable and
healthy sites which had formerly been on crags and rocks where they were
neither taught nor received spiritual instruction. In such places they
lived and died like wild savages, worshipping idols as in the time of
their Inca tyrants and of their blind heathenism. Orders were given to
stop their public drinking bouts, their concubinage and worship of their
idols and devils, emancipating and freeing them from the tyrannies, of
their _curacas_, and finally giving them a rational life, which was
before that of brutes in their manner of loading them as such.

[Note 19: Don Francisco de Toledo was Viceroy of Peru, from Nov.
16th, 1569, to Sept. 28th, 1581, and in some respects a remarkable man.
He was a younger son of the third Count of Oropesa who had a common
ancestor with the Dukes of Alva. His mother was Maria de Figueroa
daughter of the Count of Feria. Through her he was directly descended
from the first Duke of Alva. He was a first cousin of that Duke of Feria
who made a love match with Jane Dormer, the friend and playmate of our
Edward VI. Moreover Don Francisco was a third cousin of Charles V. Their
great grandmothers were sisters, daughters of Fadrique Henriquez, the
Admiral of Castille.

This Viceroy was advanced in years. He held the appointment of a
Mayor-domo at the court of Philip II, and another brother Juan was
Ambassador at Rome. The Viceroy Toledo came to Peru with the
Inquisition, which proved as great a nuisance to him as it was a
paralyzing source of terror to his people. He was a man of extraordinary
energy and resolution, and was devoted heart and soul to the public
service. Sarmiento does not speak too highly of his devotion to duty in
undertaking a personal visit to every part of his government. He was a
most prolific legislator, founding his rules, to some extent, on the
laws of the Incas. He was shrewd but narrow minded and heartless; and
his judicial murder of the young Inca, Tupac Amaru, has cast an
indelible stain on his memory.

Such a man could have no chance in an attack on the sound arguments of
Las Casas.

There is a picture which depicts the outward appearance of the Viceroy
Toledo. A tall man with round stooping shoulders, in a suit of black
velvet with the green cross of Alcantara embroidered on his cloak. A
gloomy sallow face, with aquiline nose, high forehead and piercing black
eyes too close together. The face is shaded by a high beaver hat, while
one hand holds a sword, and the other rests on a table.]

[Illustration: _Facsimile (reduced) of the_
COAT OF ARMS OF DON FRANCISCO DE TOLEDO, VICEROY OF PERU, 1569--1581.
_From the Sarmiento MS. 1572, Goettingen University Library.
Reproduced and printed for the Hakluyt Society by Donald Macbeth._]

The work done by your Viceroy is such that the Indians are regenerated,
and they call him loudly their protector and guardian, and your Majesty
who sent him, they call their father. So widely has the news spread of
the benefits he has conferred and is still conferring, that the wild
warlike Indians in many contiguous provinces, holding themselves to be
secure under his word and safe conduct, have come to see and communicate
with him, and have promised obedience spontaneously to your Majesty.
This has happened in the Andes of Xauxa, near Pilcocanti, and among the
Manaries and Chunchos to the east of Cuzco. These were sent back to
their homes, grateful and attached to your royal service, with the
presents he gave them and the memory of their reception.

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