In the decades before 1780, Spanish Bourbon reforms increased taxes and tightened control over colonial administration in Peru. Many Indigenous communities faced heavy burdens from labor drafts (like the mita, a forced labor rotation) and abusive local officials. These pressures helped set the stage for a large-scale uprising in the southern Andes.
On November 4, 1780, José Gabriel Condorcanqui—known as Túpac Amaru II—and supporters captured Antonio de Arriaga, the corregidor (provincial administrator) of Tinta. They forced Arriaga to issue letters demanding money, arms, and the assembly of local leaders. This seizure is widely treated as the start of the rebellion’s open phase.
Arriaga was executed on November 10, 1780, after several days in captivity. The public killing signaled a decisive break with colonial authority and accelerated mobilization across the region. It also pushed Spanish officials to treat the movement as a major security threat rather than a local protest.
On November 16, 1780, Túpac Amaru II issued a proclamation calling for the emancipation of Afro-Peruvian and African slaves. The decree aimed to broaden support and present the rebellion as a fight against colonial abuses, not only an Indigenous revolt. It also alarmed many colonial elites who feared social upheaval.
On November 18, 1780, rebel forces defeated Spanish and loyalist troops at Sangarará. The victory gave the rebellion weapons and momentum, and it helped spread the uprising through southern Peru. Reports of violence during and after the battle also hardened opposition among many Spaniards and some creoles.
By early January 1781, Túpac Amaru II’s forces reached Cusco and began assaults on the city’s defenses. The attacks failed to take the city, and the rebels ultimately lifted the siege. This was a turning point: holding Cusco would have been a major political and symbolic victory, and failure weakened the first phase of the movement.
After the failed bid for Cusco, Spanish authorities and loyalist Indigenous allies expanded military operations against the rebellion. Columns of troops converged on rebel-held areas and targeted supply routes and local leadership. The shift to sustained counterinsurgency pressure made it harder for the rebellion to coordinate large field armies.
On April 5, 1781, royalist forces defeated Túpac Amaru II’s army at Combapata. The loss accelerated the collapse of rebel control in the Tinta region and triggered a search for the rebel leadership. Within days, Túpac Amaru II was captured.
On April 6, 1781, Túpac Amaru II was captured near Langui after a military setback and betrayal by associates. He was transported in chains to Cusco and interrogated. His capture was a major blow to the first phase of the rebellion, but it did not end fighting in the Andes.
On May 18, 1781, Spanish authorities executed Túpac Amaru II in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas after sentencing and torture. His wife Micaela Bastidas and other close associates were also executed, in a highly public display meant to deter further rebellion. The executions removed the best-known leaders but intensified resentment and did not immediately restore stability.
After May 1781, the rebellion continued under other leaders, including Diego Cristóbal Túpac Amaru, and overlapped with major unrest in Upper Peru (now Bolivia). The center of conflict shifted toward the Collao highlands and Lake Titicaca region, where fighting increasingly took the form of raids and local sieges. This phase showed that the movement was broader than one leader, even as coordination became harder.
In Upper Peru, the Aymara leader Túpac Katari (Julián Apasa Nina) led major sieges of La Paz in 1781. He was eventually captured and executed, marking a significant defeat for the parallel uprising in the region. His death symbolized the tightening of Spanish control, even as unrest continued in other areas.
Spanish authorities offered broad amnesty to encourage rebels to lay down arms. A preliminary agreement and prisoner exchange occurred in December 1781, followed by Diego Cristóbal Túpac Amaru’s formal surrender at Sicuani in January 1782. After this, organized large-scale resistance sharply declined, though sporadic violence continued.
By March 15, 1783, Spanish authorities considered the last organized remnants of the rebellion defeated. The uprising left deep social scars and prompted harsher colonial controls aimed at preventing future revolts. Even though it failed militarily, the rebellion became a lasting symbol of anti-colonial and anti-abuse resistance in the Andes.
Túpac Amaru II Rebellion in the Andes (1780-1781)