Mateo Pumacahua
Mateo Pumacahua | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | September 21, 1740 Chinchero, Cusco |
Died | March 17, 1815 Sicuani, Cusco | (aged 74)
Nationality | Peruvian |
Profession | Soldier |
Military service | |
Years of service | 1780–1814 |
Battles/wars | Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II Bolivian War of Independence Cuzco Rebellion of 1814 |
Mateo García Pumacahua (September 21, 1740 – March 17, 1815) simply known as Pumacahua, modern spelling variants Pumakawa or Pumaqawa (meaning "he who stalks with the stealth of a puma", from Quechua Puma cougar, puma, Qawa sentinel, serene, "he who observes or monitors shrewdly") was a Royalist commander later turned into a Peruvian revolutionary who led the Cuzco Rebellion of 1814 in the War of Independence.
Biography
Pumakawa was the
He was appointed commander of the Royalist Army militias against Túpac Amaru II. Reason for this is because Amaru's uprising caught off guard colonial authorities[3] and caused major tumult in Lima, as the colonial authorities were largely unprepared and scarce of troops in order to deal with the revolt, for this reason, Spanish colonial authorities decided to organize an army composed largely of native conscripts, a tactic repeated in the Peruvian independence wars where the Spanish royalist army of Peru was composed, outside of commanding leaders, almost entirely of levy indigenous soldiers.[4]
As Pumakawa became head of the Royal Army indigenous militias, he persecuted José Gabriel Condorcanqui (Tupac Amaru II) during his rebellion of 1780 and 1781, Pumakawa made major contributions to the royal cause with accouterments and men. He gained prestige among the Inca nobility of Cuzco, being elected Real Ensign of Noble Indians of Cuzco in 1802.
Pumacahua defeated the rebel army of Tupac Amaru II in 1781, an event depicted in a mural at the church of
Three decades later, despite being in his seventies, Pumakawa led the — essentially indigenous — militias of the
See also
References
- ISBN 1-903900-63-8.
- ^ Nicholson, Irene (1969). The Liberators: A Study of Independence Movements in Spanish America. Praeger. p. 137.
- ISBN 9789972515408.
- ^ ISBN 9786071612526.
Muchos oficiales militares eran criollos, y la tropa del ejército realista del Perú desde 1809 hasta la victoria de Bolívar en Ayacucho se componía principalmente de soldados reclutados entre la población indígena.
- ^ Historia general del ejército peruano (in Spanish). Vol. 5. Comisión Permanente de la Historia del Ejército del Perú. 2005. p. 10.
No olvidemos que fue Pumacahua, más que nadie, quien derrotó a Túpac Amaru; y que su campaña sobre las provincias al sur del Cusco (Collasuyo) fue una verdadera guerra de exterminio contra las poblaciones campesinas
- ISBN 0-393-95537-0.